About the job

Job summary

Join us as an Assistant Director in the Digital Markets Unit and play a pivotal role in promoting greater competition and innovation in key digital markets, including online search, social media, app stores, and online marketplaces. These markets play a vital role in our everyday lives, and your work will positively impact and protect UK consumers and businesses.

About us

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is a world-leading government body, established to make sure competition works in people’s favour and businesses treat their customers fairly. We are expanding our presence in Manchester and the city will be an important hub for our growing Digital Markets Unit (DMU). The DMU will focus on some of the most important online markets used by consumers and businesses in the UK, including search, social media, app stores and online marketplaces.

It is an exciting time to join the CMA’s Digital Markets Unit – we are passionate about what we do and offer a supportive environment, with opportunities to be involved in a wide range of interesting work.

The role

As an Assistant Director, you will lead the Digital Markets Unit's efforts in building and establishing its presence within the CMA. Your responsibilities will include developing and delivering strategies to address potential harms in digital markets, engaging in horizon scanning, and building relationships with key stakeholders. You will work closely with our Data and Technology Analytics unit to gain insights into evolving technologies, contributing to the DMU's status as a centre of excellence in digital market regulation.

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of digital market regulation, addressing one of the most significant policy challenges globally. You will lead a team dedicated to ensuring competitive and innovative digital markets, benefiting UK consumers and businesses.

About you

We are seeking individuals with a variety of backgrounds and skills. Your experience could range from digital markets and technology to management, policy, government, regulatory, economics, or legal fields. The essential criteria for this role include significant experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams, making complex decisions, and developing strategic stakeholder relationships. Excellent communication skills and the ability to drive and influence change are also crucial.

What we can offer you

The CMA is a hugely diverse, rewarding and stimulating place to work – an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself in doing so. We offer generous benefits, including an excellent pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%, at least 25 days leave (increasing to 30 over five years), and generous maternity/paternity leave provision. You can also take advantage of interest-free season ticket loans, a cycle to work scheme, and our extensive flexible working options.

We actively promote mental and physical wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme, a varied programme of wellbeing initiatives and a network of mental health first aiders.

The Digital Markets Team (DMU) will host a drop-in session for prospective candidates interested in working for the CMA. Candidates are invited to join a virtual session where the team will explain the work of the DMU and you can hear from existing team members about their experiences. Recruiting managers will be on hand to ask any questions you may have about the vacancies in team.  

We will run the session over Microsoft Teams from 17.30 to 18.30 on 15th January 2024, to register your interest please visit - Live Q&A Event: working in the CMA’s Digital Markets Unit Tickets, Mon 15 Jan 2024 at 17:30 , Eventbrite  

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please click on the APPLY button.

The closing date for applications is 11.55pm on 22nd January  2024.

Job description

We are looking for people with transferable skills and encourage applications from a diverse range of backgrounds. This may include, but is not limited to, people with experience working in:

• Digital Markets and using data and technology
• Management
• Delivery
• Analytical, research, policy
• Government
• Regulatory
• Economics
• Legal

The responsibilities may include: 

• Leading a team to develop and deliver work to establish the new DMU as a leading agency worldwide effective in promoting greater competition and innovation in digital markets, in the interests of consumers and citizens.
• Taking a leading role in delivering case and project work in digital markets, working closely with colleagues across the CMA, and using learnings from this work to inform the future work of the DMU.
• Leading our work to build the DMU’s horizon scanning and market insights function, working closely with colleagues in the CMA’s Data and Technology Analytics unit who lead on understanding technologies.
• Leading work to establish the DMU as a centre of excellence in digital markets regulation, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and building knowledge and expertise.
• Leading our work with other regulators with responsibilities for digital markets, both domestically and internationally, to strengthen cooperation and deliver a more effective, coherent regulatory landscape.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application. If you do not meet the lead selection criteria in your application, the panel will not be required to score your application against the remaining essential criteria of the role.

Essential:

• Significant experience leading multi-disciplinary teams to successfully deliver results, working within challenging timescales and taking responsibility and accountability for quality outcomes (lead criteria).
• Significant experience taking complex decisions, drawing on analysis of a wide range of information to support a broad understanding of the wider context, and balancing different views and perspectives (lead criteria).
• Significant experience leading the development of strategic relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external, including those with competing agendas and priorities and from other professional backgrounds.  
• Ability to communicate clearly to a range of audiences and secure buy-in to ideas, including developing and delivering presentations and materials for external publication.

Desirable:

• Experience in one of the following fields: digital markets, using data and technology, management and delivery, analytical, research, policy, government, regulatory, economics, or legal.
• Experience of managing staff, acting as a role model to support effective working, addressing skills gaps and helping to achieve aspirations.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £73,512, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £19,848 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 and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and an interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation.  Interviews will be conducted virtually. 

An initial sift based on the lead criteria may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification (above, below and in the attached role profile) will then be considered.

• Significant experience leading multi-disciplinary teams to successfully deliver results, working within challenging timescales and taking responsibility and accountability for quality outcomes (lead criteria).
• Significant experience taking complex decisions, drawing on analysis of a wide range of information to support a broad understanding of the wider context, and balancing different views and perspectives (lead criteria).
• Significant experience leading the development of strategic relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external, including those with competing agendas and priorities and from other professional backgrounds.  
• Ability to communicate clearly to a range of audiences and secure buy-in to ideas, including developing and delivering presentations and materials for external publication.

The sift will take place week commencing w/c 22 January 2024.

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview. You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account and book your interview slot. You will be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

Interviews will be held from w/c 19 February 2024.

Successful candidates at the shortlisting stage will be invited to interview.

Candidates who are invited to interview will be asked to complete a written assessment in advance of the interview and present this to the Panel. Further information on the topic of the assessment and presentation will be provided alongside the invitation to interview. The second part of the interview will involve questions based on the Behaviours and Experience outlined in the role profile. In total, we expect the interview to last no longer than 1 hour.

Existing CMA staff can apply for this position and remain working from their current office location

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

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 security 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 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.