About the job

Job summary

The Diversity & Inclusion Team sit alongside the Careers and L&D Teams as part of the wider People Development and Strategy Group.

It’s great to be part of such a varied team.  The main priorities for the team currently are developing the D&I scorecard, leading the D&I education programme, designing an outreach strategy and ensuring we meet all legality requirements (e.g. pay gap reporting, FOI responses and Northern Ireland Equalities obligations).  The department recognises the importance of our work and we report regularly to the Executive Board.

This is an exciting time as our team has an important role to play in the future of the newly refocused DCMS.

Job description

D&I Policy Expertise 

• Owning and developing DCMS D&I policy and using this and your knowledge of relevant legal frameworks, case law and guidance to provide policy advice and consultancy to internal stakeholders  including the wider D&I team, HRBPs, Senior Leadership and Exec  team. 
• Working with others to develop D&I KPIs, collecting and analysing  data to support the design and evaluation of strategy interventions.
• Providing a challenge and assurance function to ensure D&I outcomes are compliant with employment and equality legislation. 

Networks and Stakeholders 

• Maintaining a good understanding of and relationship with key internal and external D&I stakeholders, being cognisant of the different approaches being taken to D&I across government and elsewhere in the public and private sectors. 
• Growing a community of practice across DCMS ALBs and sector bodies to influence and share evidence about what works and  ensuring that our D&I strategy reflects the latest thinking and best practices. 
• Building your network with CSHR and other specialists across Government by attending relevant shared D&I leadership forums, providing input and showcasing our approach as appropriate

D&I Service Delivery

• Using your comprehensive knowledge of D&I to deliver high quality papers and data driven insights for the senior team and DCMS governance bodies at pace and as required including drafting FOIs and PQs.
• Bringing a user perspective to service delivery, regularly evaluating and gathering feedback on policy effectiveness, adopting a continuous improvement approach to reviewing and streamlining processes, guidance material and resources for staff. 
• Working across teams to mainstream D&I thinking and policy in all people policies and processes, upskilling colleagues as required.
• Leading on projects with priorities determined by data and evidence  of where interventions are needed and working closely with the PMO to raise, record and monitor key D&I policy and delivery risks. 
• Provide matrix management for the careers team, overseeing the annual plan and evolving the careers strategy. 

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential Requirements:

• Specialist D&I policy knowledge with a good understanding of equalities legislation, guidance and case law and how this intersects with HR policies and processes.
• Expert consultancy and service delivery skills - confident in interacting with, briefing and presenting to senior stakeholders and delivering with credibility.
• Skilled in data analysis and evaluation to inform priorities and support problem solving and evidence based decision making.
• Excellent stakeholder skills - able to influence and build relationships across boundaries and deliver results through others outside of formal line management relationships.
• Experienced in taking a customer/user perspective and developing and delivering process improvements to improve service delivery.

Desirable Skills:

• CIPD qualified, or working towards, would be preferable although not essential.
• Project, Change Management or Organisational Development & Design qualification.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,839, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £13,456 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.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 PM Sunday 7th January via the CS Jobs portal:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 500 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed.

For the shortlist, we will assess your experience and select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with: dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

The interview process will assess behaviours and strengths and potentially include a presentation.

You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview. 

As part of your interview, you may be asked to deliver a short oral presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview. 

In most cases interviews will take place remotely via Google Meet video call. However please refer to the Candidate Information Pack to confirm the interview approach.

For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.

In order to request an adjustment, please:

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on 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 a verbal test rather than a written one. 

Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.

Further Information

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Information for Applicants’ document.

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only., Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

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

Any move to DCMS 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

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.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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.