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About the job
Job summary
Important - To apply for this role you will need to submit a CV and covering letter. These need to be merged into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. There are further details in the Selection Process section further below in this advert.
DLUHC Digital is working with policy teams to apply digital, user-centred thinking to big important problems like building safety, homelessness, local growth and planning. Government is in the process of reacting to the societal transformation caused by internet-era business models, new technology and remote working: like other Departments, DLUHC is adapting and transforming in line with these wider changes. You can find out more about what the Digital Directorate does to assist the Department on this journey on our blog.
The Digital Front Door team, where this role sits, provides support to policy teams to help them understand user needs, consider user behaviour, design workable solutions and communicate their thinking to Ministers and stakeholders. Our help comes in a range of forms from training to coaching to collaborative working.
We are also responsible for managing the Cabinet Office Spend Controls for Digital and Technology across the department and our Arms Length Bodies.
Job description
We’re looking for someone to lead the consultation process for the Department. This regulatory process improves transparency and helps DLUHC gain a better understanding of the needs of the users our policies are designed to support. You will lead on administration for our corporate consultations publication tool, Citizen Space.
We expect you’ll use your content experience to help draft plain English consultations in line with the GOV.UK style. You’ll manage relationships with subject matter experts, such as policy, data protection, legal and data analysis teams, to ensure content is accurate and meets the objectives of the consultation. You’ll also be responsible for DLUHC’s internal support and guidance on consultations offered to policy makers, the department’s consultation governance process and the software we use to run consultations.
The consultation platform is also used for other work such as funding applications, surveys, data gathering and feedback. You will be able to help shape content for a range of user in different situations.
To succeed in this role, you’ll need to be able to take complex language and questions and make them simple to understand. You’ll need to be willing to challenge assumptions and explain your decisions to stakeholders who are new to web usability principles. You will be passionate about helping the teams that use Citizen Space to build accessible content .
You should have a proven ability to create usable and accessible content. You may have experience of writing for the web. You’ll also need to be a strong advocate for user-centred design who’s willing to guide stakeholders to understand it because it will be new to many of them.
This post is aligned to the Content Designer job profile in the Government Digital Data and Technology Profession Framework, although it is not a pure content role. You will also be expected to act as a coordinator, ensuring that there is a central record of the consultations the Department is running and that all the relevant subject matter experts are consulted before consultations are issued.
This is a unique opportunity to help shape the way a Department thinks about policy and digital, and make a meaningful difference to the lives of users.
Person specification
- You will draw on previous design experience to create user-centred content that is clear, concise, and meaningful
- You will have proven experience working on more than one content delivery project simultaneously whilst adapting, reflecting and being resilient to change
- You will be able to demonstrate your experience of leading the creation, iteration and management of user-centred content and the formulation of appropriate methods to do this
- You will have experience working with stakeholders unfamiliar with content design principles to understand their perspectives whilst maintaining content quality
- You will have experience of influencing and coaching colleagues and stakeholders from outside your immediate team on the benefits of content design
- You will have an understanding of GOV.UK standards
We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
We are for everyone
At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation.
We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.
We are for everyone
CV and Cover Letter Declaration
We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment.
Please remove references to your:
- name/title
- educational institutions
- age
- gender
- email address
- postal address
- phone number
- nationality/immigration status
You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter.
Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors.
At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing:
Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.
Or: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page. Please bear in mind the following behaviour when writing your covering letter – Communicating and Influencing.
The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of experience, behaviour, and strength based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.
In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements:
Experience: Yes - Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description
Strength: Yes
Behaviours: Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service
We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs:
Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign
SEO salary
- The salary for this role is £40,390 (London) or £37,064 (National).
- For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.
Benefits
Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018:
Any move to DLUHC 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.
For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack.
Location
- Birkenhead
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Cambridge
- Darlington
- Exeter
- Hastings
- Leeds
- London
- Manchester
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Nottingham , Plymouth
- Truro
- Warrington
- Wolverhampton
There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role.
- Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service. This role is based at DLUHC and we will be joined on the campus by:
- HM Treasury
- Department for International Trade
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Office for National Statistics
- Department for Education
Sift and Interview dates
We will be sifting applicants as we go – so please don’t wait until the deadline to submit your application. Interview dates will be confirmed at a later stage, all interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall.
Reserve List
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Due to the length of time CTC checks can take, our HR Shared Services team will contact reserve list candidates for London based roles to commence CTC checks. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact [email protected] to be removed from the reserve list.
CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance):
Important note
Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete.
Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC).
Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database.
Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules
Candidate Pack Information
Please see attached Candidate pack for further information.
Internal Fraud Database
The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned.The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.
For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team