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Short summary

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is setting up the Office for Local Government (Oflog) – a new body that was announced in the Levelling Up White Paper earlier this year. Oflog will initially bring together, analyse and publish existing data to understand local government performance. It will: 

• be a ‘single source of authoritative information’ that will support local leaders in their decision-making and support self-improvement;  

• allow central government to better understand LA performance; and  

• help local people better understand what is happening in their area. 

The establishment of this body will be delivered through an ambitious new programme delivered by a multi-disciplinary team made of policy, operational, analytical, data and digital professionals, working in partnership with government, the local government sector and citizens. To support delivery of the programme, part of the team will be located within the new body and part of the team will be located within the DLUHC, but all will be working towards the successful establishment of this new organisation. With strong Ministerial and sector interest, this is a high-profile programme. These are evolving and stretching roles which offer a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the delivery of a key government priority objectives.  

We are recruiting a number of G6 roles in the following areas: 

• G6 Chief of Staff & Head of Strategy and Accountability (Policy and Operational Delivery) 

• G6 Head of Engagement, Communications & Partnerships (Policy) 

• G6 Sponsorship & Accountability (Policy) 

• G6 Policy Lead (Policy) 

Job description

These are exciting roles that sits at the very heart of developing the Office for Local Government and require a blend of policy, strategy and operational experience. 

G6 Chief of Staff & Head of Strategy and Accountability (Policy and Operational Delivery) 

The successful candidate will provide a critical interface between the wider team and the Chief Executive and Chair, with responsibility for facilitating strategic level relationships with senior stakeholders from across the Department. The post holder will ensure the Chair and Chief Executive’s visions and requirements are accommodated within stakeholder discussions. The post-holder will also be required to prepare material such as correspondence, presentations and reports.  

The post holder will lead an ambitious programme of work to develop the body’s strategy, and therefore will bring expertise and experience in horizon scanning, be able to set a clear vision and have strong understanding of the wider political and policy context to shape OfLog.  To support the strategy, the post-holder will be responsible for annual business planning to set goals that will deliver on to the broader strategic vision for the body. This will need to be supported by risk management with regular monitoring/reporting and accountability requirements.   

The post holder will also establish and oversee the effective operation of the body’s governance structure and supporting arrangements including governing framework documentation. The role will lead the recruitment of the Chief Executive, overseeing the appointment to any external advisors to the body, and establishing the Private Office of the Chair and Chief Executive.  

G6 Sponsorship & Accountability (Policy) 

You will play a critical role in the delivery of an ambitious programme of work delivering Oflog by bringing strategic policy thinking, stakeholder management, project delivery knowledge and team leadership.  

In the first instance, this role will be a core strategic and policy role responsible for the successful set up of the body and successful evolution as it goes through the policy cycle. The role will require working alongside wider teams to identify desired policy outcomes for which the body which should be mandated and designing the right purpose for the body and monitoring whether the right policy outcomes are being delivered.  

As the body matures, this role will lead the internal DLUHC sponsorship team providing the key link between the body and the Department. The post-holder will build a strong, trust-based sponsorship model between the Department and body to enable it to be a an accountable, consistent high-performing body, delivering both its objectives and value for money in alignment with DLUHC strategic objectives and government priorities. The post holder will be responsible for the setup of robust excellent governance structure and procedures to facilitate good, open and honest interactions. On behalf of ministers and the Permanent Secretary of DLUHC, you will be expected to hold the body to account for delivery against its agreed objectives.  

G6 Policy Lead (Policy) 

This role will see the successful candidate leading on delivering an ambitious programme of work to establish OfLog.  A key outcome is that OfLog is established as an arm’s length body in statute. The postholder will need to work with the Head of Sponsorship and Chief of Staf in the body to get to grips with the developing vision and remit and the corresponding activities of the body so that policy implications are thoroughly considered, baselined and where necessary consulted on with key stakeholders and partners.  In doing so, the post holder will draw in the necessary expertise from legal, finance and others to identify the opportunities to do so and deliver on them. Coming from a strong strategy or policy development background with experience of developing and implementing legislation, the post holder will have a broad understanding of the regulatory, commercial and wider economic environment, and will be capable of presenting policy recommendations that have considered the potential risks, trade-offs and benefits of each proposal. With good project management skills, you will enjoy solving problems for the greater good and managing a broad array of stakeholders. As such, the post holder will have excellent communication and leadership skills, and will be capable of successfully managing and coordinating deliverables within their team. 

Responsibilities

• Leading and developing a high-performing collaborative team and demonstrates effective diversity and inclusive team management within their team and the wider organisation, including welfare and pastoral care of team. 

• Provide visible and effective leadership across the function and within areas of responsibility. 

• Shaping the direction of work; setting objectives and vision; motivating, engaging and developing your team. Assessing workload and priorities and ensuring that resources are deployed appropriately. 

• Lead on the strategic direction and roadmap for the new body. 

• Engaging with senior stakeholders across the Department and wider Government to drive delivery. 

• Shaping the direction of work; setting objectives and vision; motivating, engaging and developing your team. Assessing workload and priorities and ensuring that resources are deployed appropriately. 

• Working collaboratively with wider teams to manage interdependencies and risks and provide advice/briefing to Ministers and senior officials. 

• Collaborates closely with other DLUHC teams to manage interdependencies, risks and resourcing to support portfolio delivery. 

• Develop strong relationships with key stakeholders inside and outside government to drive policy delivery.  

• Building and maintaining a strong relationship between the Department and the Body as it evolves, with specific management of the relationship between the body, SoS and Department Executive Team. Supporting the Executive Team and Ministers in setting the Oflog’s priorities and strategic direction. 

Role Specific Responsibilities 

• Development of the Operating model with the Portfolio Management Office and Heads of Operations and Engagement and Partnerships. 

• Lead the planning, co-ordination and delivery of the high-quality business planning including budgeting, working with wider teams as appropriate to ensure the Body meets its corporate requirements including monitoring and reporting.  

• Working with the PMO support the development of business case/s working with the Body team and wider specialist teams (eg HR, Finance, Commercial, Economists). 

• Develop a high quality, effective sponsorship model between the Department and the Body with appropriate reporting mechanisms and risk management. This will include developing the framework agreement/MOU and clarifying Accounting Officer role delineations.  

• Lead the future sponsorship relationship with the Oflog ensuring effective and appropriate governance structures, communications and processes that ensure the body is accountable, maintains high standards of probity in the management of public funds, and delivers consistent high performance, aligned with departmental and wider government policy and priorities. 

• Lead on assessment (including of the impact assessment) of the policy implications of remit and activities that shape the requirements of the body and work collaboratively with wider colleagues including specialist teams (Legal, Legislative team) to achieve delivery objectives and benefits realisation. 

• Lead the strategic development and implementation of legislation and powers to support the requirements of the body, working collaboratively with specialist teams including Legal/Legislative Team and Parliamentary Counsel to achieve delivery objectives and benefits realisation. 

 
Person specification and essential criteria

Essential 

• We are looking for a highly motivated individual with excellent organisational, communication, interpersonal and leadership skills. You will need to demonstrate the ability to deliver under pressure; manage multiple and competing priorities; write clearly to engage and inform senior decision-makers and liaise effectively with a range of cross-governmental stakeholders. 

• Strong experience of leading and building high-performing teams in a complex delivery landscape. Ability to demonstrate inclusive and effective leadership with experience of performance management, planning, managing and reviewing activities to engage a team to deliver improved outcomes and seek new ways of working. 

• Resilience and commitment to a high standard of delivery in a fast-paced and pressurised environment. Ability to show flexibility, adaptability and proficiency to balance competing demands whilst delivering through others.  

• Champions a culture of inclusion and encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of colleagues, fuelling innovation and ensuring DLUHC best represents the sector and the communities we serve. 

• Ability to show flexibility and adaptability under pressure, with ability to balance competing demands and deliver high quality outputs. 

• Excellent oral and written skills including the ability to communicate complex information succinctly, clearly and compellingly. 

• Excellent leadership skills - reassuring to others and able to maintain the performance of their team in testing circumstances, with palpable personal resilience. 

• Ability to build collaborative and trusted working relationships with a variety of internal partners. 

• Strong interpersonal, stakeholder and communication skills, including the ability to work confidently with diverse groups of senior stakeholders and challenge where necessary. 

• Strong stakeholder engagement skills with ability to work with diverse groups of senior stakeholders to make the connection between policy and the real-world situation, developing detailed targeted solutions to demonstrate impact and providing challenge where necessary.  

• Be able to quickly get to grips with complex information and deploy analytical skills in order to negotiate and make informed recommendations to senior leaders and Ministers. 

• Calm working and making effective decisions under pressure with ability to deliver at pace and comfortable navigating through ambiguity. 

• Excellent stakeholder management skills and an ability to work collaboratively, build consensus and influence outcomes, as well as excellent oral and written communication skills and attention to detail. 

Desirable 

• Experience of working on high profile and fast paced issues

• Good knowledge and demonstrable understanding of the local government sector. 

• Have an understanding of, or experience in, public sector corporate governance including guidance such as managing public money. 

• Knowledge or experience of working in a sponsorship role interfacing with ALB’s or partner organisations landscape. 

• Commercial and financial awareness - drafting business cases and funding. 

• Knowledge and experience of strategy development and business planning, monitoring and reporting. 

• Experience of commercial awareness and financial management including high value budgets.  

• Developing legislation/bill and successfully progressing through Parliament.   

• Demonstrable ability to deliver tangible engagement, comms and partnership outcomes, working across multiple communications disciplines, especially press and digital/social 

• Knowledge and experience of leading a high-performance communications team in a demanding setting subject to ongoing stakeholder/media interest. 

• Experience of communications in a policy-driven environment, with sharply honed political antennae and astute judgement.

   

• Experience of applying behavioural insights in communications to stimulate action or behaviour change. 

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

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): Leadership

Behaviour: Seeing the Big Picture

Behaviour: Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour: Delivering at Pace

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 strength based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates. 

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

Behaviours: Leadership, Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace

Experience: Yes

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.

Grade 6 salary

• The salary for this role is £57,446 (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: 

• Wolverhampton 

• Darlington* 

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 (DEC) 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 DLUHC 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 W/C 15th August 2022 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