About the job

Job summary

The Propriety and Ethics Directorate sits at the heart of the Cabinet Office, in the centre of Government. We work to the Cabinet Secretary and support the Prime Minister to provide advice to all government departments on standards and ethics issues, including in relation to public appointments. The Directorate is part of a wider group which provides support and guidance to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, Cabinet Office Ministers and across Whitehall to support the operation of good government. 

The post sits within the public appointments part of the Inquiries and Public Appointments team (in the Propriety and Ethics Directorate). Over the past few years, the team has worked with Cabinet Office Digital and external suppliers to develop and launch a new digital service. The new digital service allows individuals to search and apply for public appointments online. Departments can also use it to advertise and run their recruitment campaigns, from advertising roles to announcing appointments. The service is currently in the beta phase, departments are getting to grips with using it and real-time data on applicants, including personal and diversity data, is being collected. 

Job description

The role holder will:

1. Manage the relationships with and between CO Digital, technical support and the service’s commercial partner with particular focus on strengthening incident response arrangements;
2. Lead the continuous improvement (CI) programme to ensure the service meets user needs and that the work is delivered on time and to budget;
3. Coordinate broader service-critical activities including the migration to the AWS platform and implementation of remediation activities agreed as part of the recent service criticality assessment;
4. Oversee departmental user support services (including an ongoing programme of training and development) to ensure that they can effectively use the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to run public appointment campaigns and manage data;
5. Review project governance arrangements to ensure they remain fit-for-purpose to support the current phase of the project;
6. Ensure that site security/data protection requirements remain central to all aspects of the project, including CI, and consider further opportunities for enhancement;
7. Work with the team’s data analyst and provide the direction needed to ensure that the site is providing:
   a.    departments with all the information and data they need to improve the management of their appointment campaigns, in line with policy requirements (e.g. reducing the time taken to complete campaigns);
   b.    Cabinet Office Ministers with the data they need to make informed decisions;
   c.    Cabinet Office with the data needed for the annual publication of public appointments data.
8. Lead on data visualisation for the team, curating compelling data dashboards for policy and ministerial customers 

Person specification

 The role holder will be:

• The product manager and intelligent customer for the new public appointments digital service;
• Responsible for ensuring the data collected by the new service is being used to its full potential, working with policy colleagues in the team and across departments.

Essential criteria:

• Evidence of strong problem solving and analytical skills;
• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills;
• Evidence of using digital systems to inform policy development;
• Experience in agile project management;
• Experience in delivering successful digital products and services to standards such as Government Digital Service (GDS) standards.

Desirable:  

• Understanding of how government digital services operate, cyber security and digital markets.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,800, Cabinet Office contributes £15,876 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.

Application process

The application process requires:

• A CV
• A Statement of Suitability (1000 words) outlining how you meet the essential criteria for this role.
• Behaviours: Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the Big Picture and Working Together

Selection process

Applications will be sifted on CV, behaviours statements and statement of suitability.

At the Interview, we will test you against the Behaviours listed below and your digital skills against the DDAT framework.

In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift will be carried out on the basis of statement of suitability. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – w/c: 15 January 2024
Expected interview date/s – w/c 29 January 2024
Interview location - Virtual (Google Meets)

Reasonable adjustments

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:

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. 

Androulla Michael, Head of Public Appointments or Androulla.michael@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for CTC is 3 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

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.

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

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis 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.

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 counter-terrorist 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.