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 the Resourcing Hub at recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk with your application and/or CV before the submission deadline. Any applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

Job summary

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) role is to make sure that through levelling up, everyone has the same opportunity to flourish. It means people everywhere living longer and more fulfilling lives and benefitting from sustained rises in living standards and well-being. 

We are committed to creating an inclusive and respectful work environment for all our colleagues, that reflects the diversity of the public we serve. We welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.  

The Commercial Directorate offers an exciting, dynamic, and friendly working environment, with the opportunity to support DLUHC’s key priorities.  

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.

Job description

The successful applicant will be part of a small busy team supporting the Commercial Senior Leadership, which is made up of a Director and six Deputy Directors. The individual will work closely with the Head of the Director’s Office to deliver a quality support service, which enables the Senior Leadership and wider directorate to function effectively. The successful applicant will work closely with other private offices, members of the Commercial Directorate and key external/internal stakeholders; proactively anticipating short- and long-term needs.   

Part of delivering a first-rate service is understanding the portfolio. You will therefore have an opportunity to work on areas of policy with commercial interest alongside your partnered Deputy Directors. This provides a unique perspective on the department and how things work.  

Delivering a first-rate service will require you to balance long-term planning and the management of immediate needs, giving the successful applicant an opportunity to build a proven track record in administration, strategic thinking and problem-solving.   

You will be a highly motivated, proactive individual with strong interpersonal skills and be a good organiser/administrator. Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. Comfortable working at pace and adaptable to emerging events and work priorities. Strong team ethic, ability to work as part of a team and independently. Personal resilience when working under pressure and to demanding deadlines. Organised, methodical and flexible approach to work to allow for competing deadlines and to quickly prioritise incoming work. The ability to influence and negotiate to achieve timely results. Demonstratable IT skills with an experience of using Microsoft Office 365, in particular Outlook and Teams alongside Excel and PowerPoint.  

The main responsibilities of the post are:   

• Diary, email inbox and administrative support to two Deputy Directors/ Director, including proactively managing their time, deconflicting appointments and requests, providing papers/briefing for meetings and acting on their behalf where appropriate.   

• Providing general administrative / project support to the Commercial Directorate in close partnership with the rest of the Business Support team.   

• Logistics such as: booking travel and meeting rooms; arranging face to face, remote and hybrid meetings; and handling the induction of new staff.  

• Providing support on areas of the Deputy Director’s portfolio which could include: submissions and correspondence, preparing briefings and team engagement. 

Person specification

We are looking for a highly motivated individual who is keen to learn more about the Directorate and Department’s work. You will be a self-starter with 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. In return this is an opportunity to work in a fun, friendly Directorate at the heart of a number of DLUHC’s priorities, and the government’s priorities for Levelling Up.  

Key Skills and Experience  

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. 

• Comfortable working at pace and adaptable to emerging events and work priorities. 

• Strong team ethic, ability to work as part of a team and independently. 

• Personal resilience when working under pressure and to demanding deadlines. 

• Organised, methodical and flexible approach to work to allow for competing deadlines and to quickly prioritise incoming work. 

• The ability to influence and negotiate to achieve timely results. 

• Demonstratable IT skills with an experience of using Microsoft Office 365, in particular Outlook and Teams alongside Excel and PowerPoint. 

• Demonstratable experience of diary and inbox management, or equivalent experience  

The successful candidate will be encouraged to undertake a professional learning qualification as part of the role through the Level 3 Business Admin if this is in line with both business needs and the individual’s development needs. This is not a mandatory condition of accepting the role.

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%

Things you need to know

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 

Delivering at Pace - (Lead Behaviour)

Seeing the big picture  

Making Effective Decisions  

Communicating and Influencing  

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 progress straight to assessment/interview  

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

Behaviour 

Strength 

The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

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

Behaviours: Delivering at Pace, Seeing the big picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing  

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. 

EO salary 

• The salary for this role is £28,412 (London) or £25,324 (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 

• Birmingham

• Darlington

• Leeds

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 13th of June 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. 

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 DLUHC 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 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 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.

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) (opens in a new window)

• 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 (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.

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.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name :Caroline Lallis

• Email :Caroline.lallis@levellingup.gov.uk