About the job

Job summary

Do you want to be part of a small but busy team, performing a high-profile role at the heart of government and contributing to integral functions in Ministerial Private Offices? We have a brilliant opportunity to work with Private Offices, policy teams and others across Whitehall to fulfil DLUHC’s Parliamentary work, playing a key role to provide support to a team of Ministers and the wider department on parliamentary procedure and handling, covering policy issues that people care about most: housing, spreading opportunity around the United Kingdom and creating communities where we are proud to live.

The Parliamentary Team manages a range of matters such as dealing with written parliamentary questions (PQs), debates, secondary legislation (SIs), select committees and procedural issues and ensure that the Department provides timely advice and briefing to enable ministers to meet their parliamentary responsibilities.

We are looking to recruit a Deputy Parliamentary Clerk into a varied, high-profile and challenging leadership role, with responsibility for Select Committee relationships, and oversight of the daily Chamber Business. This role would suit an enthusiastic candidate looking to gain experience of how a parliamentary team works within a department, including with private office colleagues. 

Job description

Key responsibilities will include: 
●    Management and coordination of the Department’s work to prepare Ministers ahead of DLUHC Oral Parliamentary Questions each month
●    Co-ordinating briefing for Ministers ahead of key parliamentary debates in the House of Commons and Lords; including Opposition Day, Westminster Hall, Adjournment and Backbench Business debates.
●    Coordinating work with policy teams and private offices to deliver key departmental announcements through written or oral statements. 
●    Monitoring Urgent Questions and preparing briefing and responses to these. 
●    Overseeing how DLUHC works with Parliamentary Select Committees; including
○    coordinating responses to calls for written evidence; 
○    liaising with the Clerks of the Select Committees; and
○    preparing briefing for Ministerial and Senior Officials’ attendance at oral evidence sessions.
○    Co-ordinating responses to reports and correspondence from Select Committees.
●    Management of a HEO Parliamentary Officer.    
●    Providing additional support and flexible resource across the Parliamentary Team.

Person specification

This role requires attention-to-detail, excellent organisation and stakeholder management skills.

The role-holder must be able to sustain delivery at pace across numerous projects, and respond to changing priorities, resourcing and delivery needs in a proactive and consistent way. 

Essential criteria:
•    Ability to deliver numerous projects in parallel
•    Ability to communicate and influence across teams/Departments to establish common goals, deadlines and milestones 
•    Independent self-starter: confident building policy knowledge and problem solving.
•    Ability to convey complex information in plain English
•    Experience of parliamentary procedures

Desirable criteria:
•    Knowledge and/or understanding of the range of policies and issues that affect DLUHC
•    Experience of working with Ministers and senior officials. 
•    Experience of line management

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,208, 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.

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 

 

DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.  

 

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).  

 

At application stage you will be asked to upload a CV document. Unless stated otherwise in the advert, your CV will not form part of the assessment but will be used for information purposes and only shared with the panel at interview stage. 

 

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.  

 

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

 

When writing your application, remember: 

• The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.  
• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.  
• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

 

 

At sift, we will be assessing 

 

Behaviour 1 (lead behaviour) - Managing a Quality Service  

 

Behaviour 2 - Seeing the big picture 

 

Behaviour 3 - Communicating and Influencing 

 

Behaviour 4 - Delivering at Pace 

 

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

 

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview  

 

 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:    

Behaviour – Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the big picture, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace 

Strength 

The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

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

 

Behaviours: (Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the big picture, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace)  

Strengths: (Yes) 

 

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – 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 £42,208 (London) or £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.   

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 

• London 

 

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. 

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 25/12/23 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 n 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. 

 

CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance): 

Important note 

 
Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 
 
Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC). Thank you. 
 
Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database.

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

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 

 

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. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist 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.