Senior Policy Advisor London, England
Job description
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Loan
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Strategy
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Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
This is a truly exciting time to be joining the Commissioner’s Office, which was established with the appointment of Nicole Jacobs as Commissioner in late 2019.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner provides public leadership on domestic abuse issues and play a critical role in ensuring consistency in service provision, shining a light on both effective and poor practice. They will play a vital role in transforming the response to domestic abuse, holding local commissioners, statutory agencies, and central Government to account and drive real improvements across England and Wales.
The post-holder will join the policy team and will play a crucial role in leading work to improve the experiences of victims of domestic abuse and their children in the family justice system. This role also coordinates wider work on the criminal justice system. This will be a London-based role.
This post is post is being offered on a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) basis to to help with a temporary increase to respond to a finite piece of work.
Job description
- Providing high-quality advice on a range of issues to the Commissioner;
- Developing detailed expertise on the family and criminal justice systems, and leading on development of these issues for the Office overall;
- Considering and responding to changes and emerging issues in the national and local policy landscape;
- Exercising excellent judgement and political awareness when engaging with stakeholders, including local and national Government;
- Building effective relationships with key stakeholders across Government, with statutory agencies, and with the third sector;
- Working closely with analysts and the Practice & Partnerships team to ensure that policy development is grounded in operational practice and robust evidence;
- Influencing policy development both in and outside Government, leveraging support for the Commissioner’s strategic objectives through third sector stakeholders, Government Departments and Parliamentarians;
- Representing the Commissioner’s views at key meetings with statutory partners, sector stakeholders and across Government;
- Deputising for the Head of Policy as required.
Person specification
- Experience in developing and/or implementing domestic abuse and/or criminal justice policy;
- Experience drafting reports and media statements;
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including experience in formulating evidence-based recommendations and advice;
- Strong communication, negotiating, influencing and interpersonal skills to build effective relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, including the police, CPS, parliamentarians, and ministers.
- Sensitivity to those who are living with or have experience of domestic abuse, and awareness and enthusiasm for combatting domestic abuse;
- Experience working across local or national government officials on complex and cross-cutting issues.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of line management or developing individuals and teams;
- Experience of developing/ implementing governance processes and structures;
- Experiencing in delivering through others, to meet both short and long-term goals.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
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
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Statement of Suitability (Max Word Limit: 1000). Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please note your Statement of Suitability should be aligned to providing evidence of how you meet the essential criteria.
Candidates will be tested on their CV and Statement of Suitability at sift, and will be tested on behaviours listed on advert and strengths at interview.
Sift and interview dates
Sift will take place week commencing 24th April 2022.
Interviews will take place week commencing 1st May 2022.
The interview will be virtual.
This may change subject to business needs.
Further information
For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV. A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
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
This post is advertised as a Fixed Term or Loan contract for a period of 2 years with possibility of extension - FTA for external candidates, 2 year loan for existing civil servants
Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis 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.
A reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.
We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.
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.
For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.
Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.
Transfer Terms: Voluntary.
If you are invited to an interview you will be required to bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.
Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.
Any move to the Home Office 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
Reasonable Adjustments
If a person with disabilities is 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 [email protected] 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
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.
Feedback
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
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Further information
