About the job

Job summary

The newly created Department for Business and Trade brings together the business focused functions of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for International Trade (DIT). Our joint expertise in trade and business provides us with a unique opportunity to unleash the power of UK businesses, reform regulation to reduce burdens and unlock post-Brexit freedoms.   

Job Description    

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is looking for Agile Delivery Managers on all levels of seniority to support teams delivering products, services and workstreams of varying sizes, maturity, and at different stages of the lifecycle (from discoveries through to live).  

Delivery Managers in DBT work within a community of practice, supporting each other to improve agile and lean practices across the department and deliver in line with the department’s priorities of trade, investment, and export promotion and supporting the UK’s agenda for a Global Britain.  

The complexity and size of the service you will be working on will vary depending on the grade you join at.  

Teams  

We have vacancies in multiple areas. If any of the following teams are of special interest to you, please indicate this (and why it’s the case) in your application.

In Technology Platforms we have vacancies in the following teams:   

The Technology Services team need a Senior Delivery Manager (G7) to deliver value through working with partners across government to deliver new systems that will transform government technology, whilst delivering customised solutions for DBT. The Technology Services team manage and assure the baseline platforms, applications and services that support DBT business objectives and outcomes by putting users and quality of service at the heart of what we do.  

The Software Engineering team need a Senior Delivery Manager (G7) to manage the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team and deliver several priority technology and infrastructure projects and programmes across DDaT. The SRE team provides critical operational support to all DDaT services and teams. They also provide tooling for the day to day working of all development teams, make sure that all the development work adheres to policy standards, provide ongoing support for hosting, and CD/CI pipeline.   

This role is available in seven UK locations and can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. Most DBT employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office on average. Changes to these working arrangements are available in certain circumstances but must be agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role and can only be discussed with successful candidates. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.  

Find out about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our recruitment video, visiting our website or reading our blog!  

Job description

 Responsibilities      

As a senior delivery manager, you will:  

• Help build the right environment for the team to deliver in, collaborate, communicate, and focus on the most important outcomes. 
• Improve processes and remove obstacles within the team and outside of it, iterating the existing approaches and facilitating new ways of doing things. 
• Ensure the team has the right set of skills, and provide direction on how that should change as the product is developed. 
• Manage dependencies and risks across DIT and with other government departments to remove blockers or obstacles to delivery. 
• Have a great understanding of agile practices and be able to adapt them to suit the team you are working with and guide continual improvement.   

If you join as Senior Delivery Manager you will line manage, mentor and coach other members of the professional community, your team, and possibly colleagues outside of DDaT.   

Person specification

Essential Skills and Experience     

   You will need to have demonstrable skills and experience of: 

• Agile and Lean Practices – Expert - You can coach and guide teams in Agile and Lean practices. You can act as a recognised expert and advocate for the approaches, continuously reflecting and questioning the team.
• Maintaining Delivery Momentum – Expert - You can actively address the most complicated risks, issues and dependencies even when ownership exists outside the team or is unclear. 
• Making the Process Work- Expert- You can identify and question organisational processes of increasing complexity. You can add value and can coach the organisation to inspect and adapt processes. You can guide teams through the implementation of a new process.  
• Planning- Expert- You can manage a continual planning process in a very complex environment. You can plan beyond product delivery. You can identify dependencies in plans across services and co-ordinate delivery. You can coach other teams as the central point of expertise.   

 Desirable Skills and Experience    

 These are not necessary but would be ideal if you:

• Communication Skills- Expert- You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. You can manage stakeholder expectations and moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales.
• Commercial Management- Practitioner - You can negotiate, get good value from and take responsibility for complex relationships with contracted suppliers. You can identify appropriate contractual frameworks and identify appropriate suppliers. 
• Financial Management- Practitioner- You can negotiate, influence or set budgets in complex environments. You can write or input into business cases and can communicate business-value propositions.  
• Life-cycle perspective- Practitioner- You can apply experience in multiple parts of the product life cycle. You can recognise when it is right to move forward and when to stop. You can recognise appropriate deliverables and the right people to meet them.  
• Team Dynamics and Collaboration- Practitioner- You can identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them. You can identify issues through Agile ‘health checks’ with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses. You can coach the team and individuals through development.
• Programme and/or project management experience is also beneficial. 

Personal Attributes and Skills   

Digital delivery managers work in a team with other digital professionals. You will need to promote skills-driven self-directed learning within the team, be able to spot and overcome blockers and inefficiencies, facilitating the team towards greater collaboration and effectiveness. You will contribute to improving how delivery, planning, and communities look like across the department.     

Development opportunities in this team  

You will join a high-performing team who are committed to making a strong investment in the personal and professional development of our people. You will be supported and encouraged to develop your talent and skills.  

You’ll also benefit from quarterly Delivery Manager awaydays with a focus on team building, learning and development. Learning about different delivery roles across the platforms and portfolios in DDaT and coaching and buddying other delivery people.  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,000, Department for Business and Trade contributes £13,224 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

How to Apply    

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.

Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

Sift will take place week commencing: Monday 8th of January.  

Interviews will take place week commencing: Tuesday 16th of January.   

Please notes these dates are indicative and may be subject to change.  

As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a CV and complete a personal statement outlining your experience, skills and fit for the role.  

At the sift stage for this role, we will assess your CV and personal statement against the essential skills and experience listed above, so please ensure these documents evidence these criteria. There is a 750 word limit on you personal statement. Please make your CV no more than two sides of A4.   You can use bullet points and subheadings if you prefer. As well as evidencing the criteria you should also touch upon why you're interested in DBT and in this role.    

If we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct a ‘short sift’ and read one element of your application. For this campaign a short sift would be conducted based on: CV only.   

How We Interview   

At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. A role-specific list of these can be found below.   

There will be a technical element within the interview where you will be asked questions about your specific professional skills and knowledge relating directly to the job role.  

We will assess you against these Technical Skills during this process:  

• Agile and Lean Practices 

• Maintaining Delivery Momentum 

• Making the Process Work 

• Planning 

Detailed explanations of each Technical Skill can be found on the DDaT Framework.   

We will also assess you against the following Behaviours:   

• Leadership 

• Communicating and Influencing 

• Developing Self and Others 

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.

Further Information

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

The Department for Business and Trade embraces and values diversity in all forms. We welcome and pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has on the work we do, and we promote equality of opportunity throughout the organisation.

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

Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

Any move to the Department for Business and Trade 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.

Reasonable adjustment

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 the DDaT Recruitment team before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Our recruitment process is underpinned by appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email: ddat.recruitment@trade.gov.uk.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. Click here to download a PDF about the Civil Service Commission/Complaints.

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

For further information and to apply please click the link to direct you to the advertisers website.

Add to all vacancies depending on the level of security clearance required for the roles

Vetting Requirements

SC

All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.

Checks will be made against:

• departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

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.