About the job

Job summary

The Northern Ireland Directorate is working to deliver the requirements of the Windsor Framework. The Windsor Framework is the agreement reached between the EU and the UK to avoid a hard border with Ireland; while ensuring the UK, including Northern Ireland, leaves the EU as a whole, enabling the entire UK to benefit from future Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

The Framework replaces the previous Northern Ireland Protocol. For DEFRA, implementation requires changes in relation to the movement of agrifood and involves extensive delivery with the equivalent Northern Ireland department – DAERA, and other government departments.

Your role will be critically important to managing risks associated with delivering to the Windsor Framework (WF) timelines, and upholding agreements made with the EU, and international legal obligations. This is a particularly exciting and high-profile area of work, made up a number of major delivery projects. 

You will play an active role in shaping and delivering the Defra group’s priorities, informing decision making, and working creatively and collaboratively with others to deliver excellent outcomes. 

DEFRA is looking for enthusiastic and confident individuals to lead on key elements that will enable the successful delivery of various projects within the Northern Ireland Programme.

Job description

This is a permanent Programme Director role to provide co-leadership in the Defra Northern Ireland Programme. You will work alongside the existing Programme Director Colin Tweddle who works 0.6 FTE. You will lead shared resources from the existing PCMO (Programme and Corporate Management Office) across an expanding programme to implement the Windsor Framework. The exact split of responsibilities with Colin will be agreed once the successful candidate is in place, but you should expect to be able to lead across the full range of Programme Director capabilities and responsibilities.  You will be responsible for increasing capacity in the team and organisation at pace and making the right decisions on which functions to prioritise and which to defer. 

The programme director is accountable to the senior responsible owner for the governance framework and for the day-to-day management of a programme to deliver the desired outcomes and outputs and realise the required benefits. They are responsible for driving the delivery of the programme and overseeing it to ensure that the objectives are clearly defined and achieved within the agreed time, cost, and quality constraints. The programme director directs the programme, and early priorities will be growing a functional joint PMO.  You will work very closely with the Director for Defra’s Northern Ireland Programme, SRO Mark Thompson. The Programme is a GMPP with complex elements from infrastructure delivery, to digital and operational functions, as well as strategy, policy, and negotiations.  We work in a multi-disciplinary project way with a range of external partners, and you will oversee the team of project managers that are the glue for the programme.

There are a range of challenging projects within the programme to deliver our commitments under the Windsor Framework, including: 

• Improving user and delivery partner experience of the retail movement and plants schemes;
• GB-wide ‘Not for EU’ labelling requirements introduced by October 2024, and phased GB-NI labelling requirements through to 2025; 
• Introduction of a new scheme for pets travelling GB-NI in 2024;
• Permanent sanitary and phytosanitary infrastructure delivered at the four major ports in NI by July 2025.

Person specification

Candidates will need to demonstrate the following Essential Criteria:

Leading and Communicating: 

• Ability to communicate with purpose and direction with clarity, integrity, and enthusiasm.
• Able to inspire staff and delivery partners to engage fully with the programme’s long-term vision and delivery requirements. 
• An ability to confidently engage senior industry stakeholders on difficult issues is imperative.

Delivery at Pace: 

• Creates effective plans, systems and governance to manage change and respond promptly to critical events.

Collaborative: 

• Promotes and enables effective cross-team working, embedding programme management expertise and support across project teams. 

Makes Effective Decisions:

• Able to articulate and analyse options, risks and issues, with an appreciation of a wide range of factors, to recommend plans and mitigations. 
• Able to take quick, confident decisions at a strategic level to enable progress towards the Northern Ireland programme outcomes.

Inclusive Leadership: 

• Develops, leads and promotes diverse and inclusive teams across the directorate.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £20,250 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

What you need to do to apply

Details of the assessment process and further information

Candidates are asked to complete a CV and personal statement (no more than 1250 words) on how your relevant skills and experience meet the essential criteria. Completed applications must be submitted no later than the closing date 2nd January 2024. 

scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Please ensure you allow sufficient time to submit your application afterwards.

Please ensure that both documents are free of any identifying information – this will be captured through the online portal, whilst ensuring applications can be considered anonymously.

How we decide whom to invite for interview:

Shortlisting for an interview is made on the basis of merit. The selection panel will assess the evidence presented by all applicants against the advertised essential criteria and the highest rated applicants will be Invited to interview.

Applications will be assessed by the selection panel and shortlisted Interviews will be face to face at a London office location.

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a virtual staff engagement exercise.

Assessments

The assessment will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, it is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. 

Full details of the assessment process will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the earliest opportunity.

Short listed applicants will be offered an informal discussion with the Vacancy Holder

Interview

You will be asked to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in- depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the essential criteria for the role. The interview which will ideally take place in person however, we can be flexible and carry out virtually if required.

As part of the interview, we would ask you to prepare and present a short presentation and will confirm the topic in the interview invitation.You will be assessed on the following 4 behaviours at the interview stage: Inclusive Leadership, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions and Communicating and Influencing.

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.