* Please note, you will need to merge your personal statement and CV into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and personal statement. If you experience any technical issues, please contact recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

Job summary

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives. 

Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you’re thinking of joining us, there’s never been a more exciting time. 

We have over 3,500 staff who are based in 20 offices across the UK. 

User Centred Design (UCD) is growing in MHCLG. The department is engaging ever more readily with the benefits of UCD - not just in the new services we build but also in the policies and strategies we create.

Our UCD community is based in the Digital directorate but UCD staff are spread across the whole organisation. It includes Service Designers, User Researchers, Content Designers, Interaction Designers and Policy Designers. It also welcomes colleagues in the department who work closely with UCD teams or are looking to do more in the UCD space.

Supported by the Head of User Centred Design, our community helps UCD professionals to connect, share ideas, explore problems and develop the profession across the department.

As the numbers in the UCD community grow we are working hard to develop the systems, tools and policies to efficiently support the community and scale up our UCD activity.

The UCD Operations Manager will be a key role to make that happen – from making sure new starters in the UCD community can access the tools, knowledge and materials they need, through ensuring work can set up and run smoothly and efficiently, to making sure the knowledge built through UCD activity can be easily accessed by the whole department

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. 

Find out more about what it's like to work in a digital, data and technology role at MHCLG  including our culture, ways of working, career progression and staff benefits. You can also read the MHCLG Digital blog to learn about the work we're doing. 

Job description

This role will enable the sustainable growth and increased impact of UCD across the department by supporting the community of UCD professionals. We are working to define standards, bring together policies and guidance, formalise our onboarding and training offer, and share our work more widely.

As a User Centred Design Operations Manager, you'll:

• support the creation and maintenance of an MHCLG UCD manual

• support the recruitment of research participants, including establishing common processes and maintaining key documentation and policies

• support the recruitment of UCD roles (in conjunction with the digital recruitment team)

• coordinate onboarding, training and development opportunities for the community

• build and maintain libraries of guidance and training materials

• build and maintain libraries of UCD insights, case studies and stories

• support Head of UCD and UCD community to establish and track the impact of design

Person specification

We will use the essential criteria below to evaluate you during the recruitment process. Make sure your CV and cover letter details how you meet the criteria.

This role would suit a creative-minded individual with enthusiasm for both the ethos and the practical delivery of user centred design. You may come from a user centred design background or you may have a keen interest in the field and want to learn more. We are looking for an individual with experience in the many of the areas below, but we are keen to support you to develop in the areas you know less well in addition to helping you build your experience in your UCD areas of interest.

As a User Centred Design Operations Manager, you'll have experience of:

• creating and/or managing online repositories; organising information and making it accessible

• supporting the recruitment of research participants

• drafting process and/or guidance documentation, ideally in collaboration with a group or community of interest

• maintaining / updating learning materials, ideally based on the needs of a group or community

• supporting communities, interest groups or committees in an organisational capacity

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Changing and Improving

• Making Effective Decisions

• Communicating and Influencing

• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,732, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £11,220 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

MHCLG 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).

CV and Cover Letter Declaration

We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment.

Please remove references to your:

• name/title

• educational institutions

• age

• gender

• email address

• postal address

• phone number

• nationality/immigration status

You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter.

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

At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing:

• Experience

Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the person specification.

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

Behaviour: Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service

Experience

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

Experience: Experience will be tested at sift and through interview questions which will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the person specification

Behaviours: Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service

We do not consider direct CV applications – 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.

SEO salary

• The salary for this role is £38,732 - £46,199 (National). 

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges. 

Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.   

Benefits

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018:

Any move to MHCLG 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 MHCLG employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack.

Geographical Location:

• Wolverhampton

• Darlington*

• Bristol

• Leeds

• Manchester

• Birmingham

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role.

*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service.  This role is based at MHCLG and we will be joined on the campus by:

• HM Treasury

• Department for International Trade

• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

• Office for National Statistics

• Department for Education

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack.

Sift and Interview dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place from Monday 04/11/2024 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. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@communities.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 MHCLG 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 MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG 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 

Fixed Term Details

For external candidates – you will be offered a 23 month fixed term appointment with a possibility of permanency.

For existing civil servants – you will be offered a 23 month loan opportunity. Before applying for the role, you will need to seek approval from your parent department to take up a loan appointment should you be successful.

For Secondments - you will be offered a 23 month secondment opportunity. Before applying for the role, you will need to seek approval from your employer to take up a secondment opportunity should you be successful.

For MHCLG employees - you will retain your existing contract.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals

• nationals of the Republic of Ireland

• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)

• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).