About the job

Job summary

House of Commons

The House of Commons is a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK's thriving democratic system. 

Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

Introduction 

The House of Commons Learning & Careers Team delivers a strategic, impactful development offer aligned to the House Strategy, enabling all staff to adapt and thrive. 

The team offers modern learning that is accessible for everyone working at the House of Commons, Parliamentary Digital Service, Members and Member’s Staff, that enables all staff to be equipped to perform at their best whatever their role.

This central team leads on good practice for all learning and development at the House and is supported by a network of learning and development capability within business units.

Performance management is a key focus to enable high performance of individuals, teams and the whole organisation.

Job description

The House of Commons needs a performance management system which holds individuals to account for what they have done and gives credit for their successes. This requires an appraisal of the performance of the individual, with an associated record, and a system of reporting and assurance.

The Head of Performance Management will be accountable for developing, delivering, and embedding a Performance Management approach across the House of Commons (HoC), and Joint Departments. They will work collaboratively with all key stakeholders including, Commons Executive Board members, People Capability Leads within the business, the wider L&D and People and Culture teams and line managers to embed an approach that enables personal ownership and accountability of individual performance.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Review and agree with the Commons Executive Board (CEB) and other key stakeholders, the recommendations and requirements of individual Performance Management across the House and Joint Departments as outlined in the recent Independent Review of Financial Management (Morse report).
• Shape and deliver an Individual Performance Management approach aligning with other connected work for example the current ‘Coach and Focus’ approach, the behaviour competency framework and manager and leadership standards and capability frameworks currently in development.
• An approach to succession planning including designing and embedding a framework for successional talent across the House and Joint Departments to mitigate risk of skills and capability gaps to deliver on the House strategy.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Professional HR qualification equivalent to CIPD Level 4 (profession map) or relevant work experience at a Senior Manager level.
• Experience of leading significant organisation-wide Performance Management programmes with demonstrable business impact in a complex environment. 
• Experience of co-creating and delivering a Performance Management strategy that enables the business strategy to be successfully delivered, with unique and diverse stakeholders.
• Strong planning and organising skills with the ability to adapt and react to changing priorities as required, not compromising on delivery of the agreed plan / strategy.
• Experience of building strong relationships with senior stakeholders and ensuring that plans and delivery are fully aligned with the needs of the business strategy, plans and of customer’s needs. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £68,900, House of Commons contributes £18,603 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

• CV & Supporting Statement – If you would like to apply for this role, please submit your CV and covering letter with a 500 word limit. 

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description. 

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.

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.