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Contents
- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know
- Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
This role offers exposure to the top-level workings of a government department and an excellent opportunity for the right candidate to develop and hone the skills required to progress further in the civil service.
Job description
We are recruiting for an HEO role in the Correspondence and Cabinet Committees Unit.
The Correspondence and Cabinet Committees Unit manages the flow of information to and from the department’s Ministers. This can be in the form of letters from MPs, Peers and other high-profile stakeholders, which require a response.
We are advertising for one role, but other posts at the HEO grade may become available in Private Office Group. If you would prefer not to be considered for any future roles, please let us know in your Personal Statement.
Reporting to the Head of Ministerial Correspondence, the successful candidate will lead a small, focused team to advance the Department’s high standards for drafting and responding to correspondence in the form of letters from MPs and other external stakeholders.
The post holder will set the direction for monitoring and motivating colleagues to deliver a high-quality service. They will implement a continuous improvement culture, seeking to further develop processes and adapting ways of working as needed. They will quality assure draft correspondences, acting as an escalation point for complex cases and will compile and utilise management information to support decision-making at senior levels.
There is a need to ensure colleagues have a clear understanding of their objectives and responsibilities and for setting strategic priorities. They will continually review processes to ensure they are fit for purpose, adapting to the needs of the team, Ministerial Offices, and the wider department. Fostering a continuous improvement culture and promoting an ethos of solution orientated expertise will be essential.
The post holder will provide wider leadership as part of the management group within the Ministerial Correspondence and Cabinet Committee Unit. They will be an active part of the Unit’s leadership team, offering ideas and providing constructive challenge as needed.
The successful candidate will be comfortable using their initiative to address challenges and work independently to resolve them. They will need to react quickly to changing demands, often thinking imaginatively to solve unique challenges thrown up by Ministerial requests and preferences.
This role requires individuals to demonstrate good team management and leadership skills and lead the team to deliver on their responsibilities. You will have excellent organisational ability to keep track of many tasks across the team, which includes helping the team to prioritise and manage their workload. This involves delivering through others so the ability to form and maintain strong, positive working relationships with a variety of contacts, including with senior colleagues and Ministers, is essential.
Person specification
Essential and Preferred Experience Criteria
Essential experience criteria:
The below criteria are essential and will be assessed at application stage.
This role would generally suit someone who has:
- Strong communication skills – both written and verbal – and the ability to draft concise and clear narratives for Ministers and senior officials;
- Excellent organisational skills;
- Ability to work collaboratively under pressure; and
- Be a confident team player – as we establish new ways of working you will need to work flexibly and show initiative, using problem-solving skills to adapt quickly to changing priorities.
Preferred experience criteria:
- Drafting and briefing experience.
Desirable experience criteria:
The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.
- Managing and developing staff.
Due to the nature of the role, applicants must already hold SC or DV clearance. If you have an application for either of these currently in train, please contact the vacancy holder to check your suitability.
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- 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 employer contribution of 28.97%
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.
Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.
Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.
To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.
- A Personal Statement of up to 750 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential criteria.
Your application will be sifted against the Experience criteria of the Civil Service Success Profiles.
We aim to sift both the CV and the Personal Statement but, in the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift may be conducted on the Personal Statement only. Candidates who pass the initial sift of the Personal Statement will either progressed to a full sift where the CV is then assessed, or progressed straight to further assessment/interview.
Candidates who pass the sift will be invited to interview, where we will assess you on the Success Profiles elements of Behaviours and Strengths.
It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date, though this is subject to change.
Reasonable Adjustments
We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment:
Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process.
Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.
Candidate Support
You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.
Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department.
Further Information
- A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.
- Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
- The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.
- 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. Any applicant who has 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.
- Terms and Conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
- Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.
- This role may be considered as a secondment opportunity. Please reach out to the hiring manager listed at the bottom of this advert to discuss.
- Candidates that do not quite meet the standard for this role may be offered a position at a lower grade.
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 [email protected] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Vetting
The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5-years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter .
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)
- 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
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 .
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Jackie Bowers
- Email : [email protected]
- Telephone : 07741702352
Recruitment team
- Email : [email protected]
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email: [email protected].
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.
For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints.
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