About the job

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Safer Green Buildings (SGB) Briefings Team. The objective of SGB is to deliver an ambitious system of reform, as well as a historic cladding remediation programme, with the aim of ensuring high-rise buildings are safe, and that residents feel safe in them, now and in the future. Our work involves a high level of Ministerial engagement, public and media interest.

The team sits in the very centre of the Group, providing a critical function in translating its work into clear, robust and high-quality briefing products and PQ responses for the Secretary of State, our ministers, senior officials and wider interest groups.

This supports effective engagement with stakeholders, ensuring that the public and Parliament have appropriate responses. The successful candidate will enjoy being on top of and alive to a wide range of policy work and be able to convert that into succinct products that meet our customers’ needs.

Job description

The post holder will work to a G7 in the team and will be responsible for ensuring concise and informative cross-cutting briefings are drafted and delivered for ministers and senior stakeholders, and for coordinating responses to Parliamentary Questions. This can include briefing for ministerial meetings with stakeholders, parliamentary debates, committees and oral parliamentary questions.

As an SEO you will demonstrate leadership by enthusiastically contributing to the positive culture of the team and act as a role-model by delivering on complex issues calmly, professionally and at pace.

You will:

• Ensure the provision of high-quality, concise and informative briefings.

• Evaluate all briefing requests and provide clear direction to policy leads drafting relevant material.

• Liaise with Private Offices on requirements and keep them informed of progress

• Ensure material is drafted on time, coherently and addresses the need.

• Review existing material and contributions, draft, collate, and quality assure products.

• Quality assure answers to written questions from Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords, ensuring that the right officials are involved in responding, and that these answers are delivered in a timely manner

• Maintain a shared repository of PQs and briefing that act as an auditable record of programme business.

• Direct line management of 3 HEO’s

Person specification

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal to deliver high quality products for Ministers and senior officials

• Attention to detail, especially when working in a fast-paced environment

• Ability to build excellent relationships and collaborate with a range of internal and external stakeholders

• High levels of personal resilience with the ability to exercise good judgement and work effectively under pressure.

• Ability to undertake work in a flexible and proactive manner in order to adapt to changing priorities.

• The need to remain alert to emerging issues and trends which impact on the work of the team.

• Ability to identify risks and resolve issues efficiently across a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders, and delivery partners. 

• Strong track record of working collaboratively across policy and delivery teams, whilst evidencing an ability to lead others within or outside of formal line management responsibilities.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,732, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £10,457 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 and Technical skills.

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

CV and Cover Letter Declaration

We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment.

Please remove references to your:

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

You will need to merge your CV and covering letter 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 covering letter.

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

At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing:

Behaviours 1: Leadership

Behaviours 2: Communicating and Influencing

Behaviours 3: Managing A Quality Service

Behaviours 4: Delivering at Pace

Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page setting out how you meet the criteria set out in the job description and why you are interested in the role. 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of technical, behaviour, and strength based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Leadership, Managing A Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

Strengths: Yes

Technical: Yes 

Test: Yes. Written test after interview 

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

Technical: Yes – Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Strength: Yes

Behaviours: Yes - Communicating and Influencing, Leadership, Managing A Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

We do not consider direct CV applications – 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

SEO salary

• The salary for this role is £38,732 (National).
• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.
  
  

Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.  

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.

Location

• Wolverhampton
• Darlington*

*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus 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. 

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack.

At present, a minimum of 60% of your working time will be spent in your contractual office location. Requirements to attend other office locations or off-site meetings will be counted towards this. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process. 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.

(Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, Hastings, Hemel Hempstead, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield, Truro, Warrington)

Sift and Interview dates

We will be sifting applicants as we go – so please don’t wait until the deadline to submit your application. Interview dates will be confirmed at a later stage, all interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall.

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 19/02/2024 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. 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.

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

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.