About the job

Job summary

Do you want to be part of an energetic, innovative team and bring your skills to one of the biggest changes to the administration of the Civil Service in decades? We’re looking for people who are flexible, intuitive and are comfortable taking high levels of volume, speed, and complexity in their stride. A number of exciting new roles have come up in the Synergy Programme, a cross-departmental group formed in response to Government Business Service’s request for individual departments to group together in ‘clusters’ to drive efficiencies, increase buying power and improve the quality of shared service to our end users – our people.

The Synergy Programme is the largest of five departmental clusters, comprising the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office and many of their ALBs. The Department of Work and Pensions hosts the Synergy Programme. Your work will impact the procurement, HR and Finance arrangements for the next 15 years, impacting over 50% of all Civil Servants – that’s 230,000 people across the four departments and arm’s length bodies.

Success of the Programme is crucial as Civil Servants rely on shared services to provide business critical tools in human resources, finance, payroll, and procurement. It affects everything we do, from workforce planning, accounting, and budgeting joining a department as a new starter, the way we claim for expenses, how we buy goods and services such as our laptops, canteen provisions and how we make a claim for our expenses, to the way we receive our pensions when we retire. 

If you’re someone who can use your experience to streamline procurement to drive out error, waste and duplication we want to hear from you. But most importantly, we’re looking for applications from people who can also demonstrate a passion for our core ambition - delivering a once in a generation, transformed service that Civil Servants will use as a result of the Synergy Programme.

For all jobs located in Wales, the ability to speak Welsh is desirable.

Job description

Successful candidates can be expected to:

• Lead and drive a complex programme of activity with competing priorities with multiple partners and needs at pace.
• Provide insight, leadership and challenge at all levels to achieve the desired outcome, actively engaging with colleagues across Synergy, cluster departments and suppliers to deliver outcomes.
• Work to unify competing workstreams, spot opportunities and break down silos, manage interdependencies to ensure an end-to-end programme view.
• Identify and manage stakeholder relationships managing multiple internal and external relationships as appropriate.
• Use appropriate PPM and agile methodologies and tools to problem solve, identify, monitor project risks and issues, applying mitigation, controls and escalation as appropriate.
• Drive effective governance, transition planning and execution, setting appropriate delivery methodologies including between programme phases to manage change effectively.
• Provide support, guidance and coaching for the Delivery team, comprising of Change Delivery Managers, Delivery support capability and Agile Delivery Managers ensuring adequate resourcing and budget, including management of managed service resource and contingent labour.
• Show commitment to personal development. Promote effective individual and team performance.

Person specification

• Previous experience of working in a leadership role in a portfolio, programme or project environment within a large and diverse organisation with multiple and complex stakeholders; ideally PRINCE 2 (or equivalent) certified with previous experience of agile approaches and leading multi-disciplinary teams, including working alongside 3rd party / supplier service delivery partners. (Lead criteria).
• Experience of defining the fundamental components of a project in terms of its scope, deliverables, time scales, resource requirements and budget, including the production of broader plans incorporating risk and quality to provide a consolidated overview of a project.
• Experience of integrating project outputs into ‘business as usual’ (BAU) ensuring that activities are planned and completed to enable the business to implement the change and realise the benefits.
• Experience of building effective and collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders and holding others responsible for driving key deliverables
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with strong personal impact and the ability to influence, challenge and collaborate across boundaries and in sensitive political environments.

Desirable:

• An understanding of shared services within or outside of government.
• An understanding of GDS methodology and government approach to service delivery.
• Experience of working collaboratively across organisations.
• Experience of agile tools and techniques / certified in agile practices.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Location

Applicants should apply for suitable posts where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

Hybrid Working

This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home.  This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

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.

Initial selection will take place by sift, based on the person specification. 

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criteria: 

Previous experience of working in a leadership role in a portfolio, programme or project environment within a large and diverse organisation with multiple and complex stakeholders; ideally PRINCE 2 (or equivalent) certified with previous experience of agile approaches and leading multi-disciplinary teams, including working alongside 3rd party / supplier service delivery partners.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. 

Applicants should submit a CV and Personal Statement stating how they meet the essential criteria set out within the Person Specifications in no more than 1000 words. 

At interview, we will select based on both strengths and behaviours. You may also be expected to deliver a short presentation, with further information being provided prior to interview. The behaviours we will select on are:  

Leadership 

Communicating and Influencing 

Changing and Improving  

Working Together 

You can see full list of behaviours here. 

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 

Security Information 

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. 

The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences. If evidence of plagiarism is found your application will be withdrawn. 

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.