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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.

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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 Government committed in its manifesto to take steps to improve the integrity of UK elections. It is legislating for substantial changes, including bringing in voter identification for UK elections; making it easier for overseas electors to vote; improving the security of postal and proxy voting; making polling stations more accessible; and strengthening the rules on political campaigning.

The Elections Directorate is responsible for delivering against these commitments, including delivering the Electoral Integrity Programme, implementing the Elections Act 2022, and discharging our responsibilities for law and policy on elections, franchise and voter registration, running digital services and processing elections claims from local authorities.

Job Description

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the Department’s work on the most significant set of changes to electoral law by the UK Government in many years. This high profile and ambitious programme of work continues to draw significant attention within Parliament, across the media and from a wide variety of commentators interested in how our democracy works.

The Elections Director leads a team of approximately up to 150 staff based across the country and a budget of £61m RDEL and £18m CDEL. It is an exciting opportunity to drive forward a key Prime Ministerial priority.

The Director is also the Senior Responsible Officer for the Electoral Integrity Programme. During the lifetime of this Parliament we will implement the key Government manifesto and ministerial commitments framed by the Elections Act 2022. The Act requires a substantial programme of change to the way in which elections work in the UK. 

The Electoral Integrity Programme will deliver this transformational work, giving effect to the Elections Act and a substantial volume of secondary legislation.

The Programme has a substantial digital transformation element and continues to develop and deliver new policy and processes to support the successful delivery of the Government’s vision.

Responsibilities

The Elections Director is responsible for:

• Setting the legal and policy framework for, and supporting the effective delivery of, elections, including the Electoral Claims Unit.
  

• Developing law and policy on the regulation of political parties, candidates and non-party campaigners, and referendums, including the Government’s relationship with the Electoral Commission.
  

• Acting as Senior Responsible Officer for the Electoral Integrity Programme, which is a Tier A Government Major Programme in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s Government Major Projects Programme Portfolio.
  

• Acting as the lead for the Defending Democracy programme, coordinating cross-Whitehall policy projects and operational response including the newly formed Joint Elections and Security Preparedness Unit.
  

• Acting as sponsor for the Boundary Commissions for England and Wales, whose reviews are underway and will report in July 2023. Staff for the Boundary Commission also are within the Elections Director’s remit.
  

• Ensuring that electors can access and use digital electoral services.

Person specification

This is a high profile and important Director role which requires an ability to think strategically, identify and manage risk and delivery, and lead a challenging and high-profile programme. You will be passionate about delivering this ambitious and transformational set of changes to electoral law.

You will have demonstrable project delivery expertise, founded in a track record of delivering major programmes on budget and within tight timescales. You will thrive on solving complex challenges and challenging existing ways of working. You will also be passionate about sharing your expertise across the organisation to drive delivery excellence.

You will be an experienced and inspirational leader, able to empower, develop and inspire teams to deliver, even under pressure. You will be able to provide visible and supportive leadership to the teams and need to be comfortable working and leading in a fast-paced environment with considerable ambiguity, flexibility and change, and be willing to challenge and innovate in that context.

You will be able to use your judgment, drawing in outside expertise and assurance as needed to advise Ministers and ensure delivery. You will be an effective communicator and will be credible at senior levels, commanding confidence with Ministers, senior central government officials, local councils, and other stakeholders. You will be able to handle and balance a wide range of relationships, internally and externally.

As a senior leader in the Civil Service, you will also have a strong commitment to the Civil Service values of impartiality, honesty, integrity and objectivity. 

We particularly encourage applications from those of an ethnic minority background and those with disabilities, 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.  

Due to the sensitive nature of some areas of work, you will be willing to undertake security clearance to Developed Vetting level once in post if not already held.

Essential Criteria

• Inspiring and confident leader, who can set direction for the team and lead through ambiguity effectively, with a strong ability to develop staff and nurture talent at all levels.
  

• A track record of leading significant projects, driving delivery at pace of a broad and complex national service delivery programme and managing risk effectively. Additionally, completed or willingness to complete the Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA) course.

• A strategic thinker, able to set direction and a policy framework in a complex landscape, and experience of policy making relevant to constitutional issues at a local and national level.

• An ability to adapt to changing circumstances and adverse situations while remaining calm, reassuring others and maintaining performance.
  

• A powerful communicator with the personal credibility to work effectively with senior stakeholders at a political and senior level across sectors and organisations, including national and local government, secure their confidence, and achieve outcomes through trusted relationships, persuasion and influencing.

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 13 August 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.

Catherine Frances, Director General for Local Government, Resilience and Communities, would be happy to have an informal discussion with candidates who would like further information about the role before submitting an application. If interested, please contact scs.recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk 

The selection panel will be made up of:

• Martin Spencer, Civil Service Commissioner and chair

• Catherine Frances, DLUHC Director General and hiring manager

• Another panel member, to be confirmed.

Additionally, the panel will be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion.

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.

Candidates will be made aware before we take references. Any references taken for shortlisted candidates will be passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview. We will also be conducting full due diligence as part of this recruitment campaign.

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. 

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.

In addition to the BPSS, the level of security clearance required for this role is Security Check (SC) and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 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 £110,000 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 Director (£95,000).​​

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