Job Description

Details

Reference number

326798

Salary

\xc2\xa351,934

\xc2\xa351,934 (National). For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.

A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

Local Government and Communities including Integration

Type of role

Policy

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

1


Contents

• Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information

Location

Bristol, Darlington, Leeds, Manchester, Wolverhampton
About the job

Job summary

The new Office for Local Government (Oflog) is a key priority of the Secretary of State. Oflog will help to drive improvement in local government \xe2\x80\x93 responsible for a wider range of critical and everyday services \xe2\x80\x93 in order to improve outcomes for the public. It will do this by providing authoritative and accessible data and analysis about the performance of local government, so that local leaders can benchmark themselves against their peers and communities can more effectively challenge their authorities. Oflog is an office of DLUHC, meaning all staff are DLUHC civil servants. Ministers have agreed that it will have a degree of separation from government, with its own independent Chair and Chief Executive. Oflog is a mixed-discipline team, including policy and local government experts, and analysts from a range of disciplines. This is an exciting time for Oflog and we are looking for an energetic and insightful individual to join the team. 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.

Job description

This vacancy is to join the team leading on ensuring that Oflog\xe2\x80\x99s Local Authority Data Explorer has a well-round, carefully curated, and accessible basket of measures that give a snapshot of how individual local authorities are performing. The successful individual will lead on the financial metrics included in the Data Explorer. This will include both making sure that we have the right metrics to describe an individual authority\xe2\x80\x99s financial performance; and working across the team on how the tool can illustrate what outcomes authorities get from the money they spend on particular services. The individual will come with a good understanding of the local government finance system, and this post will be an excellent opportunity to develop that knowledge further. As an integral part of the overall Data Explorer team, the individual may also lead on developing metrics on other service areas.

Person specification

We are looking for an individual who is motivated, flexible and passionate about working for Oflog. The successful candidate should have:

• A strong existing knowledge of the local government finance system. We understand that this is a large system covering government grant funding; local taxation; and spending across a range of services. Experience of all of these aspects is not essential \xe2\x80\x93 we are looking for a good foundation on which to build.
• Ability to creatively source evidence and develop policy solutions to complex situations where there could be competing interests or incomplete information.
• Excellent oral and written skills including the ability to communicate detailed information succinctly and clearly.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and an ability to work collaboratively, build consensus and influence outcomes with external partners, as well as challenge senior stakeholders where necessary.
• Ability to build collaborative and trusted working relationships with a variety of internal partners.
• Track record of demonstrating resilience and flexibility under pressure with the ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and balance competing demands whilst remaining focused on delivering high quality outputs.
• Strong organisational and management skills.
• Ability to make the connection between policy and the real-world situation, developing detailed targeted solutions to demonstrate impact.
• Ability to manage different workstreams with interdependencies, including delivering outcomes through others.
• An interest and, passion for local government and its role in making and difference to, and ensuring good outcomes for, people, place and partners, and an eagerness to help drive DLUHC\xe2\x80\x99s delivery of Levelling Up.

Desirable experience:

• Experience of working on high profile and fast paced issues.
• Good knowledge and demonstrable understanding of the local government sector.
• Strong grasp of the potential of the data and digital environment.

Behaviours

We\'ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of \xc2\xa351,934, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes \xc2\xa314,022 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

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 \xe2\x80\x93 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\xe2\x80\x99 responses to \xe2\x80\x98Seeing the Big Picture\xe2\x80\x99 rather than seeing a candidate\xe2\x80\x99s 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\xe2\x80\x99t 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) - Seeing the Bigger Picture Behaviour 2 - Making Effective Decisions Behaviour 3 - Communicating and Influencing Experience - In no more than 250 words, please describe your experience of working on Local Government Finance? 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 .
At interview the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements: Behaviours: Yes - Seeing the bigger picture, Making effective decisions and Communicating and influencing Strengths: Yes - 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 Behaviours: Yes - Seeing the bigger picture, Making effective decisions and Communicating and influencing Strengths: Yes - The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates. We do not consider direct CV applications \xe2\x80\x93 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 \xc2\xa351,934 (National).

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.

Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation\xe2\x80\x99s terms and conditions. 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

• Leeds
• Manchester
• Wolverhampton
• Bristol
• 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. The locations listed in this advert are the only locations available for this role and cannot be negotiated. 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. 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 04/12/2023 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. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 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

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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.
Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• 
  Name :
  Katy Sawyer
  Email :
  katy.sawyer@levellingup.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• 
  Email :
  recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk