About the job

Job summary

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the society that we serve. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and that they belong.

Working for DWP will give you more information about what we do.  

The roles we have sit within DWP’s People and Capability Group, specifically in the Learning Design and Delivery Deputy Directorate. We offer an excellent opportunity to deliver a wide range of learning initiatives, using leadership and stakeholder management skills in building confidence in our business operating model.

We are seeking people who are flexible, with a passion for building capability at an organisational level. Successful candidates will support individual capability programmes, and lead others, ensuring our Deputy Directorate continues to be key to the DWP’s ability to deliver excellent service to the public.

Job description

These are critical operational roles and successful candidates will help us improve the capability of people on the front line of our business to ensure effective customer service is delivered. DWP delivers learning remotely via Teams and face-to-face across multiple locations in the UK, and the role will involve frequent travel and - on occasion - overnight stays.

We are seeking flexible people with a passion for learning and for encouraging others to learn, who can adapt to delivering a new brief within a few days.

A short overview is also provided in the candidate pack by the Deputy Director to give you a flavour of the Learning Delivery Officer role.

What will you be doing?

Learning Delivery Officer (LDO) - Deliver technical and skills learning across DWP, both virtually through MS Teams and face-to-face in a classroom environment. You will have the ability to deliver learning interventions to different or multiple business areas using a variety of media and taking account of diverse learner requirements and learning styles. You will have excellent facilitation and presentational skills. Be self-motivated and curious, whilst taking ownership of your own development and being proactive in building your own capability to deliver. Leading and building rapport with delegates to support them in developing a wider understanding of their role and how it supports service delivery overall. You will research the wider context, including understanding the rationale and business context behind the learning, and key outcomes required for each event. You will deliver learning in a friendly, supportive and professional way, ensuring delegates are engaged and they achieve learning outcomes. Adapting your delivery to a wide range of material ensuring your pace and style complements the learning outcomes and key messages, whilst recognising different learning styles.

Person specification

The key criteria for these roles are:

Communicating and Influencing skills - You will have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to get to the heart of issues and challenges, communicating clearly and inclusively with a wide range of people. You will communicate with purpose and clarity, respecting the needs, responses and opinions of others, using the most appropriate method of communication for each task. You must be able to demonstrate excellent facilitation and presentational skills.

Team working skills – You will be able to work flexibly as part of a team to successfully deliver tasks, focusing on the department’s priorities and encouraging and supporting colleagues to do the same. You will work well as part of a team and strive to ensure teams work together to deliver outcomes.

Coaching skills – You will have strong coaching skills and be able to use them to support colleagues in building departmental capability and achieving learning outcomes. You will role model exceptional personal standards and proactively identify opportunities for learning and improvement.

Leadership – You will take personal accountability for your role and be able to demonstrate responsibility for your own objectives. You will act in a fair, inclusive and respectful way when dealing with others, whilst understanding and supporting the wider teams' objectives.

For jobs located in Wales, the ability to speak Welsh is a desirable skill. We welcome applications from candidates with specific experience of facilitating learning, although we will offer in depth training for all successful candidates who have no such experience.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

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.

Selection will be by written sift, followed by a virtual video interview. 

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed. Our indicative timelines show that sifting will start from 06th December 2023 and last 2 weeks.  We plan for interviews to start from 17th January 2024 for 2 weeks. Please note this is an indicative timeline and may be subject to change.

Written Sift

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement in no more than 1000 words detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role, based on the key criteria stated above. 

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

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Lead Key Criteria (Communicating and Influencing). Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Personal Statement

When completing your personal statement, please read and understand the Key Criteria thoroughly as this is what your written evidence will assessed against.

Please ensure you evidence the key personal requirements and what you have done that relates to these requirements. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us why you are most suited to this role, what you can do, the skills you have that are transferable to the key requirements, and the life experiences or passion you have that are linked to this role.

CV

The CV is an on-line tool accessed through the Civil Service Jobsite and there is no requirement to upload your personal CV.  Our CV element is short and allows an initial check of eligibility. This will be for information purposes only and will not be scored. Therefore, please put the main content of your evidence and skills in your Personal Statement.

If you withdraw your application at any stage, it will not be progressed any further.

Preparing for the interview

Please note that interviews will be via video link using Microsoft Teams and you will need to use your personal device to access the video link. You will receive a link to join the interview through the email account you provide us with on your application.

The Interview

This should take approximately 40-45 minutes. You will be asked to present photographic identification to the Panel Chair as a preliminary step before the interview commences. 

A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation at interview offering a more inclusive approach. You will be asked a mixture of Behaviour and Strength questions – starting with a 5-minute presentation on the behaviour, Communicating and Influencing (no visual aids are required).  The presentation question will be provided in advance.

The Strength and Behaviour based questioning explores what the candidate can and has done, but also their potential.

An example of a Behavioural question would be “tell me about a time when you’ve had to deal with a difficult customer”. It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in, and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:

What was the task, How you approached the work/situation and what the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? Or What was the Situation? That were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?

It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions, however you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role.

While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

After the interview 

Once all interviews have been completed, candidates will be notified of the outcome by email and through your Civil Service Jobs account.  

Successful candidates for the initial posts offered will be contacted regarding their preferred location. If you are able to accept this provisional offer, pre-employment checks will commence and once they are cleared, the vacancy holder will contact you with details of a start date.

Please note that for some of the locations currently listed in this vacancy, we may not be able to immediately offer a position based on the needs of the business at the time. You will be asked to complete a location preference with three choices.  Please ensure you complete all three locations.

Further Information

Find out more about Working for DWP

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to DWP 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/Disclosure Scotland 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. 

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

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.

Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing.

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.

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 DWPRecruitment.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.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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.