Job Description

Details

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Reference number

405326
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Salary

64,679
The salary for this role is 71,284 (London) or 64,679 (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 employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
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Job grade

Grade 6###

Contract type

Permanent###

Business area

Group: Buildings and Resilience Directorate: Intervention Delivery###

Type of role

Policy

Strategy###

Working pattern

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

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

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

Location

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Bristol, Darlington, Leeds, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton

About the job

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Job summary

Do you have strong policy and strategy experience? Have you got the ability to build a team and deliver complex projects at pace? Do you want to work in a high-profile area that is a top priority for the government?


If so, we have an exciting opportunity to join our team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and we'd love to hear from you!


The Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 exposed serious fire safety issues in blocks of flats nationwide. The government has been clear that those responsible for making buildings safe must do so without delay, that those responsible for constructing unsafe buildings must pay to fix them, and that those living in unsafe buildings must be protected. The Recovery Strategy Unit is a delivery focused team that is central to achieving those aims. We use a range of direct levers including strategic communications, intelligence gathering, legal action and sector engagement to increase the pace of remediation and compel those responsible for defective buildings to pay to fix them. Our work includes taking direct action on behalf of the Secretary of State using new powers in the Building Safety Act 2022.


We are recruiting a Head of Policy and Strategy to lead the RSU's policy and strategy function. This is a newly created Grade 6 role that requires strategic vision and exceptional policy skills to drive the RSU's work. If you have strong policy and strategy skills, a keen focus on delivery, and can think creatively, we would be delighted to receive your application. Don't hesitate to get in touch with the vacancy holder to find out more about the role.

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Job description

We are seeking a visionary policy and strategy professional to be the Recovery Strategy Unit's (RSU) Head of Policy and Strategy. This is an exciting new role which will shape the RSU's strategic direction to drive impactful change on building safety, a top priority for the government. As this is a new role, the successful candidate will be instrumental in shaping the role and building their team.


You will lead the RSU's strategy. We have recently commenced a comprehensive strategy review, and you will be responsible for leading this work. The outcome of the review will be to define the RSU's objectives, identify levers and potential interventions, and design a 'theory of change' which sets out how our activity will drive system change. You will also be responsible for designing and overseeing a functional operating model for the RSU, setting out how the RSU's strategy is delivered. A key aspect of your role will be aligning the RSU's strategy with departmental priorities and securing buy-in from the team, peers, senior officials, and Ministers.


You will also build and lead an expert policy function within the RSU, developing a deep understanding of the evolving building safety landscape, including system actors, legislation, and case law. Using these insights, you will develop strategies and recommend courses of action for interventions. You will provide practical and creative 'thought leadership', guiding your team toward innovative solutions and strategies.


You will work closely with two other Grade 6-led teams: the Head of Interventions, who oversees investigations, casework and litigation; and the Head of Operations, who leads the RSU's enabling functions including finance, commercial, compliance, intelligence, and communications. You will also engage with colleagues across the Buildings, Resilience, and Fire Group, other government departments, and external partners.


This role is ideal for someone with exceptional policy and strategy skills, combined with vision, creativity, and the drive to establish a high-performing team in a complex and dynamic environment. While no formal legal training is required, you should feel confident working with lawyers, legislation and within a legal context.


Key accountabilities

Build and lead the RSU's policy and strategy function. This is a new function that will require vision, creativity and leadership to define and establish. You will need to secure senior and Ministerial buy-in for the RSU's work. Lead the RSU's strategy. The RSU is currently undertaking a strategy review, and you will be expected to provide strategic vision and leadership of this work, delivering through your team and collaborating with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. You will need to cut through complexity and devise a concrete strategy that can be implemented rapidly and effectively. To this end, you will need to work closely with the RSU's delivery teams to make sure that your strategies are deliverable and represent value for money. We are looking for strategies that are effective, efficient and economic. Provide an expert policy function for the RSU. Develop and maintain an up to date understanding of the building safety landscape, key actors, relevant legislation and emerging case law. Lead the RSU and influence the wider department in understanding and resolving complex policy issues. Identify and take forward priority policy projects to further the RSU's aims. Provide thought leadership to inform and shape the RSU's strategies, informed by your deep understanding of the system. Work with teams across the department and government to inform our strategy and influence policy development and legislation. Build and maintain a wide stakeholder network, including the legal services sector, academia, industry, and professional bodies. Use intelligence gained from your network to inform the RSU's activity. Leverage relationships on behalf of the RSU to achieve the government's objectives. Design and deliver a legal interventions strategy, enabling the Secretary of State to intervene in high-impact cases (e.g. Supreme Court, Court of Appeal). Lead, develop and motivate your team. You will start with a team of two Grade 7 line reports, and will need to build the team further, up to approximately five FTE. ###

Person specification

We are looking for someone with strong strategy skills who is results oriented. You should be able to think expansively to devise a forward leaning and creative strategy for the RSU which deploys a wide range of levers to effect system change. It is also important that you can cut through ambiguity and translate your ideas quickly into concrete, tangible, deliverable strategies. You will need to have strong policy skills as well. You will need to be able to get to grips with a complex policy landscape quickly and spot opportunities to improve it. You will need to be able to work with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, and identify and take forward priority policy projects.


You will need to have experience working with lawyers and in a legal environment. You will need to be comfortable working with legislation and able to understand complex legal concepts. The building safety legal landscape is constantly evolving: you will need to be able to get to grips with complex legislation and lengthy judgments issued by the courts, reflecting the developing law in the RSU's strategies and policies. You will need to have intellectual ability to work effectively with senior external stakeholders, including the legal sector, and establish your credibility with these stakeholders quickly


You will need to have strong stakeholder engagement skills and will need to be able to work effectively with senior officials and Ministers. You will need to galvanise the team and secure buy-in from a range of internal and external stakeholders.

Essential criteria:

Exceptional strategy skills: Proven experience of getting to grips with a complex system and devising strategies to effect system change. The ability to identify and devise strategies to deploy a range of levers and techniques to influence sector behaviour. Proven ability to bring clarity and structure to complex systems and create clear, actionable strategies. Exceptional policy skills: Experience developing and implementing policy. The ability to identify gaps and issues in a complex system and develop policies to address them. The intellectual ability to provide thought leadership across a complex system. Legal experience: Experience of working with lawyers and in a legal environment. Extensive experience working with legislation and/or case law. The ability to understand, distil and explain complex legal concepts. Formal legal training is not required. Team leadership: Proven ability to build and motivate a team. The ability to set a clear vision for your own team and wider colleagues, lead your team to deliver against your vision, and secure buy-in from a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. Delivering at pace: The ability to deliver high quality policy and strategy projects at pace, putting in place effective project management, oversight and quality assurance. Proven experience of following through on policy and strategy work with successful delivery and tangible results. Building and managing relationships and partnerships: The ability to work effectively with a wide range of peers and senior colleagues. Proven ability building and maintaining a wide network of external stakeholders. Proven ability to work effectively with Ministers or equivalent senior decision makers.

Desirable criteria

Experience of a relevant area of law or policy (e.g. building safety, property, construction, landlord and tenant). Experience of public law or appellate (e.g. Supreme Court, Court of Appeal) litigation. Experience developing, or influencing the development of, legislation.

Benefits

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Alongside your salary of 64,679, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes 18,737 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

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Selection process details

As part of our pre-employment checking process, we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process.

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

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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:

Experience


Your covering letter should be no more than 2 pages setting out your interest in the role, and referencing how you meet the essential criteria (and any desirable criteria) set out in the job description.

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:

Behaviours: Leadership, Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing


Experience: Yes - Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description


Candidates will be expected to deliver a presentation at interview stage, the details of which would be provided upon invitation.

In the full campaign we 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: Leadership, Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing

Please contact the vacancy manager if you have any questions about the role.

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.

Grade 6 salary

The salary for this role is 71,284 (London) or 64,679 (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's terms and conditions.

Benefits

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018

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Any move to MHCLG 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 MHCLG employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack.

Location

Bristol Darlington
Leeds London Manchester 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.

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack.


At present, a minimum of 60% of your working time will be spent in your contractual office location. Requirements to attend other office locations or off-site meetings will be counted towards this. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process.

Sift and Interview dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 9th June 2025 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@communities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list.

Security Clearance Requirements:

All MHCLG colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history. In addition to the BPSS, all staff based at our Marsham Street office in must be cleared to at least Counter Terrorism Check level - this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years.


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 MHCLG. 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 MHCLG 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 MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG 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.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check .



See our vetting charter .
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) 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
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Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .
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.###

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

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This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans 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

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Job contact :

Name : Jonny Murphy Email : jonny.murphy@communities.gov.uk
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Recruitment team

* Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk