About the job

Job summary

We are seeking an experienced and high-performing Deputy Director for this high-profile and challenging role to lead the BBC Policy team within the Media and International Directorate. This role will give you significant leadership experience in a prominent area of policy, together with considerable exposure to a range of senior ministers and stakeholders across government, industry, consumers and regulators.

Job description

You will be joining a dynamic environment at an exciting time, providing strong leadership and direction to a dynamic and well-regarded team. Alongside leading the day-to-day relationship with and policy regarding the BBC and S4C (the publicly-funded Welsh language broadcaster), this role will also focus in particular on a number of very high-priority projects. These include: ensuring effective implementation of the findings of the Mid-Term Review of the BBC’s governance and regulation; concluding the DCMS-led review of the BBC’s future financing; and, the significant preparations for and running of the next BBC Charter Review. 

You will be able quickly to grasp and drive complex policy issues, have good judgement skills and demonstrate political awareness. You will work closely with policy and analytical teams in DCMS, Private Office, Special Advisers and Press Office, as well as with a range of other government departments. This is also a portfolio with considerable interest from No10, HM Treasury, FCDO, Ofcom (the independent communications regulator) and, unsurprisingly, the broadcasters themselves. You will therefore need to be adept at providing clear and considered advice to ministers and at managing important stakeholder relations.

Person specification

• Leadership: A track record of driving delivery and providing visible and inclusive leadership, with a proven ability to develop a motivated, engaged, diverse and high-performing workforce. A track record of corporate leadership contributing to wider priorities, and an ability to lead a team working in highly-scrutinised and politically charged environments.
• Making Effective Decisions & Delivering At Pace: Excellent evidence-based strategic and analytical skills, with experience of formulating, leading and implementing strategies, policies and programmes, including when under pressure, and a proven understanding of delivering value for money;
• Seeing the Big Picture: Highly-developed understanding of the political environment, including a broader understanding of how to operate outside of the immediate business area or organisation, and credibility to act as a trusted adviser to ministers and senior officials and stakeholders;
• Communicating and Influencing: Highly-developed written and oral communication skills, with the ability to brief on complex and often sensitive issues, presenting in a clear and concise manner and identifying key messages, with a proven track record in skilful navigation through senior stakeholders across government and industry.
• Working Together: Outstanding ability to forge excellent relationships and adept at successfully influencing, challenging and negotiating, to gain the confidence of key customers and senior stakeholders. 

Desirable Skills:

Commercial Experience.
Understanding of broadcasting industry. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £20,250 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.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 on Sunday 19 May
2024 via the CS Jobs portal:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
•  A Statement of Suitability (max 1,000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed.

For the shortlist, we will assess your experience and select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application. 

The panel will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the ‘essential requirements and desirable skills’ section of this pack. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Feedback
Please note you will only receive feedback if you reach the interview stage. Following interview, all candidates will receive a score along with some short written feedback on your performance at interview.  

If shortlisted, you will be invited to a Staff Engagement Exercise: A structure exercise which involves shortlisted candidates facilitating a discussion with a selection of staff from the Department on a given topic. The exercise will take place via Google Meet.

Interview
The interview process will assess behaviours, experience and will include a presentation.

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:
● Seeing the Big Picture
● Communicating and Influencing
● Making Effective Decisions
● Leadership
● Working Together

As part of your interview, you will be asked to deliver a short oral presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.

Your interview will take place, in person, at 100 Parliament Street. 

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.