Area Coordinators - Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington

Job content

Location

Darlington, Manchester, Wolverhampton

About The Job

Job summary

[p]The Cities and Local Growth Unit (CLGU) is at the heart of the Government’s economic, levelling up and devolution agendas. We are driving policy aimed at boosting growth and productivity with teams in all parts of England; embedding local economic plans and supporting local leaders in improving the economy of their villages, towns and cities.[/p][p]The Unit works across two Departments, reporting jointly to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Secretaries of State, and bringing together a team of 120 staff across the country. Our teams are experts on their parts of the country. Government has a strong grasp of the facts and figures, but facts and figures don’t explain a place. We understand local individuals and institutions. We know how places feel. We know their history. We can tell stories about them and work with them to deliver positive change.[/p][p]We empower all places – from rural areas to major cities, from prosperous places to those facing challenges in the modern economy – to bolster their potential through boosting economic growth.[/p][p]We are passionate believers in the value of local expertise and the need for a “Beyond Whitehall” mentality, and we live this in our daily work linking central government to local institutions, communities, and businesses.[/p][p]The Unit is excited to be seeking to appoint two Area Coordinators to engage in, and help drive forward, the Unit’s portfolio of work in the North West of England – one covering Cumbria, and one covering Cheshire & Warrington.[/p][p]As an Area Coordinator you will establish a network of contacts and build a wealth of knowledge and expertise about your area. You will work closely with your Area Lead[s] and other Area Teams to support policy development and delivery. You will play a key role in monitoring and delivering operational local growth programmes across your area, including the Levelling Up Fund, Towns Fund, Future High Streets Fund, and UK Shared Prosperity Fund. At times, you will also help assess future bids to our portfolio of levelling up funds.[/p][p]This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to develop their place-based policy and programme experience. Ideally you will feel confident and adept in working with external partners, be comfortable drafting high quality briefing for a range of audiences (including Ministers), and enjoy engaging in corporate activities to drive a high-performing team culture.[/p]

Job Description

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.

As a HEO Area Coordinator, you will:

• become a skilled professional with a strong understanding of the local political and economic context of the levelling up agenda
• develop deep local knowledge and expertise of a place, including its politics, economy, challenges and opportunities, you will lean on this knowledge to summarise and present economic intelligence on your area to both departments
• through a combination of visits and physical/hybrid meetings in your area, you will make and maintain productive relationships with for example: local authorities, the Local Enterprise Partnership, business organisations, higher & further education institutions, and other groupings representing the voice of local businesses and communities
• support your area team to work with local partners to appraise, deliver & monitor local growth funding programmes including for example, the Levelling Up Fund, Towns Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund, UK Community Ownership Fund etc.
• use your knowledge of business sectors, clusters, devolution and local government to support DBT and DLUHC priorities, developing strong day-to-day productive relationships with policy officials across a range of policy areas including housing, business sector teams, skills and transport
• provide advice on challenges and opportunities for the area, and work with colleagues to develop solutions
• prepare quality briefing material, and draft well-written pieces of correspondence, tailored for the audience (usually Ministers and Senior Civil Servants) on key issues
• work closely with external partners and Ministers’ Private Offices to coordinate Ministerial and Senior Civil Service visits to your area
• support the efficient running of the team by taking responsibility for important corporate or organisational tasks
• be an active member of the NW team, helping to promote wellbeing and an inclusive atmosphere.
  

Person specification

We are looking for curious and keen people who wish to be at the heart of the Unit’s work on the Levelling Up agenda in the North West.

You should:

• have the interpersonal skills that enable you to be an excellent communicator and influencer (verbal & written);
• be confident in growing & managing your local and national stakeholder networks, often at a senior level across a range of policy and Departmental interests;
• be dynamic, resilient, and capable of delivering at pace on often fast-moving and varied agendas which can sometimes change in priority at short notice;
• have strong organisational skills and be proactive in managing your own time;
• have proven analytical skills and attention to detail that will enable you to provide quality oversight of the levelling up programmes in your area.
• feel confident independently seeking out learning and development opportunities to enhance your ability to deliver the role and forge your career path;
  

You don’t need to have a particular background to succeed in these roles. People with an existing understanding of the economic and political landscape of Cheshire & Warrington and Cumbria would be welcome to apply, but so would applicants with broader policy, delivery or economic intelligence experience that are looking to apply these valuable skills.

In return for your enthusiastic commitment, we will actively support you as you consolidate your expertise, access quality learning & development opportunities, and strengthen your ability to shape the next steps in your chosen career path. All of this will be done in a caring, enthusiastic & inclusive team environment that puts considerable emphasis on nurturing talent, recognising achievement at all grades and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Our experience is that a minimum of two years in an area post enables a real in-depth understanding of a place and we would expect successful candidates to join us for this duration as a minimum of 18-24 months.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,178, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £8,688 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.

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.

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 – 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) - Working Together

Behaviour 2 - Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour 3 - Delivering at Pace

Experience - Please provide a summary of your experience in establishing and developing relationships with a range of stakeholders.

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 

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

Behaviour – Seeing the big picture, Working Together, Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace

Experience

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, Working Together, Making Effective Decisions, 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.

HEO salary

• The salary for this role is £35,400 (London) or £32,178 (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:

• Manchester
• Wolverhampton
• Darlington*
  

The locations listed in this advert are the only locations available for this role and cannot be negotiated, and we will be creating a location based merit order.

• 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. This role is based at DLUHC and we will be joined on the campus by:
• HM Treasury
• Department for International Trade
• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
• Office for National Statistics
• Department for Education
  

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 W/C 27/11/23 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.

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

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 : Martin Wood
• Email : martin.wood@businessandtrade.gov.uk
  

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk