Head of elections strategy

Darlington, Leeds, Wolverhampton Job Summary Are you able to build strong relationships that will enable you to influence and challenge at all levels? Are you highly adaptable and flexible, being able to adjust to the requirements of the role? If so, we have an exciting opportunity to join our team as the Head of Elections Strategy at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and we'd love to hear from you! The Elections Directorate is a welcoming and inclusive team. We are responsible for a challenging and dynamic policy landscape, always in the public eye, covering electoral policy and law. This includes how elections are run, who can participate and how elections and campaigning are regulated. We are at the start of an exciting new programme of work to implement key manifesto commitments set out by the new Government, through primary and secondary legislation, and digital and operational delivery. The Commitments Include Increasing engagement of young people by enfranchising 16 and 17 year olds. Encouraging participation by improving voter registration. Reforming voter identification rules to improve accessibility for all electors. Strengthening the political finance framework. We are looking for a Head of Elections Strategy to drive this broad and ambitious agenda for change. Working closely with teams across Whitehall and beyond, you will bring together manifesto and wider Ministerial priorities and commitments, to create a compelling vision for reform. This is an exciting time to join our team, shaping a high profile programme of work that continues to draw significant attention within Parliament, across the media and from a wide variety of commentators interested in how our democracy works. Job Description This is a broad and ambitious agenda and we are looking for a Head of Elections Strategy to lead on defining a coherent strategic vision that sets the direction for the Government’s commitment to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. Responsibilities include: Working with teams across the Directorate and beyond, and drawing on the manifesto and wider Ministerial objectives, build a long term vision and strategy for the development of elections policy and delivery that can be used to drive decisions and priorities. Develop and lead a horizon-scanning function to identify developments in academia, other countries etc that will inform the ongoing development and iteration of the Government’s strategy in this area; Build relationships across the elections sector to create a network for testing ideas and identifying new risks and opportunities. Lead the progression of longer-term electoral reform recommendations from the recent review of electoral registration and conduct, working across commercial, digital, legal and policy teams to identify solutions. Lead the design and delivery of pilot schemes to identify and test potential reforms in line with overall strategic plan, driving innovation to improve services and support efficient public services. Design and deliver a testing and exercising plan to support resilience and risk management. Working closely with the Head of Business Delivery, oversee the delivery into local authorities of legislative reforms and run the Elections Secretariat to monitor the implementation of policy around and during polls, identifying and addressing risks to delivery, in partnership with the sector, as they emerge. Lead and manage a team of around 6 FTE to deliver this central strategic coordination function in the Directorate. Responsibilities This is a broad and ambitious agenda and we are looking for a Head of Elections Strategy to lead on defining a coherent strategic vision that sets the direction for the Government’s commitment to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. Responsibilities include: Working with teams across the Directorate and beyond, and drawing on the manifesto and wider Ministerial objectives, build a long term vision and strategy for the development of elections policy and delivery that can be used to drive decisions and priorities. Develop and lead a horizon-scanning function to identify developments in academia, other countries etc that will inform the ongoing development and iteration of the Government’s strategy in this area; Build relationships across the elections sector to create a network for testing ideas and identifying new risks and opportunities. Lead the progression of longer-term electoral reform recommendations from the recent review of electoral registration and conduct, working across commercial, digital, legal and policy teams to identify solutions. Lead the design and delivery of pilot schemes to identify and test potential reforms in line with overall strategic plan, driving innovation to improve services and support efficient public services. Design and deliver a testing and exercising plan to support resilience and risk management. Working closely with the Head of Business Delivery, oversee the delivery into local authorities of legislative reforms and run the Elections Secretariat to monitor the implementation of policy around and during polls, identifying and addressing risks to delivery, in partnership with the sector, as they emerge. Lead and manage a team of around 6 FTE to deliver this central strategic coordination function in the Directorate. Person specification Proven leadership and management skills, with the ability to work across expert domains to agree common ways forward. Demonstrable experience of strategic thinking: analysing situations, identifying the root causes of problems, and potential solutions. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience of translating complex messages into quality written products for a range of audiences, and the ability to write succinct, clear advice and briefings. Strong planning and project management skills, including in delivering products and announcements at pace in a sensitive environment Demonstrable policy delivery or operational delivery experience, implementing change in practice (ideally across organisational boundaries). experience in elections policy or delivery would be a significant advantage. Excellent relationship management skills and the ability to build productive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. The ability to work under pressure to urgent or shifting deadlines, including the ability to work flexibly on quickly changing or multiple priorities. Experience and confidence in working with ministers and senior civil servants. Alongside your salary of £64,679, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £18,737 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 employer contribution of 28.97% Selection process details 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. 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: Experience In your CV and covering letter (no more than 1000 words), please include: why you are interested in the role; how you meet the essential skills and experience required The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements: Behaviour: Seeing The Big Picture, Leadership, Making Effective Decisions, Changing and Improving. Ability Candidates will be asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview. In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements: Experience: Yes Behaviours: Yes Ability: Yes Please contact the vacancy manager if you have any questions about the role. 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 6 salary The salary for this role is £64,679 (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 MHCLG 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 MHCLG employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. Location Leeds Wolverhampton Darlington* 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. For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack. At present, a minimum of 60% of your working time will be spent in your contractual office location. Requirements to attend other office locations or off-site meetings will be counted towards this. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process. Sift and Interview dates We will be sifting applicants as we go – so please don’t wait until the deadline to submit your application. Interview dates will be confirmed at a later stage, all interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 21/07 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@communities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the MHCLG 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 MHCLG. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database. For MHCLG employees - you will retain your existing contract 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 MHCLG candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 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 MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG 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. 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. 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 : Mark Hughes Email : mark.hughes1@communities.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk