Please read before applying:

To apply for this role you will need to submit a CV and statement of suitability. These need to be merged 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 statement of suitability. There are further details in the Selection Process section further below in this advert.

If you experience technical issues during the application process we have found using a different browser or device in the first instance can be a quick fix.

If those don't work please email scs@levellingup.gov.uk with your application and/or CV before the submission deadline. Any applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

Short Summary

The post holder will be the Department’s senior policy adviser to Ministers on local and national infrastructure planning matters, mechanisms to capture land value from development so that infrastructure and affordable housing can be funded. This is an exciting opportunity to work across the full range of Government priorities for growth and energy security, ensuring that the planning system is effective in delivering high quality decisions, without delays, which enable infrastructure development and address community and environmental impacts fairly.

Job Description

Leading an excellent multi-disciplinary team of c.25, you will be responsible for delivery of the next stages of key programmes, including:  

• Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning Reform, a cross-government programme to speed up consenting of major infrastructure. This is a dependency for a number of the Government’s Major Programme Portfolio projects.  

• Design and implementation of the new Infrastructure Levy and piloting of Community Land Auctions, following Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill 

You and your team also have a critical stewardship role, supporting the integrity and resilience of the planning system. You will work closely with the Planning Inspectorate, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Valuation Office Agency and Local Authorities to respond where policy, performance or legal issues arise in relation to operation of the current systems for Community Infrastructure Levy, Environmental Assessment and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning. 

You will lead and manage a multi-disciplinary team based in London, Wolverhampton, Leeds and Bristol, to ensure a high standard of delivery across all our programmes, and that people are well-supported in working and developing in the pressurised civil service environment. The team includes infrastructure and town and country planners, environmental experts, policy professionals, project delivery professionals and science and engineering graduate fast streamers.

Key accountabilities

• Act as Project Director for the cross-Government Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning (NSIP) Reform Programme, serving the NSIP Programme Board and Ministerial Steering Group and including that both DLUHC and the other Government Departments and Arms Length Bodies deliver on the NSIP Action Plan.  

• Drive implementation planning for measures which are expected to receive Royal Assent in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill this autumn, including:  

o Developing a ‘test and learn’ approach to delivering of the new Infrastructure Levy Infrastructure Levy Consultation to introduce greater certainty of land value capture from development, in order to fund local infrastructure and affordable housing.  

o Piloting of Community Land Auctions, through which local authorities will encourage owners to bring forward land for development.   

• Advise Ministers on infrastructure planning policy issues, including on opportunities to go further in ensuring that our system is resilient, able to manage the demands of the future and supports effective and timely decision-making.  

• Advise Ministers, and act on behalf of the Secretary of State in relationship to stewardship matters affecting the current system including in relation judicial reviews, and policy and system performance issues arising in the Planning Inspectorate, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Valuation Office Agency.  

• Represent DLUHC in government programmes including Offshore Wind Acceleration Taskforce, Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme  

• Maintain excellent relationships with stakeholders from industry, communities and environmental and other interest groups, and ensure policy is fully informed by stakeholder views and evidence. Represent the Government on public platforms including industry conferences and panels.  

• Contribute to the leadership of Places, Housing and Infrastructure Directorate, and Regeneration, Housing and Planning Group championing strong performance, joined up working, inclusion, diversity and support for the wellbeing of all staff. 

Person specification

Infrastructure planning sits at the heart of the Government’s agenda for growth, and you will work closely with colleagues, and Ministers, in the Department for Transport, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, No 10 and HMT, as well as with DLUHC Ministers in order to deliver on complex and cross cutting policy ambitions and system challenges.  

You will be a key member of the senior leadership team of the new Places, Infrastructure and Housing Delivery Directorate, within DLUHC’s Regeneration, Housing and Planning Group and expected to contribute corporately to the development of the group.  

The Group’s vision is to regenerate places, ensuring everyone has access to a high quality, secure and affordable home, and a greater say in how they are planned and built. The Group is central to the government’s ambition to level up the country by empowering locally-led regeneration, and ensuring universal access to high quality, secure and affordable housing; this includes support for migrants arriving via humanitarian and resettlement routes.

The post-holder needs to be able to advise Ministers how to make defensible and robust decisions which minimise the legal and reputational risks, while respecting their priorities and aims.

As the manager of a large dispersed team, the post-holder will need to create a cohesive team with shared expectations, who are equipped and empowered to deliver a high-quality professional service. They will need to ensure that all out-of-London staff feel connected and supported, and have the same opportunities as those based in London.

We particularly encourage applications from those of an ethnic minority background and those with disabilities, as well as those based in locations outside of London, who are underrepresented at this level in DLUHC.

As one of the Department’s senior leaders, you will also be a visible role model for the Civil Service leadership behaviours. These can be found in the Civil Service Leadership Statement which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-leadership-statement/civil-service-leadership-statement  

Essential Criteria

• Senior leadership experience within the Civil Service, or in other settings, which equips you to lead with confidence in the Government environment, including working effectively to deliver results across different Government departments and Arms Length Bodies.  

• A successful track record in advising Ministers or other senior decision-makers in complex, technical and highly political areas of policy.  

• Project Delivery experience, and ability to design and deliver complex system-transformation.

• Ability to manage multi-disciplinary teams, and support people of different backgrounds (and working across sites) to give their best, and deliver high quality results at pace.  

• Strong communication, relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills. 

Desirable criteria  

• Experience and interest in major or local infrastructure policy, delivery or planning.

Selection process details

How to apply

Please provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on Sunday 1 October 2023.

You will be asked to enter some personal details, upload your CV and to provide your responses to the role’s advertised essential criteria.​

When prompted to upload your CV, please upload a single document consisting of: ​

• a CV (including the names of 2 referees and your current remuneration) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, achievements and your relevant qualifications. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. ​

• a statement of suitability explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria provided in the person specification. (max. 2 pages)​

Please remember to save these two items in one document.​

Please note that only completed applications through the Be Applied route will be considered and that any further progress updates will be sent through Be Applied.

The selection panel will be made up of:

• Cathy Francis, Director for Places, Infrastructure and Housing Delivery

• Two additional panel members TBC

Selection process

Candidates that are shortlisted may be invited to attend a staff engagement panel. 

At DLUHC we hold staff engagement panels as an integral part of the recruitment process for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) – they are designed to help us build up a rounded picture of each candidate and give us an insight into how you might engage and interact with your team should you be successful. The purpose of the session is to help us assess your engagement and communication skills and is not about testing your subject knowledge or expertise for this particular role. Feedback from the session is passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview.

Candidates may also be invited to a meeting with a Minister or the Secretary of State, and/or other senior stakeholders. This is not a formal part of the selection process but an informal chance for candidates to find out more about the role and the organisation.

Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at the beginning of their final interview. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates when invited to interview. 

All of the evidence presented as part of the process will be considered in the final assessment.

Locations

• Edinburgh

• Cardiff

• Belfast

• Darlington

• Manchester

• Leeds

• Wolverhampton 

• Birmingham 

• Bristol

• London

Please note that, as your normal work location, costs cannot be claimed for travel to and from your base office location.

Security Clearance

All DLUHC colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.

Successful candidates for roles based in our London office 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. CTC clearance will generally require you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. 

For more details of vetting levels and requirements please refer to the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls.

Salary

For external appointments, remuneration for this role will be circa £75,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension.​

For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for Deputy Director.

Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.