About the job

Job summary

We are looking for an enthusiastic, diligent individual with excellent communication and organisational skills to help us in our mission to build the best analytical community possible within the Department of Health and Social Care.

In DHSC, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.

The Office of the Chief Analyst (OCA) provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for the department’s analytical community, helping to ensure that decision making is informed by the best evidence and analysis and providing insights on high priority areas. An important element of this is strengthening how the community works; facilitating community communication, decision making and activities. This is done by the Analytical Community Leadership team, where this role sits.

We engage with a community of around 400 analysts, mostly based in analytical teams co-located with policy directorates in areas including workforce, public health, social care, NHS, medicines and pharmacy. Our responsibilities include:

• Enhancing the department’s analytical capability, working through corporate priority groups to deliver and review training programmes and with capability colleagues in HR and policy to upskill colleagues across the department in analysis
• Undertaking a range of community and culture building initiatives, including managing newsletters, community meetings and co-ordinating the sharing of excellent analysis. We work closely with community members to enhance these activities and identify additional needs and opportunities to improve the community’s knowledge, wellbeing and effectiveness
• Ensuring that analytical teams have the staff and skills they need to be most effective in supporting evidence-based policy making, through strategic resource planning, working closely with the analytical professions 
• Improving our career offer for staff, working closely with colleagues across DHSC and the central analytical professions

The Office of the Chief Analyst (OCA) is a great place to work.  Working directly to the Department’s Director of Analysis, we have a wide range of skills and a fantastic overview of work on departmental priorities. Our work is very important to senior leaders. We are a friendly team and pride ourselves on the care and support we show to our colleagues.

Job description

The post holder will support the Analytical Community and Engagement lead in understanding the bigger picture of what the analytical community needs to function well, the improvement opportunities and developing proposals to support this. Within this, the postholder will lead on some of the activities that are currently undertaken.

The post holder will lead on organising a range of routine meetings and communications activities which are key to the functioning of the community. This includes developing the agenda for community meetings and senior analyst meetings, managing the content and circulation of analyst newsletters and engaging with training providers. The postholder would keep these activities under review and identify ways to improve them.

The postholder will support the analytical community’s corporate groups. These groups address cross cutting themes such as quality assurance in analysis, analytical training and diversity & inclusion in analysis and the analytical community. We support them with a variety of things including managing membership and communications.

The postholder would manage our “Analyst Exchange” scheme which coordinates analysts to provide short term support to other work areas to meet a skills or resourcing gap. The post holder  will ensure that opportunities are suitable for this scheme and are clearly advertised and will maintain an overview on whether the scheme is meeting the needs of its users.

Working with the Analytical Community and Engagement lead, the postholder will work on specific projects such as reviewing the technology we use to communicate with analysts and analytical groups and on building our relationships with analytical leads in NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency.

The post holder would be expected to engage with the wider work of the team and would be asked to support other projects from time to time, that delivered the responsibilities of Office of the Chief Analyst.

Person specification

• Preparing and communicating material for analysts including the Analytical Community Newsletter, Induction packs and other updates and maintaining the mailing lists for these
• Arranging meetings such as the Analytical Community Meeting and the Analyst Team Leaders meeting, working with senior leads to agree the agenda and coordinating the inputs
• Supporting corporate groups
• Organising and booking training courses on behalf of the Analytical Community
• Managing the Analyst Exchange scheme
• Managing the analytical community mailbox
• Other community related projects and potentially wider projects across different areas from time to time

Key skills and experience required for the roles

• Good stakeholder management skills: able to build relationships with people of different background and work with them to organise and communicate activities
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. Able to communicate clearly, with the audience need in mind
• Sound organisational skills to manage a portfolio of work, ensuring elements are scheduled with time to get inputs from stakeholders and sign off
• Good knowledge management ability. Able to find approaches used for similar activities in the past from the knowledge management system and apply them, taking into account different circumstances and opportunities to improve. Able to keep a record of own actions for future reference
• Willingness to learn and to be flexible when a situation or the work required changes
• Confidence in taking forward routine tasks independently and confidence in asking for help or making the team aware when a matter becomes more complicated than expected
• Good team working skills, happy to communicate what you are doing and help out when other work areas become busy

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,188, Department of Health and Social Care contributes £8,690 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Ability and Experience.

Sift date: expected W/C 22/01/2024

Interview date: expected W/C 29/01/2024

Interview location: By video

The available interview slots will be released with the sift scores. 

Applications will be sifted on CV, Statement of Suitability, Behaviours and Online Tests.

Please use your CV to set out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. These can be found in the ‘key skills and experience required for the role’ section of the advert. 

Please use your Statement of Suitability to (in no more than 750 words) outline how you meet the key skills and experience required for the role as set out in the job advert. 

Please complete statements on the specified Behaviours (250 word max per statement).

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Candidates will be required to complete a Numerical Reasoning Test and Judgement Test as part of the online application, this will follow immediately after the initial short application form is submitted. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the full application. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended) to give yourself enough time to complete your full application. The closing date for the tests and for submitting your full application is 24/01/2024. If you fail to complete the online test and submit your full application before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website. 

An initial sift based on 'Communicating and Influencing' may be held if a large number of applications are received. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview. 

At interview candidates will be assessed on Behaviours, Strengths and Experience. 

Further Information

To find out more about working in the department please visit our page on the Civil Service Careers Website here 

Applicants who are appointable but were not successful in appointment to this vacancy, may be held on a reserve list for up to 12 months, and contacted if similar vacancies become available. 

Please be aware that some travel may be required across the DHSC estate. 

Please note that applicants will require BPSS clearance.

Any move to DHSC 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

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

Contact Government Recruitment Service via dhscrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This role is being advertised on a permanent basis. If preferable, Loan or Secondment options will also be available for existing Civil Servants (Loan) and applicants from accredited NDPBs or any other employer (Secondment). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

Terms and Conditions

Candidates should note that DHSC’s Terms and Conditions of employment changed from 1 October 2013. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful. 

New Entrants to the Civil Service

New entrants appointed in grades AA to G6 will receive DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions:

• Annual Leave: 25 days on entry rising by one day for each completed year of service to a maximum of 30 days and pro-rata for part-time staff
• Privilege Leave: 1 day - for the King’s birthday
• Hours of Work: 37 hours (net) per week for full time staff in all geographical locations, including London and pro rata for part-time staff
• Occupational Sick Pay (OSP): one month full pay/one month half pay on entry, rising by one month for each completed year of service to a maximum of five months’ full pay and five months’ half pay
• Mobility: Mobility clause in contracts allow staff to be mobile across the Civil Service
• Probation: 6 month probation period

Existing Civil Service staff transferring from another Government department, on either level transfer or promotion

All staff moving to DHSC will transfer onto DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions (as outlined above). 

Existing DHSC staff, appointed on either level transfer or promotion

If DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions are already held, the employee will retain those terms and conditions. If DHSC’s pre-modernised terms and conditions are held, the employee will transfer onto DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions (as outlined above).

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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 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)

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.