About the job

Job summary

Our Mission

We are known as IfATE, we are a group of passionate people who work with employers to develop, approve, review and revise apprenticeships and technical qualifications. 

We are transforming and improving the skills system by putting employers at the heart and making it easier to navigate for all.

You will be part of an organisation that works to help people of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to maximise their potential, contribute to improving social mobility and the UK’s productivity.

Find out more about the work of IfATE in the ‘What we do’ page on our website.

We are building an inclusive culture to make IfATE a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, and actively welcome applications from everyone including those from underrepresented groups.

Job description

In this important role, you'll lead IfATE's efforts to reshape the technical education landscape, with a specific focus on the policy related to occupations and leading the development of digital services with a national reach.

This high-profile position involves overseeing all aspects of IfATE's policy regarding the definition and maintenance of occupations. You'll also play a key role as the product owner for IfATE's occupational maps and the application programming interface (API). This job will support the restructuring of IfATE's data, concentrating on an occupations-centric data hierarchy in collaboration with IfATE's data team.

Continuously improving the occupational maps is a top priority for IfATE, acting as a crucial tool for communicating the technical education system. The job will include leading high-value business cases with benefits that can be realised, as well as budget forecasting, managing budgets exceeding £500,000, and contract management.

The position will also require significant external engagement to promote the use of the occupational maps and API to promote their use and support other organisations to use our underpinning data to support them to deliver effective put Career Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) in England.

Person specification

We're looking for an outstanding education and digital professional who has expert knowledge of technical education and significant experience in developing digital services. This person should be good at handling multiple projects at the same time and know how to manage digital project life-cycles. They should be able to simplify complicated processes and policy concepts for senior leaders and external organisations, delivering clear and engaging briefings for ministers and other government stakeholders. 

This role involves leading internal multi-site, multidisciplinary teams and an externally contracted digital team, so the person needs to be comfortable leading people and contracts through diverse locations while delivering high-quality results through the organisation and government. The person should have experience of writing successful business cases, managing budgets and digital contracts over £500,000.

The individual will be able to balance a solid understanding of education needs and policy with practical experience in delivering excellent results in high-profile projects, including the digital systems that support those outcomes.

Essential Criteria

• Project management, financial oversight and contract management – Proven ability to manage contracts and budgets exceeding £500,000, using project management methodologies such as Agile to ensure timely and within-budget delivery of integrated policy and digital projects that align with strategic expectations.
  
• Leadership - Demonstrated and experienced leadership skills employed to successfully deliver high-profile, high-risk and complex digital and policy projects, meeting the organisation's strategic goals, while effectively leading multidisciplinary teams, including contracted digital teams.
• Solutions focused – Deliver high-quality innovative and creative solutions which address complex policy challenges within a technical education context.
• Making effective decisions – Experience of engaging nationally with diverse stakeholders, understanding their needs, and informing project decisions, including identifying options, weighing pros and cons, and confidently implementing beneficial conclusions for a policy and digital outcome within a technical education context.
• Working together – A demonstrated ability to build and maintain a network of colleagues and strategic contacts, fostering progress on shared objectives. This includes cultivating strong interpersonal relationships to effectively influence outcomes at a national level and establish personal credibility.

Desirable Criteria 

• Experience leading projects using agile methodologies, understanding how it helps deliver products and services.
  
• Project management qualification.
  
• Experience of promoting technical education to inform national Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates.

Working flexibly is important to the success of the IfATE, and while you will have specific responsibilities as set out above, you will be part of a ‘one team’ approach and may be asked to be involved in a range of other activities.  As new areas of work progress, you may be asked to move between teams to deliver the IfATE’s key priorities.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £65,484, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education contributes £17,680 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 Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 1000 words) to evidence how you meet the essential criteria listed above.

Please note - the CV incorporated into the application form is for information purposes only and will not be scored.

The personal statement will be assessed at sift. If we receive high volumes of applications, we will sift only on the first essential criteria, so please ensure that the first 150-200 words of your statement are aligned to this criterion (Project management, financial oversight and contract management).

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Candidates eligible for the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) will be invited to interview if they meet the minimum criteria at application stage.  Please refer to the Candidate Information Pack for more details.

Interview

The interview will involve a discussion around your experience based on the adverts’ criteria, your CV, and your statement.

Sift is expected to take place w/c 26/02/24.
Interviews are expected to take place w/c 11/03/24.

Please note, the above dates are subject to change.

Interviews will be expected to take place remotely via MS Teams. Please refer to Candidate Information Pack for further information on the process.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

Contact Government Recruitment Service via IFArecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in 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 if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

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.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Further Information

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education does not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

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

Any move to IFATE 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

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.