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Job summary

 This role sits within the Election Claims Unit based in Norwich. The team is part of the Elections Funding team within the Elections Directorate of DLUHC. The team is responsible for managing payments from the Consolidated Fund to Returning Officers for expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred in the delivery of UK Parliamentary and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.  
    
    The Election Claims Unit is responsible for scrutinising RO expenditure and supporting the funding team in the design and implementation of funding policy. This role is responsible for the day to day management of the team at Norwich which currently includes 4 FTE EOs (1 post currently vacant) reporting directly to the Head of ECU and 8 AOs. Full list of responsibilities is provided further below.
    
    During election fallow years the team is expected to conduct analysis on cost data from previous elections, highlighting trends and barriers to value for money and preparing for future elections. The team is also regularly engaged in reviewing guidance, forms and processes to facilitate ease of use and understanding and further improving the processes in place. 
    
    We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work.

Job description

The main responsibilities of the post include:

•    Direct line management of 4 FTE EOs (1 post currently vacant).
•    Indirect line management of 8 AOs.
•    Providing policy guidance and support to the team and liaising directly with the Elections Funding colleagues on complex matters.
•    Ensuring work is allocated to the team and delivered at pace.
•    Conducting random checks on the quality of written correspondence including observation letters and emails. 
•    Carry out random checks of settlement and payment documentation.
•    Design and maintain a master workbook to ensure all work is properly recorded and accurate.
•    Liaise directly with finance and other colleagues on matters affecting ECU.
•    Monitor individual and team performance.
•    Identify & monitor risks to delivery, mitigating and escalating where necessary.
•    Liaise with finance manager, NAO and admin assistant to facilitate smooth running of yearly audit.
•    Identify recruitment/contract extension requirements and follow processes to fill where departmental policy allows, ensuring adherence to budget and headcount.
•    Respond quickly to changes in business priorities showing a positive attitude to change when communicating to team.
•    Prepare for upcoming polls, undertake planning, and organise workload.
•    Involve team in decisions, where appropriate.
•    Liaise with EFT to feedback suggestions and issues discussed by ECU.
•    Analyse historical and current data to identify trends and areas of concern.
•    Ensure governance processes and procedures are in place to minimise opportunities for fraud and error.
•    Represent ECU/DLUHC on the Norwich Management Team Forum.
•    Represent ECU/DLUHC on the Rosebery Court Business Users Group. 
•    Review and update training material as and when required.
•    Regularly review team tools to ensure accuracy, applicability, and currency. 
•    Determine naming convention for ECU data files.
•    Review ECU data to ensure compliance with data management.

Person specification

We’re looking for someone with strong interpersonal skills who enjoys working in a demanding and fast paced environment. We’re looking for someone who is passionate about delivering a high quality service. We want someone who believes that how you work is as important as what you deliver. 

We are interested in someone who possesses the following skills:

•    Self-starter and able to hit the ground running
•    Highly organised and able to prioritise own time
•    Ability to build strong relationships with a wide base of stakeholders, such as Returning Officers and electoral administrators.
•    Ability to direct and coordinate the team in the delivery of an effective and efficient service.
•    Ability to investigate problems in existing and future processes and contribute to the implementation of remedies and preventative measures.
•    Ability to identify improvements and opportunities to make processes simpler and more efficient
•    Ability to analyse and draw conclusions from data
•    Good written and verbal skills and a strong customer service ethos
•    Ability to work independently, managing and prioritising tasks effectively
•    Strong planning and organisation skills 
•    Familiarity with setting, monitoring and reporting measurable targets
Essential Skills for this role
•    Agile practices. You can identify and compare the best processes or delivery methods to use. You can adapt and reflect, be resilient and have the ability to see outside of the process. You can measure and evaluate outcomes.
•    Communication skills. You can listen to the needs of stakeholders and interpret them. You can manage stakeholders’ expectations and be flexible. You are capable of proactive and reactive communication. You can facilitate difficult discussions within the team. 
•    Making a process work. You can identify and challenge organisational processes of increasing complexity and those processes that are unnecessarily complicated. You know how to guide teams through the implementation of a new process. 
•    Planning. You understand the environment and can prioritise the most important or highest value tasks. You can use data to inform planning. You can manage complex internal and external dependencies. You can provide delivery confidence. You can remove blockers or impediments that affect plans and can develop a plan for difficult situations.
•    Team dynamics and collaboration. You know how to bring people together to form a motivated team. You can help to create the right environment for a team to work in and can empower them to deliver. You can recognise and deal with issues as they emerge. 
Desired skills for this role

•    Financial management. You know how to balance cost versus value. You can monitor cost and budget; you know how and when to escalate issues. 
Delivery experience - Ability to demonstrate successful operational delivery.

Offered benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Selection process details

We are for everyone 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.  

We are for everyone 

DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.  

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).  

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.  

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors. 

When writing your application, remember: 

• The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.  

• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.  

• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

At sift, we will be assessing 

Behaviour (Lead Behaviour): Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour: Changing and Improving

Behaviour: Managing a Quality Service

Behaviour: Delivering at Pace

Experience: Previous experience of managing an operational team

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview  

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:    

Behaviour: Making Effective Decisions, Changing and Improving, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

Strengths

Questions during interview stage will be as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Changing and Improving, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

Strengths: Yes

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign. 

HEO salary 

• The salary for this role is £33,875 (National). 

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. 

CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance): 

Important note 

Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 
 
Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC). Thank you. 
 
Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database. 

BENEFITS: 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 
Any move to DLUHC from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 

• Norwich

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place 17th April 2023 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

RESERVE LIST: 
 
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Due to the length of time CTC checks can take, our HR Shared Services team will contact reserve list candidates for London based roles to commence CTC checks. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register