Head of Communications

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

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.

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:

• Technical
• Experience

In your covering letter, please include: why you are interested in the role and how you meet the essential skills and experience required. Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page.

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

• Behaviours: communicating and influencing, working together, delivering at pace
• Experience
• Ability

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview may also be asked to do a presentation or additional tests. Further details will be provided following sift.

In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements:

• Technical
• Experience
• Behaviours: communicating and influencing, working together, delivering at pace
• Ability

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

Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

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 7 salary

• The salary for this role is £51,934 (National) or £57,091 (London).
• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.

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

Wolverhampton

Darlington

London

Birmingham

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. 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 the W/C 19th of March 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 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.

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.

CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance):

Important note

Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC).

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 DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database.

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

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