About the job

Job summary

The Public Safety Group’s role is to keep the public safe by cutting crime (including by disrupting the highest harm criminals), tackling its drivers, bringing criminals to justice and protecting the vulnerable. We work closely with partners across policing, the National Crime Agency, and fire and rescue services to ensure they are as efficient and effective as they can be in delivering front line public services.

To deliver on our mission we operate locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We fund the work of a wide range of front-line agencies and are committed to supporting innovation and good practice sharing across the systems we lead. We are also delivering the Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme - a major national IT programme to improve communications between police, fire and ambulance services.

This role reports to the Director General for Public Safety and is one of six policy Director roles within the Group. The post holder will have responsibility for the Policing Policy Directorate which consists of five units and will provide system leadership across the 43 police forces in England and Wales. The Public Safety Group is a very busy, mission-focused, collaborative and stimulating team in which to work.

Job description

The Director for Policing Policy has overall responsibility for advising the Home Secretary and Ministers about policy and policy delivery with regard to the police in England and Wales. The successful candidate will lead a team of c.110 staff across five units in this high-profile Directorate.

Your key role is to provide fantastic leadership to the policing system as a whole. To do this you will need to develop strong working relationships with Chief Constables and other policing leaders, support and challenge them, and be a trusted and known presence in the policing system. You will also work collaboratively with colleagues across the Public Safety Group, Home Office and partners in the wider criminal justice system.

 You will also be expected to:

• Hold oversight and responsibility for the governance, accountability and structures of policing, including the role of Police and Crime Commissioners.
• Ensure the police have the powers and tools they need, including to effectively respond to protests, and that they are used proportionately and appropriately.
• Support long-term workforce reform and improve leadership, diversity, skills and professionalism across the police, as well as ensuring the wellbeing of the workforce through the Police Covenant; enable Ministers to make the necessary decisions on police pay and pensions, and manage annual pensions expenditure.
• Take forward the next steps of the Home Office’s review of investigatory arrangements which follow police use of force and police driving related incidents, including publishing a White Paper by the end of May and relevant legislative measures.
• Complete reform of the police conduct system to make it more targeted and effective; handle the Government response to current serious misconduct cases and issues of public concern including Hillsborough, and act as a core participant in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.
• Lead the Government’s relationship with the independent inspectorate (HMICFRS), the College of Policing, the Independent Office for Police Conduct; the National Police Chiefs’ Council; the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners; and staff associations.
• Following successful recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers through the Police Uplift Programme, lead work to maintain officer numbers and embed the legacy and learning from Uplift in policing.
• Oversee the Emergency Response Team, which provides a single information picture and assurance for the Department, Ministers and senior leaders, for all significant emergency incidents impacting upon Public Safety Group areas as well as overseeing preparedness.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria:

• First rate policy and strategic leadership skills with exceptional political judgement and integrity.
• A significant track record of visible, inclusive and results-focused leadership, even in tough contexts, which inspires, develops and motivates staff to deliver and thrive.
• Experience of delivering at pace and getting things done under pressure.
• Excellent personal impact, resilience and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build sustainable relationships with a diverse range of partners and influence without authority.
• Strong awareness of finance management and delivering value for money, with a demonstrable ability to engage effectively with both finance professionals and senior leaders.

 Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of policing, crime and criminal justice issues and operating in a highly scrutinised public environment.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £97,000, Home Office contributes £26,190 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

1.A CV - setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where 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 – (limited to 1250 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.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

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.