About the job

Job summary

Honours and Awards Team

The Honours and Awards team sits within Public Bodies, Appointments, Honours and Awards (PBAHA). It leads the administration of Honours nominations across Arts & Media, Sport, Economy, Community & Voluntary Service and Public Service, and the King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS).

The Honours system has two rounds per year: New Year and Birthday. The team delivers each element of the process according to the cycle, working closely with Cabinet Office, independent committees and senior Civil Servants.

The KAVS is an annual UK-wide award scheme which rewards exceptional contributions by local volunteer groups. It’s the equivalent of an MBE and is the highest award which a voluntary organisation can receive. 

The team is a highly collaborative one, sharing workload during peak times to meet deadlines and quality expectations. Exact responsibilities may flex over time to ensure all team members have appropriate workloads. You will be joining a team of nine people, led by the Head of Honours and Awards.

Public Appointments Team

DCMS is responsible for c.400 appointments to the boards of 42 Public Bodies - high profile organisations such as the V&A, Tate, the British Museum, the British Film Institute, National Lottery Community Fund, UK Sport, regulators including the Charity Commission and a small number of advisory bodies including the Treasure Valuation Committee and the Reviewing Committee for the Export of Works of Art.  

The team manages the Department’s public appointments process regulated by the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments to meet the business and policy objectives of DCMS Ministers, Cabinet Office, No 10 the wider department and its Public Bodies.

The team is a highly collaborative one, sharing workload during peak times to meet deadlines and quality expectations. Exact responsibilities may flex over time to ensure all team members have appropriate workloads. You will be joining a team of ten people, led by two Heads of Public Appointments.

Job description

Deputy Honours Secretary

Key responsibilities will include: 

• Reporting to the Honours Secretary, assisting them with the bi-annual honours selection process on behalf of the Department and with the opportunity to deputise for the Honours Secretary.
• Acting as the main point of contact for honours coordinators in the policy teams. 
• Monitoring the Honours inbox for incoming nominations, queries and requests for comments on candidates. 
• Leading on the initial sift of nominations received from the public.  
• Drafting and quality assuring of citations for successful nominations.
• Dealing with a range of queries from stakeholders, in addition to members of the public and, on occasion, the Senior Leadership Team, Permanent Secretary and Ministers.
• Drafting high quality material for internal communications purposes. 
• Leading on the production of guest lists for the annual Royal Garden Parties by liaising with Buckingham Palace. 
• Embedding a new case management system into the Honours Team

Public Appointments Coordinator

Key responsibilities will include: 

• Coordinating logistical processes for all public appointments, including scheduling dates and contacting candidates and panel members
• Managing the shared inbox and handling general correspondence 
• Processing candidate applications and uploading diversity data
• Conducting due diligence background research on candidates
• Leading on finance for the team, processing payments in a timely fashion
• Working with communications teams to ensure all appointments are publicly announced
• Supporting the organisation and delivery of online and in person outreach events
• Potential of managing appointments to non-regulated bodies.

Person specification

Essential Requirements: 

• The successful candidate must be organised and able to manage their own workload
• Have excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Ability to draft submissions and briefings
• Show initiative and be able to effectively use and apply IT skills to improve processes 
• Can examine complex information to make decisions and will use and store often sensitive information securely and confidentially
• Ability to produce a high volume of work to a high standard under pressure

Desirable Skills:

• Experience working in customer facing roles
• Experience of working under pressure
• Experience of stakeholder management

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,514, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £7,158 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 Experience.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 on Wednesday 31st
January 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 500 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.
• A behaviour statement of 250 words on Delivering at Pace.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead behaviour: Delivering at Pace. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with: dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

For the interview you will be assessed against behaviours and strengths.

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing

You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview. 

Your interview will take place remotely via GoogleMeets.

For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to DCMS 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

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.

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Information for Applicants’ document.

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only., Prior agreement to be released on loan 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.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.

In order to request an adjustment, please:

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on 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 a verbal test rather than a written one. 

Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.

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.