About the job

Job summary

In DHSC, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.

The Commercial Directorate is a strategic and enabling function that supports all DHSC’s commercial interactions with third parties and supporting ministers in delivering their agenda. Our mission is to ensure that health and care policy is implemented at best value for the taxpayer.  

We do this by leading and overseeing the department’s direct commercial activity, implementing commercial policies across DHSC and its arm length bodies, and acting as advisors to the Secretary of State. Our vision is to provide a world-class commercial service to enable the health and care system to deliver for the public – we aim to be the best in government commercial for technical expertise and customer focus.

Job description

The DHSC Head of Grants is responsible for leadership of the DHSC grants hub and performs the ‘grants champion’ role, representing the Department across government as the first point of contact on grant-related matters. 

The role is in a dynamic and fast paced working environment and priorities will change as required; these include providing assurance, process improvements, ensuring compliance, budget management, and leading reporting to Cabinet Office, DHSC Finance and other stakeholders on all grant-related matters. 

Person specification

• Lead and manage a quality grants service, working collaboratively with policy teams, promoting compliance with the Government Grants Functional Standard and Departmental policies and processes
  
  
• Review the grants operating model in DHSC, considering the optimum role and purpose of the central Grants hub vis a vis others supporting grants within policy teams and driving changes as needed
  
  
• Develop and execute a strategy for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of grant-making moving forward, considering where a managed grant service could be appropriate and ensure robust tools and guidance for those involved
  
  
• Lead efforts to strengthen grant management capability and expertise within the team and wider department
   
• Provide advice and engaging early to shape grant proposals, offering constructive challenge to support delivery of objectives, drawing in experts across legal, finance, commercial, counter-fraud and risk, as required
  
  
• Provide support and advice to policy leads during business case development and drafting of grant agreements to ensure they are robust, are signed off through the appropriate Departmental approvals processes and acting as a second line of defence in the assurance process
  
  
• Ensure that policy teams monitor performance and risk, including fraud risk, throughout the life of a grant and seeking evidence that funding has been provided for eligible activities only and has been properly accounted for
  
  
• Collaborate with cross-government networks and sharing best practice within the Department and across government
  
  
• Strive for continuous improvement, conducting periodic self-assessments of maturity against the Cabinet Office Functional Standard, and implementing Government Internal Audit recommendations through the empowerment of staff, refining processes and communications, to improve the quality of service we provide to our colleagues
  
  
• Be an inclusive leader who embraces diverse ways of working so that everyone feels they are able to flourish and work at pace to deliver expert advice
  
  
• Be an active member of the wider Commercial Directorate management team, seeking opportunities to both support and learn from wider commercial teams and working collaboratively with your peers, including commercial business partners, to maintain an excellent commercial service to the business. 

Benefits

As a valued employee of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), you will have access to all the benefits the centre has to offer; including flexible working, generous benefits, Career Coaches, Mentors, L&D, a Commercial College, active talent management and, most importantly, access to commercial projects that will far exceed the scale and complexity on offer elsewhere in the UK.

For existing Civil Servants:  For full details of the impact on any move across the civil service on your existing terms and conditions, please read the candidate pack.  Please note that any move across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to continue to claim childcare vouchers. 

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on 22nd July 2024 and will require a full day's attendance. 

If you are invited to attend a virtual ADC, but for any reason are unable to meet the date outlined then please get in touch with the team at commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible. The ADC is booked and paid for in advance by departments, therefore it is only in certain circumstances we are able to accommodate alternative dates. 

Details of schemes available are attached in the advert.

For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read the explanation provided in the attached candidate pack.

Throughout our selection process, we will make decisions about your capability to do the job, based on evidence you provide against the essential criteria for the role which are detailed in the attached Candidate Pack.

Your application will be reviewed by a panel and should you be successful at sift we will invite you to attend a Virtual commercial Assessment and Development Centre (VADC). The panel will review results of the VADC and determine which candidates will go through to a subsequent final panel interview.

IMPORTANT: If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within 2 working days please contact: commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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.