About the job

Job summary

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance. For further information, please see Selection Process details.

We’re happy to speak about any reasonable adjustments you need.

Are you an expert Data Engineer looking to use your technical knowledge and experience in a different way? 

Are you passionate about building and supporting data engineering capability? 

DWP is the UK's largest government department. We help people into work and make payments worth over £195bn a year to support some of the most vulnerable people in our society. 

DWP Digital creates digital services that almost everyone in the UK relies on at some point in their lives. We’re carrying out a once-in-a-generation digital transformation - a task of size and scale unmatched elsewhere. 

As the Data Engineer Head of Role, you will lead the Data Engineer profession across DWP Digital. You will be an expert Data Engineer practitioner with broad industry experience who can define and assure best practice while influencing, steering, building capability and mentoring others. 

If you have extensive data engineering experience and have built and led a community of practice, we’d love to hear from you.

Job description

As Head of Role, you will be responsible for building a community of skilled data engineering professionals. You will manage the building and developing of a Community of Practice identity within DWP and across government to encourage members to develop and share transferable skills, knowledge and experience.

Working with other Head of Roles, you’ll help deliver a “joined-up” service to our Digital functions, providing best practice guidance on ways of working. The shared vision is to empower our Digital communities to define standards and enable effective professional performance of practice members.

You will need sound knowledge in the development of communities of practice, as well as being able to role model across the practice.  You can expect to: 

• Promote the value of Communities of Practice, encouraging members to contribute, build and maintain an effective professional community
• Define, update and implement Career Pathways to enhance capability development, talent management and reduce attrition
• Define and implement the Data Engineering standards and Best Practices for DWP
• Understand the demands and development of the profession in the wider industry and feed this into the capability roadmap
• Keep abreast of new techniques, technologies and ways of working across the private and public sector
• Using expert coaching and mentoring skills empower the Community members to continually review and question ways of working, promoting an appetite for continuous improvement
• Overseeing data engineering recruitment and placing candidates into the most appropriate role
• Building and managing senior stakeholder relationships, influencing outcomes and ensuring risks and issues are resolved appropriately.

Person specification

When giving details in your employment history and personal statement you should highlight your experience in line with essential criteria below:

• You will be an experienced Data Engineer with significant knowledge of data engineering, and you will understand the value that data engineering holds within a digital function
• You will be a passionate advocate of communities of practice – you can confidently articulate the value of them and have experience building self-sustaining professional communities
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder management skills – you can identify and build relationships at all levels, and can negotiate and influence at a senior level on issues and the development and enhancement of services, products & systems.

Desirable criteria 

• Experience of designing and implementing a capability strategy to develop and enhance skills within a team/group/organisation
• Experience in coaching, mentoring, peer reviews and creating development opportunities on a large scale.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact caicy.sandford@dwp.gov.uk.

Benefits

• An employer pension contribution of up to 28.97% For further information please click here.
• Annual leave rising up to 30 days, (based on your working pattern).
• Family friendly flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid working, job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Learning and development tailored to your role this could include industry recognised qualifications, coaching and mentoring. 
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join staff networks including: Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post. 

Salary Information

Pay for this role is from £69,869 to £89,995.

The maximum salary for the grade is £77,740, however a Digital Allowance of up to £12,255 per annum is available for exceptional candidates, based on our assessment of your skills and experience.

Our offer to successful candidates will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer should maintain their current salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion may move to the bottom of the next grade pay scale or 10% increase in salary whichever would be the greater.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Stage 1: Application

Your application will consist of three parts:

1. A Personal Details application form.

2. Your employment history detailing your responsibilities, skills, accomplishments, plus your qualifications and relevant training. Please copy this information into the box field provided.

When giving details in your employment history you should highlight your experience in line with the criteria listed in the person specification.

3. Personal statement up to 250 words answering this question:

Tell us about your experience of technical leadership in a data service, leading on technology, setting direction, building and maintaining a stakeholder network to achieve progress, collaborating across teams and mentoring other data engineers.

You may use bullet points if it helps clarify your answer and make it more concise.

If your employment history or personal statement contains any personal details, your application will be withdrawn.

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

The sift panel will use the information in your employment history and personal statement to assess your experience, skills and knowledge against the essential criteria above.

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

Applications will be sifted at regular intervals from the date the posts are advertised. Please apply as soon as you can, do not wait until the end of the campaign. 

Important Information

• You will be asked to complete your employment history any information that you would customarily share on a CV should therefore be entered onto the application form.
• Personal details that could be used to identify you including your name, contact details and address must be removed for your application to be considered.
• If your employment history/personal statement contains any personal details your application will be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful at sift stage you will be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the experiences listed in the essential criteria.

You will be asked to do a 10 minutes presentation on a specific topic.  There will be a further 5 minutes for questions.  Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview. 

Interviews will take place from late June 2024. Interview dates to be confirmed.

Candidates will be posted in merit order by location. 

To help you prepare, we’ll provide the experience questions seven days before your interview. You must treat these questions as confidential and not share them.

The interview panel might ask you other questions that will not be shared in advance, including follow-up questions, and those about your aptitude and attitude.

The interviewers may ask further questions if they need more information to determine your suitability for the role.

Further information:

Find out more about Working for DWP

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

Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location. 

Security Clearance Requirement

You must meet the security requirements before you can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Check. 

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. Whilst a lack of UK residency is not necessarily a bar to Security Check clearance, an expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of your offer. 

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Reasonable Adjustment

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” 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.

For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How we recruit page. 

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.

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 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.