About the job

Job summary

Our work in the Sport and Gambling (S&G) Directorate is at the heart of DCMS’ role to support growth and enrich lives - helping the nation to get more active; working with the gambling industry and sports sector; delivering major sporting events; and overseeing the National Lottery. Our sectors employ over 100,000 people and add billions to the economy. 

Within the S&G Directorate, the Major Sporting Events and Delivery Unit works side-by-side with the Sport Team to build on the UK’s track record of hosting world-leading major sporting events - bidding for them, ensuring they are delivered successfully, and making sure we properly evaluate their impact. High profile examples include the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final and Rugby World Cup in 2025 – as well as preparing to host EURO 2028 across the UK and Ireland following our successful bid to UEFA.

Our unit is also responsible for DCMS’s direct capital investment into grassroots sports facilities, to enhance the legacy of major sporting events and help get 3.5 million people active by 2030 as part of our Get Active strategy. We oversee three key programmes:

• Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme (a £300m+ investment into football and multi-sport facilities across the UK);, 
• Park Tennis Court refurbishment programme (£22m into public park tennis courts); and 
• Swimming Pool Support Fund (£60m to keep swimming pools across England open and improve their medium term sustainability).

Job description

The role will be split 50:50 across two teams within the Major Sporting Events & Delivery Unit: the Major Events Team and the Grassroots Facilities Investment Team. It’s an exciting and varied role and the successful candidate will:

• Work closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority to ensure £70m of legacy funding from the 2022 Commonwealth Games is assured and overseen appropriately on behalf of DCMS. 
• Support a range of work on the policy and delivery of major events, including the 2026 European Athletics Championships, and the future of the Commonwealth Games.
• Support the delivery, monitoring and governance of the multi-sports grassroots facilities programme which is delivering across the UK.
• Develop effective working relationships with a variety of stakeholders across DCMS and other government departments, as well as external stakeholders, notably UK Sport, Sport England, the Football Foundation and Football Associations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Embrace working flexibly and have the opportunity to engage in other areas of the wider MSEDU team’s work as priorities change and adapt over time.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication, and the ability to confidently deliver messages to different levels of seniority.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with strong evidence of working in partnership with other individuals and organisations to achieve outcomes.
• Excellent project management skills and ability to be flexible and to manage multiple high profile projects.
• Experience of reviewing and improving systems, and an ability to respond positively to feedback.

Desirable skills:

• An interest in and understanding of the major sporting event and sport sectors.
• Understanding of government and parliamentary processes. 
• An ability to think more broadly beyond your work area, and to identify links between your work area and others in the team, department and Whitehall. 

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Joe Garrood and Chris Gallagher, and will take place on: Friday 10th May, 13.00-13.45.

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this form and you will be sent an invitation. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,095, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £8,935 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.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 PM 13th May 2024 via the CS Jobs portal:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed.

For the shortlist, we will assess your experience and select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the Statement of Suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the ‘Application and Interview Guidance’ document attached to the job advert.

The interview process will assess behaviours and strengths and potentially include a presentation.

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

• Delivery At Pace
• Communicating & Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview. 

As part of your interview, you may be asked to deliver a short oral presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview. 

Your interview will take place remotely via GoogleMeets.

For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.

Further Information

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only., Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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   

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Information for Applicants’ document.

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. 

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.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.

In order to request an adjustment, please:

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on 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 a verbal test rather than a written one. 

Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.

Feedback

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.