About the job

Job summary

GRS need an experienced Occupational Psychologist to design and deliver assessment solutions, assist with consultancy projects, and deliver appropriate reasonable adjustment recommendations to support candidates through the recruitment cycle.

Acting as an internal consultancy to all of the Civil Service, we will collaborate with government departments, functions and professions to develop and deliver high quality, customer-focused assessment products and solutions grounded in occupational psychology and psychometrics. Our services aim to help identify and develop the best people from all backgrounds.

As a Grade 7 Principal Occupational Psychologist you will also work closely with the Government Recruitment Service’s senior leadership team to provide thought leadership in the areas of recruitment and selection.

Job description

Key responsibilities include:

Psychological assessment and guidance

• Provide up-to-date best practice advice on assessments and other psychometric interventions to support discussions with stakeholders and customers.
• Demonstrate a good understanding of occupational psychology theories and evidence base.
• Lead on the continuous improvement plan for the service, and formulate ideas and options for the future development of new and innovative assessments.
• Review and update guidance and assessment materials for assessors, candidates and vacancy holders when required.
• Ensure leadership assessments are delivered in accordance with best practice recruitment principles.
• Supervise candidates on the Qualification in Occupational Psychology (BPS), if relevant.

Leadership

• Act as a subject matter expert.
• Lead the implementation of new methods, products and standards.
• Present and communicate analytical/research findings and proposals to customers, stakeholders and others, orally and in writing.
• Keep up-to-date with and knowledge share the latest innovations in psychometrics, modern testing methods and in particular recruitment testing and assessment.
• Leadership and line management of a team.

Person specification

• Provide professional leadership for the occupational psychology service to ensure standards are maintained in line with regulatory, departmental and civil service requirements.
• Understand individual departmental needs to propose tailored solutions.
• Prepare proposals and presentation materials.
• Respond to customer leads and offer expert guidance.
• Meet customers and deliver compelling  presentations.
• Establish, develop and maintain effective working relationships with departmental leads and senior management to meet business needs and recruitment strategy objectives.
• Ensure continuous improvement by producing and maintaining service improvement plans to ensure that the Occupational Psychology service remains responsive to business needs and is strategically aligned.
• Provide reasonable adjustment advice to recruiters with non-straightforward cases in line with the Equality Act 2010.
• Undertake diversity modelling and adversity impact analysis.
• Add value to operational policy deployment which maximises the contribution of psychology and psychologists to the business.
• Undertake appropriate activities to support their own and practitioner work psychologists to maintain their HCPC registration and remain CPD compliant.

To be successful in this role, you will need to demonstrate the key criteria below:

• evidence of delivering assessment projects (e.g. interviews, assessment centres, psychometric insights)
• a consulting background with significant experience in managing client relationships and projects
• knowledge and understanding of the assessment market and the latest methodologies
• demonstrate leadership skills to foster strong staff engagement, empowerment and service performance
• a keen interest in and thorough knowledge of psychometrics
• a passion for training with some first hand experience delivering training courses
• be able to demonstrate strategic thinking and decision-making in service delivery
• demonstrate evidence of building effective collaborative teams
• provide evidence of communicating with purpose and influencing key stakeholders
• demonstrate an awareness and understanding of professional standards to ensure risks are managed
• collect and analyse quantitative or qualitative data, including conducting surveys and writing reports
  

• Technical Skills

  Government Occupational Psychology Professional Skills & Standards at Principal Psychologist level. About us - Government Occupational Psychology Profession - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £53,400, Cabinet Office contributes £14,418 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, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a 1250-word personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

At interview stage you will be assessed on Civil Service Behaviours and you may be asked to give a short presentation of no longer than 10 minutes at the start of your interview. Full details will be provided in advance.

Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Further Information

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

Any move to Cabinet Office 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

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ 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 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.

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.