About the job

Job summary

DWP works on some of the most important and exciting policies in government. We are proud of our work and want to offer applicants the opportunity to get involved in our ambitious agenda to improve outcomes for millions of citizens in the UK; throughout their lives, in the workplace, and in retirement. Some of the issues we are currently grappling with are – how do you support those with long term health conditions back into or to stay in employment; how to reduce fraud and error so that vital funds go where they are most needed; how to encourage saving for later life.

We are seeking to recruit up to 10 Grade 7 Team Leaders to join Policy Group, in either Fraud, Error and Debt Policy roles or in Universal Credit Policy roles.

Job description

Fraud and Error Policy roles

Fraud and error is a big challenge for the welfare system. It cost an estimated £8.3bn in the financial year 2022/23.  The challenge is to drive down this cost, to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.

The Fraud Error and Debt Strategy and Corporate Support Directorate lead work to drive strategy and policy development and design to help address the fraud and error challenges facing the department. To do this, we work collaboratively across Policy Group, the department, across Government and with external stakeholders, to identify the issues and find solutions. 

Universal Credit Policy roles

Universal Credit (UC) Policy is responsible for developing and maintaining UC policy and legislation. The team also support delivery colleagues and provide assurance to Ministers and the Executive Team that UC Programme plans will deliver the policy intent. 

The following features are common to the Fraud, Error and Debt Policy and Universal Credit Policy roles:

• Leading a team of policy and policy support professionals.
• Owning a discrete policy area or project with empowerment over your area of work.
• Working across organisational boundaries, and with key partners, to deliver outcomes.
• Solving some of the nation's biggest challenges to achieve outcomes for the government and citizens.
• Contributing to the social policy agenda and the strategic management of Policy Group.
• Taking major decisions affecting the direction and delivery of the work area, assessing risk and advising on mitigation and assessing the consequences of proposed changes, both internally and externally.

For those who aren’t currently working in the Civil Service, a Grade 7 role is a management role with responsibility for leading distinct projects or policy areas. They often manage small teams and contribute to the corporate leadership of their wider team or department.

We have a variety of roles available for skilled, adaptable, and inspiring people. Common to all our roles is the need to be able to communicate and influence others, to lead, to solve problems, and work with and through others, making effective decisions to achieve results.

We are looking for people with a wide range of real-life experience, who have worked in all kinds of jobs and have a real passion and ability to make a difference.  We also encourage applications from people who can work from our Leeds and Sheffield offices.  

We are committed to investing in our people and offer a range of training and qualifications, coaching and mentoring opportunities. 

Successful candidates will not be able to state a preference for any specific role and posts will be offered according to business need at the time of posting. If you are successful, you may not be offered a role immediately.

Please read the Candidate Pack to understand more about DWP, Policy Group and how you will be assessed at each stage of this recruitment exercise.

Person specification

You will be a leader who brings the best out of people.

As a leader, you need to be adept at creating an environment where everyone can flourish, develop and reach their full potential. You will be able to provide vision and direction, be able to coach and motivate team members and build diverse and inclusive teams that strive to achieve their goals.

You will identify and understand options and risks and can make balanced assessments to achieve continuous improvement. To be effective this means you will be skilled at gathering and analysing information, developing a range of solutions, quickly appraising options, and being decisive about the right course of action.

You will achieve success by working with and delivering through others. You will be a leader who is confident about being able to shape people’s thinking and who can build and maintain great relationships with a wide range of people from within and outside our organisation.

Experience Key Criteria

Communicating and influencing (Lead Criteria): You will need to communicate with clarity and conciseness and be an enthusiastic and persuasive negotiator to engage with stakeholders with sensitivity, to build trust and confidence and importantly to understand the requirements of your audience. You’ll need to demonstrate an ability to effectively influence senior leaders and across organisational boundaries as well as your attention to detail and a proven ability to write effectively and present complex and technical information concisely to both internal and external stakeholders, with a view to meeting the business requirements of our Ministers and senior managers.

Leadership:

We must see evidence of confident and inclusive leadership where you take ownership and accountability for setting a clear vision for your work and delivering significant objectives within a strategic context.  We need to see how and why you adopted your leadership approach, the impact of your approach and evidence of your ability to be flexible and take forward different approaches in different circumstances, both internally to your organisation and whilst leading across organisational boundaries.

Problem solving:

You will demonstrate evidence of anticipating issues as well as taking ownership and solving problems of sufficient complexity and depth - and doing so at pace where needed and with flexibility of approach.  We need to see evidence of how you identified a problem and what steps you took to develop options and recommendations, whilst managing risk.  You must be able to demonstrate the balance of choices and the wider impact and implications of your recommendations and decisions.

Working with and through others:

You need to demonstrate evidence of working in a collaborative and open way. You should demonstrate that you have built and worked hard to maintain a network of stakeholders including Ministers and senior leaders and why these people are important to engage and work with.  You should explain what you did to understand differences and how you assessed others’ positions, what steps you took to establish common purpose and how you identified and broke down barriers to overcome difficulties and deliver your business outcomes.

Making Effective Decisions:

Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. You will carefully consider a range of options, impacts, risks and implications in your decision-making.  You will demonstrate your experience in the use of evidence and precedent in your decision-making and management practice. You will utilise analytical and critical thinking to identify root causes and develop innovative and sustainable solutions bringing in experts and other professional disciplines as appropriate.  

Benefits

• An employer pension contribution of up to 27%
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 25 days for new entrants 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
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities
• Time off volunteering and charitable giving
• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
• Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

1. Application & Sift

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement. The CV is for reference only and will not be scored.

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

A sift will be carried out using your 1250 word Personal Statement.

Your personal statement needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets all the Experience Key Criteria set out above and not the published behaviours listed in this advert.

We are not looking at how much time you have spent in a job, but rather how you have performed. Your Personal Statement must show demonstrable evidence of what you did, how you did it, and what outcome was achieved. This should include the impact of your approach and evidence of your ability to take forward different approaches in different circumstances.

The standards detailed in the Experience Key Criteria are the minimum expectations for the role and only candidates with the strongest evidence will be invited to interview.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the pass standard for the lead criteria "Communicating & Influencing". Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. 

Your statement must not exceed 1250 words and you are advised to take advantage of the full word count.

The closing date for your application is 23:55 on 12th January 2024. 

2. Interview Stage

If you are successful at the sift you will be invited to a MS Teams interview. The interview will comprise of Behaviour-Based questions. The guidance on Success Profiles explains these selection tools. The Behaviours being assessed are detailed in the job advert. 

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating & Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Developing Self & Others

Note that the Behaviours will be assessed at interview stage only.

Candidates invited to interview will receive the Behaviours questions in advance of their interview.

When applying for these roles, you will be required to state in preference order which of the three Policy Group Hub locations you can work from, Sheffield, Leeds, and London. Please be aware these roles can only be carried out in the UK, not overseas, and your office base must be one of the three Policy Group Hubs. Appointments may be made to candidates in merit order based on location preferences and geographical requirements  

By indicating your preferred Policy Group hub location(s) in your application you are stating that you are willing to accept a post in any of your chosen hub location(s). 

• Quarry House, Leeds, LS2 7UA 
• Caxton House, Tothill St, London, SW1H 9NA 
• King’s Court, Hanover Way, Sheffield, S3 7UF 

The Department is committed to promoting flexible ways of working, whilst enabling the business to operate at maximum efficiency and will expect colleagues to work from a blend of locations, including some time working at home, as required

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

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.

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 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.

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.