About the job

Job summary

The new Office for Local Government (Oflog) is a key priority of the Secretary of State. Oflog will help to drive improvement in local government – responsible for a wider range of critical and everyday services – to improve outcomes for the public. 

Oflog is an office of DLUHC, meaning all staff are DLUHC civil servants. Ministers have agreed that it will have a degree of separation from government, with its own independent Chair and Chief Executive. Oflog is a mixed-discipline team, including policy and local government experts, and analysts from a range of disciplines. It is a unique and exciting time join a start-up organisation and to shape its ways of working and culture. 

In particular, Oflog will: 

- Inform: by improving access to data Oflog will enable citizens, local government, central government, and civil society to be better informed about the performance of local government. 

- Warn: Oflog will make it easier to spot potential failure before it happens, helping to prevent the significant financial and service implications of failure on local citizens and the taxpayer. 

- Support: Oflog will support local government to improve performance championing best practice, improving data capability, and rationalising a complex data landscape. 

Job description

The role sits within our Devolution and Data Leadership team. This programme is at the heart of Oflog;’s current and future work.

In the role, the successful candidate will develop and lead a programme to support and implement the delivery of a programme that identifies how Oflog can support local authorities to improve data capability (i.e. improving understanding, use of data, formulating data tools). The candidate will also work to deliver on improving the data landscape. This role is likely to require building close working relationships with local authorities and across Whitehall.

The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering: 

Policy: Developing policy solutions to complex situations where there could be competing interests or incomplete information.   

Delivery: Making the connection between policy and the real-world situation, developing detailed targeted solutions and to demonstrate impact.    

Stakeholder management: Map, manage and challenge a range of external stakeholders.

Building relationships: Build collaborative and trusted working relationships with a variety of internal partners. 

Project management: Manage different workstreams with interdependencies, including delivering outcomes through others to specified timescales.

Person specification

Essential 

The successful candidate will be an experienced policy professional and is expected to demonstrate the following experience: 

. Communicating: be a good communicator, using excellent oral and written skills, sharing information succinctly and clearly, particularly when working across Government 

. Stakeholder management: Map and manage, and challenge a range of eternal different stakeholders, with a proven ability to co-operate, build consensus and influence outcomes 

. Objective realisation: demonstrate strong organisational, and people management skills. Throughout, demonstrating resilience and flexibility under pressure, with the ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, whilst balancing competing demands yet remaining focused on delivering high quality outputs     

. Decision making and problem solver in situations of complexity and uncertainty  

. An implementer of translating evidence-based policy into practice 

. A leader who is resilient, calm, and flexible under pressure 

. Someone who thrives when working at pace in complex political organisations 

. Passionate about the role and impact of local government and its contribution to DLUHC’s outcomes for Levelling Up 

. Will share an interest in the local government sector in the broad sense, being passionate about the sector and its partners, and eager to help contribute to DLUHC’s outcomes for Levelling Up 

Desirable    

The successful candidate could have: 

. Good knowledge and demonstrable understanding of the local government sector 

. Experience of working on high profile issues at pace. 

. Strong and confident grasp of the potential of structured information and different types of public sector data in a digital environment. 

. Experience of working with data or the area of data leadership. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £51,934, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £14,022 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.

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 1 - Making Effective Decisions (Lead behaviour) 

 

Behaviour 2 - Seeing the big picture

 

Behaviour 3 - Communicating and Influencing

 

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

 

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview  

 

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

Behaviour - Seeing the big picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing

Strength - The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates  

The vacancy manager would like you to prepare a 5 minute presentation as part of the interview stage. During the presentation, you will be assessed against the 'Experience' Success Profile. Further details of the presentation topic will be sent within the invitation to interview.

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

Behaviours: Seeing the big picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing

Experience: Within the Presentation element of the interview

Strengths: At Interview

 

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. 

 

Grade 7 salary 

• The salary for this role is £51,934 (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: 

• Bristol
• Leeds
• Manchester 
• Wolverhampton 
• Darlington* 

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 from Monday 29/01/2024 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 n 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. 

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. 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.