2. About People Capability & Change Directorate

Candidate Information Pack

G7HR Professional Roles

Contents

1. About DCLG...... 3

2. About People Capability & Change Directorate

3. About the Roles

4.The Person

5. Terms and conditions

6. How to apply

1.About DCLG

DCLG is at the heart of the Government’s economic plans for this Parliament. On housing, we have set in train one of the most ambitious programmes for new supply for many years. We lead the devolution offer to local areas, devolving powers over economic development and public services to combined authorities with elected mayors and we have oversight of central government’s relationship with local government. We are also key players across many areas of policy including health and social care, communities and integration, increasingly using our local knowledge and relationships to influence thinking and action across Whitehall., .

DCLG has four strategic aims for this Parliament[1]:

• Driving up housing supply with the ambition of building a million homes by 2020;

• Increasing home ownership–with new policies for starter homes, the voluntary right to buy for housing association tenants a big programme of new building for shared ownership;

• Devolving powers and budgets to boost local growth in England, by building the Northern Powerhouse, and striking bespoke devolution and growth deals with local places;

• Supporting strong communities with excellent public services, including reform of the local government financing system towards 100% business rates retention by 2020, delivering the extended Troubled Families Programme, and driving integration of health and social care.

We also have exciting change to lead inside the department over the next few years. Our plan is to become smarter, more streamlined and stronger - brave and ambitious with ideas and innovation while remaining true to the collaborative, welcoming spirit of DCLG as it is now. We are already attracting new talent at all levels to come and join us, as we strengthen the offer for our existing people.

We are looking for HR professionals with a strong track record of high quality delivery at pace across a range of functional areas and confident stakeholder and relationship management skills, to support DCLG in building the right capabilities, skills and culture to deliver its exciting policy agenda. In return, DCLG offers you a chance to build your career at one of the most exciting times in our recent history, and to make a real difference to the department.

. You can find more about the Department and its work here:

2.About People Capability & Change Directorate

The People Capability & Change Directorate provides direction, drives change and delivers support on the Department’s people priorities to ensure that we have the right capabilities, skills and culture to deliver for Ministers and make the vision a reality. We have 57 people, based mainly in London & Birkenhead, covering the following areas:

•Provision of HR Strategic Business Partner services

•Organisational Design and Development

•Departmental Change

•Skills and Learning

•Workforce Planning

•Resourcing (Including Departmental Recruitment and Public Appointments)

•Operational and Transactional HR Services

•Talent, Performance, Diversity & Inclusion

•Leadership, Management Capability, Culture and Engagement

•Honours Secretariat (Shared Service With Department for Transport)

It is an exciting, fast paced place to work, where we operate as a single team, working flexibly across themes as required, to utilise our combined knowledge and expertise in the most effective and efficient way. This ensures our roles are varied, interesting and challenging, whilst offering opportunities to experience a broad range of the HR professional areas.

All our staff play a key role in delivering our priorities by being accountable for leading and owning discrete projects and work-streams. This involves pro-active and high-quality contributions to ensure our team works effectively and delivers desired outcomes, at pace. We expect our people to be curious and engage positively with other Government departments and external stakeholders across the public and private sectors, in order to understand the wider context of our work and to identify current and emergent best practice.

We are part of the Civil Service HR Profession, which encompasses all Civil Servants working in Human Resources and Learning and Development across all Government Departments, Agencies and NDPBs.

We are committed to building a strong, vibrant HR community with a well deserved reputation for performance and delivery. We promote closer working across Government to meet the challenges of the future and we invest in our continued professional development.

3.About The G7 HR Practitioner Roles

The roles have been specifically designed to support the department to deliver the vision. They offer challenging and stretching opportunities for ambitious and experienced HR professionals who are looking to further develop their careers in a fast paced and exciting environment, whilst working flexibly across boundaries, projects and locations.Most importantly, we are looking for people with the right skills and behaviours, to be responsible for leading this work for the Department.

The G7 HR Practitioner roles are in two parts;

•the first, is to act as a strategic partner to specific directorates in the business. To ensure HR is fully engaged with the business and that HR is providing the support Directorates need in order to be able to meet the objectives of the people plan, over the next 12 months. This will also involve liaising with other HR professionals across the Civil Service and beyond to ensure that DCLG is utilising modern HR practices and systems to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

•the second, is to lead one of the HR functional areas, undertaking various projects to deliver the DCLG people strategy. This will involve working flexibly with colleagues in HR, as well as stakeholders across the organisation and beyond, to deliver impactful outcomes, at pace.

Responsibilities for these roles:

•Delivering the people strategy across the business

•Owning the delivery of an HR professional area (e.g. Talent, or Reward)

•Owning and managing specific work-streams within the People Plan, such as apprenticeships, employee engagement or performance.

•Undertaking research and liaising with colleagues, specialists and stakeholders from across the Civil Service and beyond, in order to ensure DCLG is able to utilise modern HR practices and systems to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

•Working flexibly, across locations, projects and departmental boundaries to engage stakeholders through the use of various media, including social media.

•Employing strong analytical, people management and communication skills, to build reports, plans and presentations.

During all of this, you will need to remain curious, challenging current practice and approaches in order to help us strive for continuous improvements in efficiency and effectiveness of all we do.

The roles will require the post-holder to achieve security clearance to at least CTC level. If you are interested in applying, please read the full information about the CTC process carefully as part of considering whether to apply.

4.The Person

Essential Capabilities:

Successful candidates will need to demonstrate the following experience and capabilities to a high degree:

• Collaborating & Partnering

Track record of building effective relationships and working collaboratively to get things done, utilising extensive HR knowledge and expertise across the range of HR professional areas, including a sound understanding of modern HR practice and current employment law.

• Managing a Quality Service

Experience of successful delivery of HR & change projects, whilstoperating at a strategic level, championing the people aspects of change and building leadership capability and people management skills throughout the organisation, in a period of change

• Delivering Value for Money

Uses business acumen & insight with the ability to understand the impact of HR practice on; the business; the departmental priorities and the key issues facing DCLG

• Leading and Communicating

Experience of successfully leading and developing teams to be flexible, well organised, collaborative and highly effective, by utilising excellent communication skills (both written and verbal)and the ability to influence at all levels.

• Delivering at Pace

Creativity, curiosity and the ability to constructively challenge existing practices at the highest level in the organisation.

Please note: where large numbers of applications are received there will be an initial sift undertaken against the first competency on the above list (Collaborating and Partnering)

Desirable Capabilities

• Membership of CIPD (working towards Fellowship) or equivalent.
• Experience of organisation Development & Design.

5. Terms and conditions

Salary

For candidates from outside the Civil Service, starting pay would normally be at the pay band minimum of £49, 063 (London) or £45, 072 (National), with some flexibility to appoint at a higher rate for those with relevant skills and experience of working at a comparable level, to a maximum of £58, 258 (London) or £53, 490 (National).

For existing Civil Servants, the usual rules will apply to salaries on promotion or level transfer.

Eligibility

This post is advertised on level transfer or promotion to existing Civil Servants, and externally.

Contract

These roles are offered on a permanent basis.

The Department also welcomes applications from people wishing to move on loan or secondment, and those wishing to work flexibly, including those willing to job share.

Annual leave

•Direct Entrants to Civil Service will be entitled to 25 days a year and increase every year by 1 day on the anniversary of their joining, until the maximum entitlement of 30 days is reached.

•Successful candidates taking the position on level transfer who joined the Civil Service on or after 1 July 2013 will be entitled to a minimum of 25 days paid leave and a maximum of 30 days paid annual leave depending on length of service.

•Candidates taking up the position on promotion will be entitled to a maximum of 30 days paid annual leave. Those with less than five years’ civil service employment will have their annual leave entitlement graduated according to length of service.

•All successful candidates will be entitled to an additional 9 days public and privilege holidays.

Location

DCLG has offices across a range of locations in England. Our principal office location is at 2 Marsham Street, London, with other offices in Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, Hastings, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield, Truro, and Warrington.

The Department is happy to consider basing roles and appointees out of any of our office locations. However, applicants should be aware that the advertised roles are likely to require regular weekly attendance in London and appointees will be required to be flexible about this in order to meet the business needs of their team and their role.

Terms of benefits

•Defined Benefit Pension Scheme (a career average basis for new recruits)

•Occupational Health Services

•Access to Health and Wellbeing support

•Childcare support vouchers

•Leave provisions including carer’s leave, paid and additional unpaid maternity leave, shared maternity leave, paid paternity leave and paid adoption leave.

Pension

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package. If you are selected for this post you will generally be enrolled automatically into alpha, a career average defined benefit scheme when you start work.If you are appointed, we will arrange to send you a pension Starter Pack including a Pension Choices booklet. Existing Civil Servants will remain in their current pension scheme.

More detailed information can be obtained from:

Nationality

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are eligible to apply is available here:

Conflicts of interest

Candidates must note the requirement to declare any interests they may have that might cause questions to be raised about their approach to the business of the Department.

Official Secrets Act

This post is covered by the Official Secrets Act.

Diversity

The Department for Communities and Local Government is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all our systems and processes are fair, open and objective. We endeavour to promote this approach in those with whom we come into contact. We are responsible for ensuring that the highest principles of equal opportunities policy are put into effect.

The Department operates an anonymous sifting process and as an equal opportunities employer we make no distinction between people on grounds of their race, ethnic or national origin, age, religion or belief, sex, marital status, disability, part time status or sexual orientation.

DCLG operates the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) which sees applicants who consider themselves as having a disability invited to interview if they meet the minimum criteria for the post.

Security clearance

Following the assessment process, all offers of employment are conditional on successful completion of security clearance.

Before appointments can be confirmed, all successful candidates will be subject to a Basic Disclosure Scotland check.

Successful candidates for roles based in 2 Marsham Street will also be subject to a Counter Terrorism Check (CTC). Although the majority of candidates pass CTC, it is always possible that an individual will not receive clearance and their appointment not confirmed. Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the CTC material (included within the advert on CS jobs) and consider whether there are any factors that might cause them to not receive clearance.

Please be aware that the CTC process takes on average 2-3 months.

6. How to apply

The application process for these roles is as follows:

1)Online Application Form

• You will be asked to complete an online application form answering how you meet the essential criteria set out in the person specification (Section 4 above)

Please read separate guidance on completing the online application form.

2)Assessment Day

• If successful at sift, you will be invited to a one-day assessment centre where you will undertake a written exercise, an oral-briefing session and a final interview.

Indicative timetable

Opening date for applications
Closing date for applications
Initial Sift
Assessment Day

Complaints

If you consider you have grounds for a complaint you should submit this in writing to the Appeals Officer send it to the recruitment mailbox at , clearly marked for the attention of the Appeals Officer.

If after you have heard from the Appeals Officer you continue to be dissatisfied you can follow through with a complaint to the Civil Service Commission.

Queries

If you have any questions around the recruitment process, please contact .

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