About the job

Job summary

About us 

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate develops and operates tools and services to support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. 

About the role  

DDaT is embarking on a significant programme of governance and assurance improvement across our technical estates. This role sits at the heart of these initiatives and will have responsibility for implementing an already advanced Technical Services Improvement Plan, but also for assessing those plans and evolving them where appropriate, using either ITIL aligned processes or similar best practice methodologies. It will involve ensuring accurate documentation, managing stakeholders who want different, sometimes conflicting outcomes from the same process, and engaging across DDaT and wider DBT. 

Job description

You will: 

• Lead on the creation and implementation of a Service Improvement Plan, focused initially on Technical and Support Services. This will include identifying and developing improvements to the plan itself based on your own experience of best practice, and defining and evolving Governance 
• Fully document relevant processes and ensure they are agreed to by all relevant stakeholders. You will need to be able to manage active and reactive conversations, know when to escalate, and know when to act 
• Be a senior Subject Matter Expert in a small team of Improvement Architects identifying problems in the team and ensuring you give constructive and adaptive feedback geared towards achieving successful outcomes 
• Engage with Third Party providers where appropriate to ensure plans are seen through to completion 
• Proactively support the wider rollout of Governance principles in our Technology Estate, being able to assure standards 

About you  

You'll be proactive but thoughtful, well versed in the challenges you will face when rolling out a Technical Services Improvement Plan. You will manage technical and non-technical stakeholders respectfully but firmly and be able to see complicated tasks through to completion. You will be quality and outcome focused, able to understand when to gather more information and when to act and pride yourself in making considered decisions. 

Person specification

Skills and experience 

It is essential that you have: 

• Experience creating and implementing Service Design and Improvement programmes 
• Extensive experience in designing and implementing either ITIL aligned processes or in best practice methodologies 
• Managing a wide variety of stakeholders with conflicting priorities  

It is desirable that you have: 

• Experience with implementing Configuration Management Databases in a major tool, e,g. ServiceNow 
• ITIL Foundation, or better, Qualified 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,000, Department for Business and Trade contributes £14,040 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

How to apply 

As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a CV which outlines your experience, skills and fit for the role. Inspire People will assess your application against the essential criteria listed above to compile a longlist of applications, which will then be sifted by DBT. Successful candidates at this stage may be invited straight to interview or asked to complete a short, pre-recorded video screening interview (or alternately provide written answers to questions). These applications will then be sifted by DBT hiring managers. If you are successful, you will be invited to interview.  

DBT sift will be from week commencing Monday 3rd June 

Interviews will be from week commencing Monday 10th June  

Please note these dates are indicative and may be subject to change. 

How we interview 

At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. These are role specific and in line with the DDaT Capability Framework. 

Technical Skills 

• Governance and Assurance 
• Making and Guiding Decisions 
• Problem Definition and Shaping 
• Communicating between the Technical and the non-Technical 

Behaviours  

• Communicating and Influencing 
• Managing a Quality Service 
• Making Effective Decisions 

How we offer 

Offers may be made in merit order based on location preferences. If you pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring you will be held on a 12-month reserve list in case a role becomes available. If you are judged a near miss at interview, you may be offered a post at the grade below the one you applied for. 

This role requires SC clearance. DBT’s requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet this requirement will result in your application being rejected and your offer will be withdrawn. 

Checks will also be made against: 

• departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records) 
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records 
• your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency 
• security services record 
• location details 

More about us 

This role can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. If you are based in London, you will receive London weighting. DBT employees work in a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office on average.  Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered. 

You can find out more about our office locations, how we calculate salaries, our diversity statement and reasonable adjustments, the Recruitment Principles, the Civil Service code and our complaints procedure on our website. 

Find out more about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our video or reading our blog! 

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.