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Location

Darlington, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton

About the job

About the team

We are Local AI (previously AI for Local Government) an ambitious and friendly new team dedicated to accelerating the responsible use of AI across local government. Our mission is to help councils to use AI to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and improve services - especially in critical areas such as adult and children’s social care, homelessness, and special educational needs and disability. We focus on identifying high‑impact opportunities for scalable, reusable AI solutions, including common tools that can be built once and deployed across many councils. We also seek out and amplify innovative AI initiatives already emerging locally, helping to quickly spread great ideas. To support adoption at scale, we work across the sector to improve data quality and access, ensure AI systems are safe and secure, and strengthen the market. This means councils can make informed, confident decisions about the technologies they use. This is an exciting opportunity to shape national AI innovation and redefine how MHCLG uses technology to supports public services. About the role The Market Lead will lead Local AI’s strategic work to support local government engagement with the AI supplier market. You will also work closely with Local AI product teams to support the uptake and scale‑up of MHCLG centrally built AI tools. You will take a collaborative approach with central and local government partners and play a crucial role in shaping the strategic direction of the market work. Your leadership will be critical in navigating ambiguity and complexity while maintaining clear delivery focus and strategic alignment.

• Lead the development of our market work using evidence, analysis and engagement to shape options and provide clear recommendations and guidance for local government. 

• Advise senior leaders on strategic risks and opportunities, linked to market conditions. 

• Work closely with G7 Ethics lead and with product teams to ensure commercial and market considerations inform their work. 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, including across government, councils, industry and civil society, to support delivery. 

• Communicating technical and complex material to a range of stakeholders in a way that is impactful and accessible. 

• Manage complex workstreams independently, setting direction, prioritising effectively, and delivering at pace in an ambiguous fast-moving technological landscape 

• Creating an inclusive environment, coaching colleagues, and contributing to a positive team culture that models Civil Service values.

• Experience or strong understanding of AI/digital markets, procurement or commercial strategy. 

• Ability to synthesise complex intelligence into actionable recommendations for senior stakeholders. 

• Strong strategic thinking skills with the ability to navigate ambiguity and rapidly evolving technologies. 

• Commitment to fostering diversity, inclusion, and a collaborative team culture. 

• Strong organisational skills with experience managing budgets, resources, and commercial relationships. 

• Experience working across multidisciplinary teams including policy, digital, commercial, legal, data, and technical experts. 

• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to engage and influence suppliers, councils, and central government partners.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,167, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,271 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Application and Selection  The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles: 

Behaviours ,  Experience ,  Strengths

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information. 

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link. 

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading. 

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter) 

Experience: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description. 

In your CV and covering letter, please include:    a. why you are interested in the role;   b. how you meet the essential skills and experience required 

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

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com. 

Stage 2: Interview 

• Behaviours: Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the Big Picture, Communicating and Influencing

• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description. 

• Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

Sift and Interview Dates 

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 23rd February 2026. 

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 9th March 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change. 

How We Recruit 

Find out more about our recruitment processes here. 

• Applying 

• Sifting 

• Interview 

• Interview Results & Feedback 

• Reserve List 

• Near Miss 

• Civil Service Grades 

• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer 

• Reasonable Adjustments 

How to Apply 

Find out everything you need to know before applying here. 

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly. 

• Security Clearance Requirements 

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements 

• Right to Work 

• Artificial Intelligence 

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles 

• CV Declaration 

• Sponsorships 

• Salary and Grade 

• Existing Civil Servants 

• Conflict of Interest 

• Location and Flexible Working 

• Fixed Term Contracts 

• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register 

• Appeals and Complaints 

• Conflict of Interest 

Security Clearance Requirements 

National Office: BPSS

London Office: BPSS + CTC

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

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

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

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)

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.

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).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Job contact :

• Name :Louise Jakobsson

• Email :louise.jakobsson@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email :recruitment@communities.gov.uk

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been: a procedural irregularity an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day. It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk. If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk