About the job

Job summary

The Cultural Diplomacy team aims to support and deploy DCMS’ soft power assets to deliver the Government’s economic and foreign policy aims, as well as supporting the UK’s role as an international ‘force for good’. 

The UK’s strength in culture makes it a good foundation for building mutually beneficial relationships between the UK and other countries and their governments, as well as promoting our values on the international stage. 

The team’s responsibilities include: delivering DCMS’s arts and cultural international priorities; delivering the G20 and G7 Culture tracks; managing bilateral relationships with priority countries and with Devolved Administrations and driving forward DCMS’s interests in trade and export policy within our sectors.

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a great team that works across DCMS in the arts and cultural space. Our team provides opportunities to work closely with senior officials and ministers and across Whitehall to help deliver DCMS’s goals. 

Job description

This role is focused on cultural diplomacy policy, and could include liaising with multilateral organisations including the G20 and G7 as well as having lead responsibility for bilateral relationships with priority countries and the Devolved Administrations.

Activities the role may undertake include:

• Working closely with FCDO, British Council, foreign and devolved governments on bilateral cultural activity
• Providing briefings, advice, and speaking notes to Ministers and senior officials on international cultural policy. Supporting Ministers’ international engagement through foreign travel or hosting incoming Ministerial counterparts and multilateral events.
• Working closely with colleagues across Whitehall to develop and deliver country strategies that lead on cultural diplomacy objectives
• Influencing the broader policy landscape and advocating for the role of our sectors in driving economic growth, social benefits and increasing our soft power abroad. 
• Providing briefings, advice, and speaking notes to Ministers and senior officials on international cultural policy.
• Supporting Ministers’ international engagement through foreign travel or hosting incoming Ministerial counterparts and multilateral events.
• When opportunities arise, developing policy options and managing development and delivery of business cases for cultural bodies across the UK in order to secure maximum value for money. 

Person specification

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

Essential Requirement:

• Ability to assimilate, distil and present policy options and provide thoughtful and clear advice and briefing to senior stakeholders
• Strong project and programme management skills
• Ability to work with other organisations and wider stakeholders
• Ability to proactively solve problems, using a wide range of skills and approaches, to defend our sectors’ interests and reach workable solutions
• Ability to ruthlessly prioritise and drive towards long term goals, whilst achieving short term ambitions 

Desirable Skills:

• A working knowledge of the political and policy framework for devolution in the UK and/or international policy
• Experience of briefing senior stakeholders, verbally and in writing
• Being able to deploy economic analysis in policy making
• Experience in organising international-facing events for Ministers and officials or equivalent
• Evidence of an interest in international affairs and continued professional development to develop understanding of this area

We are offering applicants to join a virtual information session on 2.00pm - 3:00pm on Thursday 4th January 2024 co-hosted by the vacancy holder - Keith Nichol - and Hayley Raines.

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 here 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 on 14 January 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.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with: dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Interview

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

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

• Making effective decisions (Lead)
• Communicating and influencing
• Delivering at pace

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. 

In most cases interviews will take place remotely via Google Meet video call. However please refer to the Candidate Information Pack to confirm the interview approach.

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

Further Information

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

Any move to DCMS 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

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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 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.