About the job

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Can you confidently and professionally liaise with senior stakeholders with the ability to adapt your approach to suit your audience?

Are you someone with recruitment experience in public appointments or senior/ high profile roles?

Do you have exceptional communication skills with a drive for continuous improvement and providing an outstanding service?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity in the Public Appointments Team in the Department for Transport as it expands and centralises management that most of the Public Appointments the Department is responsible for.

You can expect to have a high level of engagement with our established sponsor and shareholder teams in the department to ensure public appointments are strategically considered and compliantly delivered. Your role will be essential in advising our Ministers on the public appointments covered by the department.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• One Senior Executive Officer (SEO) will have oversight of the department’s regulated public appointments, and the second SEO will have oversight of unregulated public appointments, including the provision of advice to our Ministers and their Special Advisers, as well as sponsor and shareholder teams across the business.
• Managing Chair and high-profile appointments regulated/unregulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments including preparing role profiles, ministerial submissions, panel engagement and candidate search.
• Line management including staff development, wellbeing and team cohesion.
• Ensuring effective communications, guidance and best practices are in place and the team continue to grow as a centre for excellence for public appointments.
• Working across the Department and with Cabinet Office, No.10 and, for the regulated role, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, to support the effective forward planning, co-ordination and compliance of the department’s appointments.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Person specification

About you:

The successful candidate will have:

• Experience of Public Appointments or similar recruitment of senior and/or high-profile roles in the public or private sector such as director or non-executive director appointments.
• Experience of understanding different customer needs and delivering an excellent service to meet those.
• Experience of working with a diverse range of stakeholders to achieve a shared goal on a time sensitive project or piece of work, with the ability to manage expectations and provide guidance.

Additional Information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. 

You may occasionally be required to travel to other DfT offices for team meetings or when we host events in any of our locations. Events may be held in the evening and an overnight stay may be required.

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

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.

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role, and within your CV and Personal Statement please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following: 

• Experience of Public Appointments or similar recruitment to senior and/or high-profile roles in the public or private sector such as director or non-executive director appointments.
• Experience of understanding different customer needs and delivering an excellent service to meet those.
• Experience of working with a diverse range of stakeholders to achieve a shared goal on a time sensitive project or piece of work, with the ability to manage expectations and provide guidance.

Please fully utilise the 750-word count when completing your personal statement.

The sift is due to take place from week commencing 15th January 2024.

Interviews are likely to be held from week commencing 29th January 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

• An Interview

This interview will be conducted online via MS Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

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

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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.

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.