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Job summary

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is the lead department for governments hugely important and high profile Levelling Up agenda.  

This is a very exciting time to join the department as we are at the heart of the government’s central mission, driving forward a programme of tangible improvements in every part of the country as we build back better from the pandemic, and deliver on the people’s priorities. 

Job description

Analysis and Data Directorate is headed by DLUHC’s Chief Analyst and Chief Economist: who is personally committed to Evaluation of DLUHC’s core programmes and policies.  The Directorate contains over 200 analysts and other staff providing high quality analytical advice to Ministers, the Executive Team and policy and corporate colleagues across all aspects of the Department’s business. Our analysts are responsible for statistics, data collection, data analysis and science, research, economic analysis and modelling, evaluation and thought leadership across all DLUHC policy areas.  

The Local Growth Analysis (LGA) Evaluation team is a multi-disciplinary team of economists, social researchers and statisticians working across both BEIS and DLUHC.   The team provides high quality, innovative evaluation and analysis across a wide range of DLUHC policies focused on local economic growth, including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Levelling-up Fund, Towns Fund, Future High Streets Fund,  Freeports Fund, the impact of Covid-19 on local economies, impact of EU exit on local economies, and monitoring and evaluation of local growth policies. We play an instrumental role in the delivery of the government’s agenda on Levelling up local economic growth across the UK. 

We offer a fast-moving, friendly and intellectually stimulating environment, where you can make a real contribution to maintaining this high quality evidence base used for formulating government policy.  We take the development of our people very seriously, equipping and enabling them to make an impact by ensuring high quality evidence and analysis are at the heart of policy-making.   

We are committed to good management and professional development of staff. We actively promote learning and development, and also have an exceptional bursary training opportunity to support post graduate study. 

The role. 

Ever wanted to be at the forefront of developing an innovative new package of evaluations which will be at the heart of levelling up across HMG? Really getting to understand what’s happening across localities in the UK, understanding the impacts of levelling up expenditure - at national, regional, local authority and even smaller scales.  And helping to understand what works in local economic growth. 

This is the post for you if you’ve an interest in innovative evaluation and creative use of data. Working with DCMS, OGDs, local authorities, What Works Growth and many other stakeholders, we’re developing an innovative new approach to understanding the effectiveness of UK Shared Prosperity Fund investment across the UK – a core part of the £25M UKSPF evaluation Strategy. This drives our understanding of interventions which work (and don’t work), which is crucial to target future local growth expenditure by HMG and local areas.   

Person specification

Key responsibilities will include: 

• Designing impact and process level evaluations for UKSPF interventions and place level casestudies.   

• Working with evaluation surveys team to ensure UKSPF surveys address key evaluation issues and data is appropriate for surveys. 

• Working with monitoring and secondary administrative data, to ensure this feeds into the evaluation and is of sufficient quality.  

• Working with local authorities, evaluation contractors and DWP / HMRC on data matching to understand longer term intervention impacts. 

• Project management of evaluation projects, working closely with evaluation contractors to ensure the work addresses key policy issues and is high quality evaluation.  

• Working with key stakeholders, incl UKSPF Policy, DCMS, Levelling Up, Other Government Departments and local authorities to ensure core priorities are addressed. 

Key skills  

This is a high profile post, requiring technical evaluation, analytical and project management skills. Training will be provided to enable candidates to develop their skills in complex evaluations. In particular:  

• Experience of working in applied policy analysis in which strong analytical skills have been clearly demonstrated.  

• Strong technical knowledge and experience of designing and running impact evaluations, ideally using a range of methods. 

• The ability to manage the collection of data that is fit for purpose, promoting increased efficiency and effectiveness in data gathering, for example data sharing and minimising respondent burdens. 

• Experience in managing research contractors to deliver complex projects.  

• Quality assuring the use and interpretation of data, analysis and research. 

• Research and project management skills covering all aspects of design, delivery and reporting.  

• Experience of delivering high quality work to tight and multiple deadlines. 

• Able to communicate complex analysis in a clear and coherent way. 

• Able to establish strong working relationships with a range of policy and analytical colleagues and relevant external agencies. 

• A good knowledge and /or experience of using analytical software. 

Professional Membership/Qualifications 

This post is open to members of Government Social Research (GSR) or candidates that meet the entry criteria set out below. 

Civil Servants who are currently a GSR member will retain their professional membership in this role.  Please make any current affiliation clear in your application. 

External candidates or civil servants without a current affiliation will be assessed for accreditation to Government Social Research as part of the recruitment process.  You will be required to sit an initial test as part of the accreditation process. 

Government Social Research: 

2:1 degree or higher in a relevant social science subject with a substantial social research methods component 

or 

2:2 degree with a relevant postgraduate qualification in social research. 

Relevant social science disciplines include Area and Development Studies, Economics, Demography, Economic and Social History, Education, Human Geography, Linguistics, Management and Business Studies, Environmental Planning, Political Science and International Studies, Environmental Planning, Political Science and International Studies, Psychology, Science and Technology Studies, Social Anthropology, Social Policy, Social Work, Legal Studies, Sociology and Statistics, Methods and Computing. 

GSR Testing 

Candidates who ARE NOT members of Government Social Research service (GSR) will be invited to sit the Government Social Research Knowledge test.  This is the first part of the GSR membership process and you must pass this test for your application to progress to the next stage of the recruitment process. 

 We will arrange for you to sit the GSR Knowledge Test as soon as possible.  This test must be completed prior to interview and if candidates fail the knowledge test their application is terminated at this point. 

Candidates who are EXISTING members of Government Social Research service (GSR) do not need to complete this test as part of their application. 

Candidates who do not pass the filter and eligibility questions will not move to the second stage. 

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions

• Working Together

• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• We’ll test you on the technical skills shown in the GSR technical framework at Research Officer level or the GSG technical competences at HStO Higher Statistical Officer level.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

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 1 - Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour 2 - Working Together

Behaviour 3 - Delivering at Pace

Technical (lead element) - In no more than 250 words, please demonstrate your experience in applying the technical skills required for the Government Social Research (GSR) profession.   

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 progressed straight to assessment/interview 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of behaviour, experience and technical based questions as listed in the advert. Candidates will be expected to prepare a presentation at interview, details of which will be sent on invitation to interview. 

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

Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Working Together, Delivering at Pace

Experience: Yes, at interview

Technical: In no more than 250 words, please demonstrate your experience in applying the technical skills required for the Government Social Research (GSR) profession.  

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 (London) or £30,792 (National). 

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

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: 

• London 

• Wolverhampton 

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. 

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place from 12/12/22 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. 

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. 

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 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

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 

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

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check.

See our vetting charter.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals

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

• nationals of the Republic of Ireland

• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service

• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service

• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

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.