Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York Job Summary The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink. Strategy Directorate Strategy is a fast-paced, dynamic, and challenging environment. Our purpose is to give a high quality and timely service to Ministers and the Permanent Secretary, and to ensure that Defra group is able to achieve the strategic objectives we set out in our Business Plan. We work in support of Defra’s strategic objectives, look at how we can join up with other initiatives across the organisation to get things done, support each other to deliver excellent work, help Defra to make good decisions and we identify and unblock barriers to change. Encouraging diverse applicants We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups. Location This role can be based at any Main Defra Policy Hub. We value flexible working; you will be expected to work 60% of your working week in your contractual office Job Description We are looking for a skilled and dynamic Senior Delivery Advisor to support Defra’s Secretary of State to deliver her top priorities. The Delivery Unit is a capable and high-performing team that drives forward the Secretary of State’s priorities, made up of a mix of analysts and delivery advisors. Sitting at the centre of Defra, we are positioned close to Secretary of State’s Private Office and other central teams. This role will be intellectually stimulating and extremely stretching. It will demand a blend of analytical acumen, strategic thinking and the ability to influence at the highest levels. Your role will balance two main functions. Firstly, a traditional Delivery Unit operating model where you will work to define and drive priorities, testing the strength of delivery plans, monitoring performance, assessing delivery confidence and supporting policy teams to tackle challenges. You will drive progress in the department through delivery routines and sharp, actionable advice. Secondly, delivering time-limited sprints commissioned by the political team, the Perm Sec or other senior officials. Recent examples of this have included red-teaming Defra’s reforms of its largest farming fund, a deep dive into the challenges of the flood insurance market and shaping a new taskforce to monitor infrastructure delivery by the water sector. You will work closely with senior decision-makers across Defra and its ALBs to deliver the Secretary of State’s priorities. You will be given responsibility over your own portfolio, where you will be expected to build deep knowledge and relationships to unlock progress, whilst also remaining agile to emerging priorities. In this role you will benefit from the support of a fun, friendly and collaborative team that embraces diversity and respects individuality, and actively encourages learning and development. Main Responsibilities Include: Developing strategic connections and trusted relationships, helping the Delivery Unit align departmental activity with the Secretary of State’s priorities. This may be at the divisional level, working between our strategy and analytical teams, or across the department and its ALBs, building credibility with Ministerial Private Offices, senior leaders and their teams. Providing clear, evidence-based advice for the Secretary of State, Ministers and senior leaders on delivery. Your advice should facilitate consensus, inform the prioritisation of action and ensure tangible benefits are realised. Independently bring challenge and lead change, being a partner to key areas, ensuring analytical rigour and critical thinking are used to achieve priority outcomes. Track and report on progress against the Secretary of State’s priorities, whilst being conscious of the bigger picture, wider departmental interests and the trade-offs that exist. We are looking for a skilled and dynamic Senior Delivery Advisor to support Defra’s Secretary of State to deliver her top priorities. The Delivery Unit is a capable and high-performing team that drives forward the Secretary of State’s priorities, made up of a mix of analysts and delivery advisors. Sitting at the centre of Defra, we are positioned close to Secretary of State’s Private Office and other central teams. This role will be intellectually stimulating and extremely stretching. It will demand a blend of analytical acumen, strategic thinking and the ability to influence at the highest levels. Your role will balance two main functions. Firstly, a traditional Delivery Unit operating model where you will work to define and drive priorities, testing the strength of delivery plans, monitoring performance, assessing delivery confidence and supporting policy teams to tackle challenges. You will drive progress in the department through delivery routines and sharp, actionable advice. Secondly, delivering time-limited sprints commissioned by the political team, the Perm Sec or other senior officials. Recent examples of this have included red-teaming Defra’s reforms of its largest farming fund, a deep dive into the challenges of the flood insurance market and shaping a new taskforce to monitor infrastructure delivery by the water sector. You will work closely with senior decision-makers across Defra and its ALBs to deliver the Secretary of State’s priorities. You will be given responsibility over your own portfolio, where you will be expected to build deep knowledge and relationships to unlock progress, whilst also remaining agile to emerging priorities. In this role you will benefit from the support of a fun, friendly and collaborative team that embraces diversity and respects individuality, and actively encourages learning and development. Main Responsibilities Include: Developing strategic connections and trusted relationships, helping the Delivery Unit align departmental activity with the Secretary of State’s priorities. This may be at the divisional level, working between our strategy and analytical teams, or across the department and its ALBs, building credibility with Ministerial Private Offices, senior leaders and their teams. Providing clear, evidence-based advice for the Secretary of State, Ministers and senior leaders on delivery. Your advice should facilitate consensus, inform the prioritisation of action and ensure tangible benefits are realised. Independently bring challenge and lead change, being a partner to key areas, ensuring analytical rigour and critical thinking are used to achieve priority outcomes. Track and report on progress against the Secretary of State’s priorities, whilst being conscious of the bigger picture, wider departmental interests and the trade-offs that exist. Person specification What We Are Looking For: Somebody who is comfortable managing upwards and capable of influencing at the very top of an organisation, including providing in-person advice and support to Ministers, where required. Able to broker agreement to drive progress and help the Secretary of State achieve their priorities. The ability to operate in highly uncertain environments, comfortable driving progress using their own initiative, while being resilient to change. Displays high levels of judgement across a broad, and often sensitive, range of issues, knowing the right time to escalate issues. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, able to think critically and see through delivery problems by breaking down complexity and testing workable solutions. Comfortable with getting to grips with outputs from mathematical and analytical techniques, drawing out the so-what. Highly developed communication and networking skills. Able to translate complex information into meaningful narratives that are persuasive for stakeholders, including Ministers and experts across a range of disciplines. Able to quickly build strong relationships across the department and government, bringing key parties together in the pursuit of mutual goals. Able to manage complex projects at pace, working flexibly in a multi-stakeholder environment, whilst often managing several competing deadlines. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Making Effective Decisions Seeing the Big Picture Communicating and Influencing Delivering at Pace We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: Making Effective Decisions Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. A career in the Civil Service is like no other. If you’re looking to join a world class team and develop your career with us, then the Civil Service is the place for you! You might be wondering, “what’s in it for me”? Take a look below at some of the benefits available to you as a civil servant in Defra. Strategy Directorate Benefits Learning and Development Everyone in Defra is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. When you join the Directorate, you will be welcomed into your new team through an induction programme that will provide you with helpful information on the civil service, Defra, our work and our policies. Your line manager will also work with you to establish your priorities for the year, developing a performance, learning and development plan tailored to you and your role, while also working with you to connect you with a civil service mentor to help empower you in your new role with the opportunity to benefit from paid for coaching. Most importantly, we’re keen to invest in you! As a civil servant, you will also have access to Civil Service Learning where you can participate in professional development programmes across a wide spectrum of subjects and professions. Department Benefits Technology We’re a firm believer in agile and flexible working. When you join Defra, we’ll kit you out with a new Windows 10 Laptop, smartphone and rucksack to make sure that you perform your best wherever you are. Leave 25 days' paid leave per annum rising to 30 days after five years’ service, in addition to eight public holidays and the King’s Birthday privilege day. We also offer Competitive maternity, paternity, parental and adoption leave; Study leave for the pursuit of academic studies; 3 days paid leave for volunteering per annum; 15 days paid leave per year for reservist training; and, Generous paid sick leave. Cycle to Work Scheme Defra loans you a bike for your commute as a tax-free benefit. At the end of the loan period, you have the option to buy the bike, saving 30% of the original cost. Season Ticket and Bicycle Loan We offer interest-free season ticket loans, to all Defra employees with more than three months’ service, for purchasing train and bus season tickets, as well as station car parking. For those unable to take advantage of tax-free benefits, we also offer an interest-free bicycle loan to enable the purchase of a bicycle for commuting. Gym, Social and Sports Activities Our offices have a range of different onsite facilities, including gym, fitness facilities, games room, showers and cycle storage. There are also a variety of networks and social groups to join. Ask your line manager for more information. Restaurant and Café Facilities A range of our offices offer onsite restaurant and café facilities. Civil Service Benefits Pension Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package, and you will be given the chance to join one of three different pension plans. You can find more information on the Civil Service Pension on the My CSP Website at www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk Civil Service Sports Council The Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) organises a wide choice of activities throughout the UK, from art, gliding, abseiling and orienteering to cabaret weekends and quiz and curry nights. Your CSSC membership will provide you with FREE access to hundreds of national and local sites, in addition to savings at many high street stores, cinemas, restaurants and historic houses. Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. Application Process As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV, 500-word Personal Statement and 1 Behaviour. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. Sift Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview. Interview If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Behaviours You may also be asked a presentation. Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview. Interviews are expected to last no longer than 60 minutes. Sift and Interview dates to be confirmed. Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and based on your own personal experience. Submitting content that has been generated by AI or copied from others and presented as your own may be considered plagiarism. Applications found to contain such content may be withdrawn, and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please refer to our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Further Information Location As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s). Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations. Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee. The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD. Reserve List A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Merit Lists Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application. Childcare Vouchers Any move to Defra 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website. Salary New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest. Reasonable Adjustment If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional. Accessibility If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. Visa Sponsorship Statement Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Criminal Record Check If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. Internal Fraud Database Check Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Higher Security Clearance: All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold higher level of clearance because of the nature of the role. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer. For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website. Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. 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 (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. 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 (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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. 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. 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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). 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 : Strategy Resourcing Team Email : sandc.resourcing@defra.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here