About the job

Job summary

About the Division

The Strategy, Sustainability and Impact Group (SSIG) is responsible within UKEF for contributing and responding to HMG strategy and policy developments, oversight of corporate strategy and planning, setting policy, central responsibility for UKEF’s approach to Climate Change matters and Sustainable Development Goals, and engaging internationally in UKEF’s capacity as an ECA.

Within the SSIG the Strategy Division leads on three major areas:

1)           Corporate Strategy and Impact;

2)           Strategic Delivery & Insights; and

3)           Cross-Government and Parliamentary Engagement

Job description

This is an exciting time to be joining UKEF’s Corporate Strategy and Impact team, which is responsible for setting the department’s overall strategic direction, delivery of priority workstreams and reporting on performance against objectives.

UKEF will shortly publish its next five-year business plan, which will set out how the department will deliver the government's priorities between 2024-2029. It is an ambitious, impact-led plan with objectives focused on UKEF’s support for UK SMEs, enabling financing for UK export capability, accelerating the transition to clean energy and mobilising finance in developing markets. The Corporate Strategy team led the policy development of the Business Plan and will coordinate its delivery working closely with colleagues in SSIG and more widely across UKEF.

The team collaborates with colleagues across the department on all aspects of its portfolio, and oversees corporate relationships with key Whitehall stakeholders (including the Department for Business and Trade, HM Treasury and UK Government Investments). We also regularly engage UKEF’s senior leadership including Ministers, the CEO, Executive Committee, and Board.

Person specification

About the role & main responsibilities

The Corporate Strategy and Impact Team Leader is a fast-paced and varied role with responsibilities across a range of workstreams including:

• Leading the delivery of key elements of UKEF’s next Business Plan, which sets the overarching strategy and objectives for UKEF between 2024-2029. This work will focus on the development and sustainability elements of the plan and involve close working with UKEF underwriting, origination, policy teams and cross-government stakeholders to ensure we are meeting our publicly stated ambitions.
• Implementation of the department’s Impact Framework, focusing on understanding and enhancing the real-world benefit that UKEF financing provides for our customers and their communities in the UK & internationally. As UKEF’s in-house impact policy lead, the Team Leader will monitor and update the Framework in line with industry best practice, with a particular focus on our contribution to economic growth, climate and sustainability and overseas development impacts.
• Overseeing the development and delivery of UKEF’s annual Operational Plan which articulates yearly activities and targets to achieve Business Plan objectives, reporting on a quarterly basis to UKEF’s Executive Committee, Board and key cross-government stakeholders and driving action & improvements where needed.
• Managing UKEF’s Strategic Risk Register, engaging with the Executive Committee and the Board to outline the key material risks facing the department, their operational consequences, and mitigations in place.
• Acting as the relationship manager and policy lead for implementing the UKEF-DBT Memorandum of Understanding and Partnership Agreement.
• Engaging across government, Public Finance Institutions and private sector to promote UKEF’s approach to strategic planning, and ensuring that our processes and policies are in line with industry best practice in corporate strategy.
• Ensuring that teams around the Department are aware of and understand the Strategy team’s role in driving wider UKEF priorities.
• Fostering a positive team culture and build effective working relationships with colleagues across UKEF to ensure a supportive and collaborative working environment that maximises team potential.
• Effective line management of (at least one) SEO colleague.

The role will draw on expertise from across the department, government and the private sector to inform its work, and is required to build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.

The responsibilities above are not exhaustive; additional duties may arise according to business need.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,430, UK Export Finance contributes £15,236 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.

You will be invited to complete the online application form.  The application form must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

All applications will be sifted against our minimum selection criteria outlined in the personal specification. 

You will be asked in the relevant sections of the application form to provide examples of evidence against a range of the success profiles (refer to appendix 1).  Where applicants are asked to apply with a personal statement, you should fully articulate in 250 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack

 

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

1. Experience
2. Technical
3. Behaviours

 

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial interview; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours/Technical/Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all four behaviours highlighted and your technical ability to successfully carry out the role.
2. Technical - a short presentation (this will be on a topic determined by UKEF and will need to be prepared in advance).

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

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.