About the job

Job summary

As Team Leader of the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme (WIDP) you will lead a significant portfolio of support to local authorities in relation to their waste infrastructure projects.  These 22 projects are delivering new facilities to ensure less waste goes into landfill. Defra supports the projects with £90m of grant funding per annum (totalling some £3bn of grant funding over the lifetime of the programme which ends in 2042). You will have responsibility for overseeing the portfolio; ensuring value for money for government and delivery of expected project outcomes.

But this is more than simply a grant management programme. With our waste PFI projects spanning all aspects of the local authority waste services (from collections at kerbside, through to disposal via energy from waste facilities for example, and all steps in between) the team is ideally situated to provide input, advice and delivery support to local authorities and government stakeholders on all aspects of the various waste and environmental policy initiatives currently underway, not least the waste reforms set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy 2018.

You will directly lead a small team of four within core Defra and provide strategic leadership to our chosen delivery partner – Local Partnerships. Local Partnerships supports WIDP, the wider Waste Teams and other Government Departments with technical, commercial and financial expertise, and provides embedded support to local authorities relating to their waste management activities.

Job description

• You will lead the supervision of the portfolio of local authority waste projects, ensuring they are compliant with the grant terms and conditions and provide value for money of outcomes.  Where deficiencies are identified you will propose appropriate action to rectify the defects. This will involve managing financial and legal risks associated with such proposals
• You will be the WIDP lead with the Infrastructure Projects Authority on the latter’s programme of work relating to local authority preparations for their PFI contracts to end and provision of follow on services
• You will be the strategic lead and relationship manager with the senior leadership team at Local Partnerships - our key delivery partner and source of technical, commercial, financial and legal advice as it relates to the local authority waste sector
• You will play a key role in integrating the work of WIDP into the delivery of the reforms under the Resource and Waste Strategy 2018 and other cross Government priorities such as decarbonisation of the local authority waste sector
• You will be responsible for the programme’s c£90m per annum waste PFI grant budget as well as the c£1.5m per annum budget for the provision of support from Local Partnerships
• You will be required to prepare submission, briefings and other materials for senior officials and Ministers on matters relating to the Programme
• You will lead a team with two HEOs and one EO within a branch with a flexible approach to responsibilities

Person specification

• You will be a ‘people person’ with strengths in building collaborative relationships, including where competing interests mean difficult conversations may be necessary
• You will build and draw on a wide range of sources within the Department, delivery partners and x-Whitehall community to ensure an understanding of cross-cutting issues and an ability to deliver value against government’s strategic priorities as they relate to the local authority waste sector
• You will work closely with technical, commercial, financial and legal experts, distilling their advice and factoring in wider strategic issues, in order to communicate issues clearly to senior officials and Ministers
• You will bring together and balance competing priorities in order to propose solutions; this will be key to WIDP supporting the delivery of waste reforms and government’s wider decarbonisation ambitions for the local authority waste sector

Essential criteria:

• Experience of managing complex relationships
• Experience of working with a broad range of expert advisors, and bringing them together to form a cohesive viewpoint
• Ability to understand complex matters and manage risks, and to convey such matters clearly and concisely to a range of audiences
• Excellent policy delivery skills

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,120, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £14,072 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.

Application Process

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a personal statement of no more than 750 words. Evidence how you would ensure resourcing policy & guidance published on departmental intranet is clear, concise, easy to use and accessible. Describe how you would engage with key stakeholders to action.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

The sift will assess the following:

1. Lead Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
2. 750 word personal statement

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. 

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Interview:

At Interview you will be assessed on the following 4 behaviours and strengths:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture

Interviews will be held via Video link. 

A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.

Near Misses

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions within Defra which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match. 

Location 

As part of the pre-employment process, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is 'National' the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Reserve List

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

Merit Lists 

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Salary 

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

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 Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.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. 

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.

Criminal Record Check

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. 

Internal Fraud Database Check

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.

Higher Security Clearance 

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.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer. 

Childcare Vouchers 

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

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.