SEO Deputy Area Lead, Norfolk
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Apply before 11:55 pm on Friday 17th May 2024
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About the job
Job summary
This role is focussed on the delivery of the department’s levelling up agenda in Norfolk, working with local authorities to delivery a wide range of interventions including the £600m Norfolk County Deal, three Town Deals in King’s Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth, Levelling Up Fund projects, Long Term Plan for Towns and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The role is fundamentally place based and more than simply delivering centralised funding streams – you will work with local authorities, businesses, and community representatives in Norfolk to understand local challenges and help to solve them. Days are varied and involve working with a range of programme teams within the department to understand and help shape their policy and priorities, as well as local authorities on the ground.
The Cities and Local Growth Unit (CLGU) is a joint unit between DLUHC and DBT. We are committed to the welfare of all our people. We take mental health and work-life balance seriously. 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
The role As SEO Deputy Area Lead, you will be the expert on economic growth and levelling up in the local area and will build strong local knowledge of the area, including its politics, economy, challenges and opportunities. You will manage relationships with Local Authority Chief executives, economic development officers, HE/FE and other institutions, local government associations, local business organisations and others.
You will use your knowledge to support DBT and DLUHC priorities, holding expertise on sectors, clusters, devolution and local government reform and will develop strong day to day productive relationships with policy officials across a range of areas including housing, sector teams, and transport. You will often lead on advice on a particular challenge or opportunity for the team’s wider area and will be responsible for preparing high quality briefing material tailored for the audience (usually Ministers and Senior Civil Servants).
Our team – Oxford Cambridge and East Anglia (OCAEA) This post is anchored in our Cambridge office but time spent out and about in the region is more important. The work arrangements are expected to involve a blend of home, office and external working (though working from home can be minimised if it is not convenient for you). Whilst roles may on occasion involve out of hours working to accommodate travel and meetings, we work as a team to balance our diaries and our lives appropriately. We support hybrid and flexible working and we would love to see applications from a diverse range of candidates to join our inclusive teams.
Key responsibilities
You will:
- Manage relationships on funding delivery, working with local partners to deliver new programmes including the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund, UK Community Renewal Fund, UK Community Ownership Fund and Freeports.
- Work with the central funding delivery team, other area team colleagues and delivery partners to spot risks, challenge poor performance and tackle issues as they arise, leading on corrective actions, drawing on support from others.
- Support partners to understand government priorities across a wide policy span and to inform cross Whitehall discussions with local insight and detail.
- Work with central policy teams to provide answers to enquiries from local authorities and other organisations on themes such as the bidding process to assessment and delivery.
- Input into policy, corporate or delivery design, attending policy boards and participating in policy / programme design working groups to ensure local delivery considerations are included in policy making and feeding back to your area team.
- Provide advice on key local challenges or opportunities for their team’s wider area, providing quality advice on complex issues to SCS and Ministerial advice as appropriate, and working with your team and others, using your relationships to lever solutions where issues arise
Person specification
- Ability to develop deep/credible knowledge of the economic growth landscape.
- Confident communication and influencing skills.
- Highly dynamic and capable of delivering at pace.
- Stakeholder management skills.
- Strong analytical skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively and developing junior colleagues.
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.
Please contact the vacancy manager if you have any questions about the role.
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.
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).
At application stage you will be asked to upload a CV document. Unless stated otherwise in the advert, your CV will not form part of the assessment but will be used for information purposes and only shared with the panel at interview stage.
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) - Seeing the big picture
Behaviour 2 - Making Effective Decisions
Behaviour 3 - Communicating and Influencing
Behaviour 4- 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 progressed straight to assessment/interview.
The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:
Behaviour – Seeing the big picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace
Experience - yes
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: Seeing the big picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace
Experience: Yes
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.
SEO salary
- The salary for this role is £38,732 (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:
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:
- Cambridge
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.
SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES:
Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 20/5/2024 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 in 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.
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
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 (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Mike Todman
- Email : mike.todman@businessandtrade.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk
