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About the job
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Things you need to know
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Location
About the job
Job summary
Local authorities are independent of central government and are responsible for providing local services. Our Secretary of State has powers to intervene where there is evidence of significant and systemic failure to secure best value for local residents. This has been seen recently in Liverpool City Council, Slough Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Nottingham City Council and Thurrock Council. Each initiative of this type involves detailed and rewarding work – taking a local authority from the brink of disaster to success.
We are looking for up to four people to join our expanding Local Government Interventions Team. There are roles assessing and advising as to whether these powers should be used and then supporting Ministers in putting in place inspections and interventions. There are also roles directly supporting Commissioners in interventions as well as having an overall influence on the wider commissioner cadre. We are a friendly, supportive, high-performing and flexible team, working in a complex, demanding, politically sensitive and high-profile environment. We are looking for people who want to make a difference.
Job description
Successful candidates will be leading future interventions and supporting our current work.
The work requires strong analytical skills, establishing strong relationships with local partners and across Whitehall, and is by its very nature reactive and unpredictable.
There are line management opportunities.
It is expected that successful candidates will:
- Engage with a wide variety of colleagues and experts drawn from across DLUHC, Whitehall and the local government sector.
- Develop and draft ministerial policy advice and parliamentary materials.
- Have focussed engagement with specific authorities, becoming “experts” in those areas.
Person specification
Essential criteria
These are demanding roles that require personal resilience and the ability to operate in an uncertain and reactive environment. We are looking for people who are comfortable delivering at pace and who can demonstrate good judgement.
Experience
An in-depth knowledge of local authority governance, finances and functions is desirable but is not essential
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
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
DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.
Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).
Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.
Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.
When writing your application, remember:
- The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.
- Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.
- If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!)
At sift, we will be assessing
Behaviour 1 (lead behaviour) - Communicating and influencing
Behaviour 2 - Working together
Behaviour 3 - Delivering at pace
There is a 250 word limit per question.
In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview
The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:
Behaviour - Communicating and influencing, Working together, Delivering at pace
Experience - candidates will be expected to prepare a presentation, details of which will be sent on invitation to interview.
Strength - The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.
In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements:
Behaviours: Communicating and influencing, Working together, Delivering at pace
Experience: Through the presentation at interview.
Strengths: Yes
We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – 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.
Grade 7 salary
- The salary for this role is £54,632 (London) or £49,697 (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.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:
- London
- Wolverhampton
- Darlington*
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 (DEC) 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
For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack.
SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES:
Sifting is envisaged to take place from 31/05/2023 with interview dates to be confirmed. 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). Thank you.
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.
Candidate Pack Information
Please see attached Candidate pack for further information.
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
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