About the job

Job summary

About HM Treasury

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.  

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.  

HM Treasury is proud of a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to fairness and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all. We know that having a range of experiences, ways of working and thinking makes us stronger and better at developing policy that reflects the needs of every community. We embrace different views and experiences and value the new perspective that people from a variety of circumstances bring to the work we do. We welcome applications from candidates who have not previously worked for the Civil Service, mid- and late-career changers with transferrable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, gender, age ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.  

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you! 

Job description

About the Group

Economics Group

The Economics Group leads HM Treasury’s analysis of developments in the UK economy and advises ministers on the implications for the Government’s economic strategy. It provides expert economic analysis and advice for Ministers. The Group’s data hub is transforming how the Treasury uses data across its entire business. The Group collaborates with external experts on the UK economy, including the Bank of England, Office for Budget Responsibility and leading academics. Economics Group provides support for the UK Government’s economic and social research professions, including running centralised recruitment and the annual conferences.

About the team

The Government Economic and Social Research Team (GESR) is a friendly and dynamic team of around 20 people providing specific support to the Government Social Research (GSR) and Government Economic Service (GES) professions, which have over 2,500 and 3,700 members across government, respectively. Economists and social researchers work at the heart of decision-making in government, providing analysis and insight in support of the entire range of UK Government and public service activities.    

GESR's work also reaches right across government - working with Departments, Devolved Administrations, and other organisations in the UK Civil Service. We work with external organisations as partners on shared agendas including growing diversity in recruitment and improving the use of evidence in policy making.  

The team is organised into a Strategy and an Operations team, who together deliver all the policies and commitments in the GES and GSR Strategies on behalf of and in conjunction with the Boards of senior staff who govern both professions. on behalf of and in conjunction with the Boards of senior staff who govern both professions.

The GESR team leads the many central recruitment routes into the professions, working to open the door to a wide range of people to start and then build a long and fulfilling career as government economists and social researchers.

We are committed to delivering a quality service to continuous improvement and to promoting diversity and inclusion. You must also be committed to role modelling the positive and inclusive behaviours we expect of our membership.  

The post holder will have the advantages that come from building their career inside HM Treasury, and from working right across the differing departments and organisations that make up the UK Government. This is the ideal post for an individual who can see the bigger picture and wishes to build more experience of working with senior leaders and delivering real cross-government change.  

About the Job

Do you want to lead an outstanding operations team?

We are looking for a dedicated individual to lead the GESR Operations Team, setting high standards for operational performance and developing a strong culture of service delivery. You will be a role model for learning and continuous improvement and promote teamwork across the Ops team and with the GESR Strategy Team.

The post holder will be part of the GESR Senior Leadership Team, working closely with the Deputy Director and the Head of Strategy Team. They will deputise for the Deputy Director where appropriate and own the relationship with key operational partners including the Cabinet Office Fast Stream team.

The successful candidate will also:

• Develop and maintain plans for GESR Operations to deliver a high-quality service to both departments and job candidates. Monitor performance against plans and our Service Level Agreements, taking action and deploying resource flexibly where appropriate in order to maintain performance.
• Actively develop the skills of their team, both as individuals and as a collective. They will line manage the heads of recruitment and talent, and to provide pastoral and development for the whole Ops team. We have a shared ambition that everyone in GESR has a meaningful job and feels valued and included as part of a successful team.
• Lead the implementation of an improvement plan for central GESR recruitment schemes. Delivering this plan and obtaining full agreement from the team, will be essential to successful performance. They will evaluate performance against plans and encourage a culture of continuous improvement, including considering changes to protect the integrity of assessments against AI.
• Oversee the integration of Fast Stream reforms and the new GSR Degree Apprenticeship into GESR business-as-usual, and take overall responsibility for contract management of external providers

GESR is committed to building diverse and inclusive professions, and we are looking for a role model for inclusive behaviour.

Candidate Drop-In Session 
 
We will be running a candidate drop-in session for this role to give you greater insight about the role as well as the chance to learn more about HM Treasury and the recruitment process. If you would like to join us, then use the appropriate link below to join the call at the right time. 

Tuesday 5th December 2023 17:00 – 17:45 Click here to join the meeting

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact tom.aldred@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Person specification

We are looking for the below skills, experience and behaviours and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application form. Please review the Candidate FAQ document that is attached to the advert for guidance on how to complete your application form.  

1. Experience - Experience of leading a team focused on operational delivery under pressure.
2. Managing a Quality Service - Created opportunities for colleagues, stakeholders, delivery partners and customers to improve the quality of service.
3. Communicating and Influencing - Delivered difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity.
4. Changing and Improving - An example of when you’ve identified early signs of things going wrong and responded promptly.

The lead criterion is: Experience - Experience of leading a team focused on operational delivery under pressure.

If we receive large volumes of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criterion only.

Required Qualifications: CIPD Qualified or willing to work towards

Candidate Guidance Support Session 
 
We will be running an overview of Success Profiles and the STAR approach; top tips for the application and interview process and an opportunity to ask general questions around our recruitment practices. If you would like to join us, then use the link below to join the call at the right time. 

Friday 1st December 2023 12:30 – 13:00 Click here to join the meeting

Tuesday 12th December 2023 17:00 - 17:45 Click here to join the meeting

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £64,160, HM Treasury contributes £17,323 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.

Recruitment Timeline 

Closing date: Sunday 17th December 2023

Shortlisting: w/c 18th December 2023

Interviews:  w/c 8th January 2024 

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline. 

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile.  

Eligibility Statement

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information.

Individuals appointed to the Treasury Group will be subject to National Security Vetting. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out applicants will normally need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. A lack of UK residency in itself is not always a bar to security clearance but the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis using all information that can be obtained following a successful application.

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. 

For many roles, security clearance is also required. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements of the role before they can be appointed. The level of security clearance required for this role is Security Check (SC). 

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you.  

Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.  

These short videos address common concerns and preconceptions which applicants may have about national security vetting.  

If you have questions relating to security clearances, please contact HMTSecurityVetting@hmtreasury.gov.uk

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.