About the job

Job summary

The Planning Reform and Housing Quality Directorate is leading on an ambitious reform programme at the heart of a thriving housing policy group in DLUHC.   

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) Division leads on work to improve the experiences of landlords and tenants in the PRS, aiming to drive improvements to quality, security and fairness. This includes high profile work to protect tenants as part of the Government’s response to the pandemic and transitioning from this into a flagship reform programme, including legislation, to deliver manifesto commitments to reform the sector.  

Significant reforms have already been introduced to improve the experience of tenants who rent privately. Part of the PRS team’s work is to ensure those measures bite and quality improves.

The Renters Reform Bill is currently progressing through parliament. This Bill sets out the Government’s commitment to building back fairer and having a Better Deal for Renters in England, bringing forward reforms to drive improvements in standards in rented accommodation. As part of these proposals, we will introduce the Privately Rented Property Portal to provide transparency, assurance and information to tenants, landlords and local authorities.

This HEO policy role will play a key part to the policy development of the Property Portal, as the detail is refined and confirmed through secondary legislation in 2024. This is a fast-paced and complex policy area. Successful applicants will be required to communicate complicated ideas and manage fast-moving projects effectively whilst engaging collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders. Experience of legislation and briefing Ministers would be beneficial but is not essential as plenty of support and opportunities will be provided.

We are dedicated to building a diverse team that represents residents in our communities and an inclusive culture where everyone feels they belong in the organisation, can be themselves at work and can speak up to challenge. We want everyone to be able to contribute to the success of our organisation, regardless of your background.

We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work

Job description

- Lead and drive policy development and delivery related to specific workstreams. This will involve significant, detailed policy work at all stages of the policy cycle, including delivering legislation.

- Lead and support stakeholder engagement, both internally and externally – representing the department’s views and position through the policy development process.

- Work alongside departmental colleagues and a range of other Government departments to understand the broader context of PRS and housing policy and ensure alignment with wider government policy.

- Demonstrate excellent organisational skills and the ability to apply project management techniques including governance and oversight, risk management and delivery planning.

- Strong verbal and written communication with ability to communicate effectively to a range of internal stakeholders and external stakeholders, including the briefing of Ministers.

- Make a valuable contribution to the wider directorate by managing briefing requests, responding to parliamentary activity and drafting correspondence as required.

Person specification

Candidates will be expected to be able to:

· Demonstrate experience of leading and driving policy development and delivery (essential)

· Demonstrate experience of collaborating and partnering with a range of colleagues, including non-policy function e.g., digital, commercial, analytical and/or legal colleagues (essential)

· Demonstrate experience of working with internal and external stakeholders in a collaborative and constructive manner to deliver overall aims (essential)

· Demonstrate excellent organisational skills and the ability to apply project management techniques to keep policy on track for delivery (essential)

· Have strong verbal and written communication with ability to communicate effectively to a range of internal stakeholders, Ministers and external stakeholders (essential)

· Demonstrate experience of working on matters related to data protection (desirable)

· Have experience of working on legislation (desirable)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,178, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £8,688 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 and Strengths.

We are for everyone 

 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

  

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.  

 

We are for everyone 

 

DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.  

 

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).  

 

At application stage you will be asked to upload a CV document. Unless stated otherwise in the advert, your CV will not form part of the assessment but will be used for information purposes and only shared with the panel at interview stage. 

 

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.  

 

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors. 

 

When writing your application, remember: 

• The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.  
• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.  
• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

 

At sift, we will be assessing 

 

Behaviour (Lead Behaviour): Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour: Seeing the Big Picture

Behaviour: Delivering at Pace

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:    

Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing

Strengths

The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

 

In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

 

Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing

Strengths: Yes

 

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign. 

HEO salary 

• The salary for this role is £35,400 (London) or £32,178 (National). 
• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges. 

 
Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.   

 

BENEFITS: 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 
Any move to DLUHC 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 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

  

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 

• London 
• Birmingham
• Wolverhampton 
• Darlington* 

Candidates who wish to be based nationally must be willing to travel to London for briefing/attending parliament approximately 6 times a year. 

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service.  

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack. 

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 4th March 2024 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

 

Reserve List 
 
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details in a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

 

CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance): 

Important note 

 
Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 
 
Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC). Thank you. 
 
Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database. 

 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register 

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. 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.