About the job

Job summary

If you are successful in joining this leadership team you will help lead a service that reaches over 17,500 thousand Civil Servants.

You will support the digital transformation of three government departments (we also provide IT services to the Department for Business and Trade) and many smaller agencies.  

To be digital is to start and end with people. You will work across a team of exceptionally dedicated staff based across 6 locations and lead them as a cohesive unit. You will help us shape a user-centred mindset within all colleagues, customers, and stakeholders. You will empower your staff to be their best, and in doing so ensure they deliver the best outcomes. 

In turn we will support your own professional and academic growth. We will encourage you to improve your skills and gain further qualifications, and we will work with industry leaders to gain valuable insights, share knowledge, and build relationships.

You will be working in a team that delivers critical services to our customers, from providing core IT services to building world-class citizen services (like the Energy Bills Saving Schemes). We ensure governance and delivery assurance for all digital activities and support the department in managing its data. Additionally, we provide data protection and records management compliance services, and are currently integrating AI into our day-to-day tools. Our team provides support, advice, and training to all staff, fostering broader digital learning. We lead our departments in finding innovative ways of using our digital and data resources to transform the way we solve problems and improve the ways we work.

Job description

About the role

This is a key role within Integrated Corporate Services (ICS), leading for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and ICS on shared services with our current and future service provider UK Shared Business Services (UKSBS). In this role you will be leading service management and programme teams and actively engaging stakeholders to shape the smartest and most seamless person-centred shared services for DSIT and DESNZ.

ICS Digital

The role will sit in ICS Digital, where innovation meets expertise to create digital solutions. We are a cohesive digital community who work in the open, solving problems together and fostering a culture of transparency and collaboration. Our commitment to user-focused design and data-driven decision-making ensures that we deliver accessible services tailored to the needs of our customers.

Matrix programme

The Matrix programme, a Government Major Programmes Portfolio (GMPP) programme across nine government departments to transform shared services, is moving from strategy to delivery with a systems implementer starting in September. We are looking for a motivated professional to drive this forward, providing confidence to a diverse group of stakeholders. It is also an exciting time for Business-as-Usual services as we push forwards with service improvements that will set us up well for Matrix, including payroll separation and communication campaigns to promote effective adoption.

Leadership

• Provide leadership across shared services for DSIT and DESNZ and ICS Digital more broadly, embedding a culture of collaboration, user-focus and empowerment.
• Deploy expert stakeholder management across functional Directors (Finance, HR, Digital, Commercial), Chief Operating Officers, Matrix colleagues and UKSBS and UKRI stakeholders. 
• Lead teams across current shared service management and Matrix programme for future delivery, ensuring cohesion and maximising opportunities for near-term improvements.
• Be part of the ICS Digital senior leadership team, championing our values and demonstrating to stakeholders the effectiveness and impact of our delivery. 
• Lead a team of c.20, securing resources as required to enable programme implementation.

Matrix

• Act as DESNZ and DSIT Departmental Lead for the Matrix programme, a Government Major Programmes Portfolio (GMPP) programme across nine government departments to transform shared services, delivering on government shared services policy.
• Ensure that Matrix strategy, business cases and implementation plans are shaped by departmental input and secure departmental buy-in to collective Matrix delivery, including benefit delivery.
• Be responsible for shaping and implementing the departmental programme across DSIT, DESNZ and ICS with a focus on department change readiness across people, process, data and technology.
• Ensure Arms Length Bodies due to move to Matrix at the same time as Departments (UK Space Agency and Building Digital UK) are appropriately engaged and change ready for Matrix.

Service management

• Maintain effective oversight of Arms Length Body UKSBS, providing support and challenge across the departments' ownership, sponsorship and client roles.
• Provide policy sponsorship for UKSBS and be responsible for UKSBS ownership support, overseeing the UKSBS ownership group and facilitating decisions across owner functions.
• Ensure effective service management and end user engagement, including across service performance management and change requests, working with functions across multiple clients to prioritise activity. Act as senior user for major change.
• Hold client budgets (c.£10m pa) and ensure strong financial management, working closely with co-owners of UKSBS (the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Person specification

Skills, experience and qualifications (Essential)

Essential Criteria

• Clarity and Direction: Demonstrated ability to lead decisively, especially in ambiguous and complex situations.
• Stakeholder Collaboration and Influence: Exceptional skills in engaging and managing stakeholders, adeptly balancing challenge and support through effective collaboration and influence.
• Strong Program Leadership: Proficient in leading cross-functional teams across change, communications, digital, data, and program management.
• People Leadership: Adept at building, empowering, and sustaining successful teams.
• Digital Change Delivery: Proven track record in navigating complexity while successfully delivering digitally enabled change programs. 
• Partnership Management: Demonstrated experience in effectively managing partnerships, with the ability to adapt and apply commercial principles within a public ownership model to maximise value.

Desirable

• Shared Services Experience: Substantial previous experience leading and managing shared services.
• Program Management Qualification: Qualification in program management

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero 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

How to apply

To apply for this post please follow the instructions on the CS Jobs website by no later than 23:55 on Monday 20th  May 2024.

As part of the application process you are asked to complete the following:

1. A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where applicable of budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
2. A Statement of Suitability (1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
3. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to undertake one assessment as part of this recruitment prior to a final interview panel: 

   A staff engagement exercise: a structured exercise which involves shortlisted candidates facilitating a discussion with a selection of staff from the Department on a given topic.

   These assessments will not result in a “pass” or “fail” decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

4. Final Interview which will include a presentation exercise. 

   For further information on the application process and an overview on what to expect, please visit the Civil Service Careers website.

   For further information on the application process and an overview on what to expect, please visit the Civil Service Careers website.

Overview of the Process

Government Recruitment Service will acknowledge your application and advise you of the outcome of the sift meeting. Depending on the number of applications received there may be a second stage sift.

Applications will be sifted to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please ensure you keep this in mind when writing your CV and supporting statement.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Arrangements for interview

The final selection panel interview will be held on the 13th and 17th of June. 

If candidates are required to prepare a presentation for their interview, they will be given at least one week’s notice of the subject.

Expenses incurred by candidates during the recruitment process will not be reimbursed by the Department except in exceptional circumstances and only when agreed in advance.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out 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.