Bristol, Darlington, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton Job Summary The role leads on the planning and delivery of the annual local government finance settlement and designing the policy which decides how much funding each local authority gets. This involves working closely with ministers to agree a strategy for the coming year, contributing to negotiations for additional funding with HMT, working with local authorities and OGDs to design distributional policy and understand local priorities and key issues and supporting ministers in engaging with councils. It is one of the key set-piece events in the department’s calendar. This role also leads on designing and delivering reform to the way in which local government is funded. This includes leading on the design f funding being distributed to local authorities by government departments, as well as business rates retention reforms and reforms to local authority sales, fees and charges income. The role also leads on strategic planning, cross-government delivery and negotiations to secure funding for local government at Fiscal Events, including Spending Reviews. The role will oversee the implementation of long-awaited reforms to improve sustainability for local government in the long term, following the first multi-year finance settlement in a decade. These are top ministerial priorities. The role also oversees and coordinates the directorate’s strategy and programme function which oversees over £80bn worth of funding. The division is a well-established, friendly and energetic team with 45members, including five Grade 6s and fifteen Grade 7s. The division is split into five G6 teams: (1) Strategy, Programme & Fiscal Events; (2) Local Government Finance Settlement; (3) Reform; (4) Revenue Funding Simplification; and (5) Capital Funding Simplification. This is a full-time co-DD role with another Deputy Director but with distinct individual responsibilities. Job Description Key Accountabilities Planning for, and delivery of, the provisional and final annual local government settlement which gives Parliamentary approval for around £80bn of funding made available by Government to councils. Continuing the implementation of an ambitious programme of reforms to the local government finance system and framework. Negotiating funding for local government at fiscal events, and delivering this through the local government finance settlements. Maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders, particularly HMT, No10 and local government. Jointly leading a team of 45 people with your full time co-DD. Forging links with wider LGF priorities and working with others to ensure join up between other areas. Wider leadership within the directorate and the group. Key Accountabilities Planning for, and delivery of, the provisional and final annual local government settlement which gives Parliamentary approval for around £80bn of funding made available by Government to councils. Continuing the implementation of an ambitious programme of reforms to the local government finance system and framework. Negotiating funding for local government at fiscal events, and delivering this through the local government finance settlements. Maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders, particularly HMT, No10 and local government. Jointly leading a team of 45 people with your full time co-DD. Forging links with wider LGF priorities and working with others to ensure join up between other areas. Wider leadership within the directorate and the group. Person specification You will be a strategic thinker – helping to set the strategy for the local government finance settlement, reflecting priorities across local government finance. You’ll need to be confident in navigating a way through by highlighting and managing tensions and building consensus. Strong stakeholder relationship skills are key – you will need to build effective relationships by working openly and collaboratively with others, including in the local government sector. You will communicate confidently, effectively and persuasively with a wide range of audiences and stakeholders, including at senior levels. You will have strong leadership skills and will need to be ready to provide leadership on key finance issues – both across the Department and across Whitehall. You will shape, guide and lead a large and diverse team that sits at the heart of the directorate and MHCLG, ensuring they have a clear understanding of the Division’s role and objectives within LGF and within MHCLG. You will provide strategic policy direction, constructive advice and challenge and give your team confidence in their work, as well as acting as a trusted adviser. You will strive to create a positive team culture in the division. You will be familiar with or comfortable learning about financial and other technical issues, but you do not need to be an expert or member of the finance profession. 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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy. Essential Criteria Excellent stakeholder and relationship skills, with a strong ability to work through and with others, partnering both within MHCLG and the local government sector with a range of key partners and stakeholders at all levels. The ability to communicate technical material clearly and succinctly, bringing out key choices and trade-offs for ministers. Excellent communication skills both in writing and orally and experience of working closely with senior stakeholders such as ministers or equivalents. Good judgement and a strong track record of leading policy development at pace, arriving at accurate and clear advice which weighs up options, impacts, risks and mitigations. The ability to lead a fun, inclusive and high-performing team and set the direction credibly whilst under pressure. Desirable criteria Knowledge of and/or experience of working with Local Government. Alongside your salary of £81,000, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £23,465 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% 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 taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details How To Apply Please click the Be Applied link to provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on Sunday 8 February. You will be asked to enter some personal details, upload your CV and to provide your responses to the role’s advertised essential criteria. When prompted to upload your CV, please upload a single document consisting of: a CV (including the names of 2 referees and your current remuneration) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, achievements and your academic qualifications, specifying subject and degree level achieved. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. a statement of suitability explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria provided in the person specification. (max. 2 pages) Please remember to save these two items in one document. Both items will be assessed to determine sift outcomes. Please note that only completed applications through the Be Applied route will be considered and that any further progress updates will be sent through Be Applied. For an informal discussion about the role, please contact the Recruitment team by emailing scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Selection process and assessments During sifting, both your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the role’s Essential Criteria. These Essential Criteria will also be used to form the basis of the panel’s questions in your final interview. If a role lists Desirable Criteria, these will only be used to determine the merit order of candidates who rank evenly when assessed against the Essential Criteria. Candidates that are shortlisted may be invited to attend a staff engagement panel. At MHCLG we hold staff engagement panels as an integral part of the recruitment process for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) – they are designed to help us build up a rounded picture of each candidate and give us an insight into how you might engage and interact with your team should you be successful. The purpose of the session is to help us assess your engagement and communication skills and is not about testing your subject knowledge or expertise for this particular role. Feedback from the session is passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview. Candidates may also be invited to a meeting with a Minister or the Secretary of State, and/or other senior stakeholders. This is not a formal part of the selection process but an informal chance for candidates to find out more about the role and the organisation. Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at the beginning of their final interview. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates when invited to interview. Full details of the assessment process will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the earliest opportunity. All of the evidence presented as part of the process will be considered in the final assessment. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. The hiring manager for this role would be happy to have an informal discussion with candidates who would like further information before submitting an application. If interested, please contact scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk Interview The selection process will conclude with a panel interview. This will usually take place virtually via Microsoft Teams. For certain roles, for example those linked to a specific location, the panel may choose to conduct in-person interviews, in which case candidates will be informed well in advance of interviews to allow travel arrangements to be made. Interviews will consist of questions centred around the role's Essential Criteria. For this reason we advise that you retain a copy of the advert or candidate pack when you apply for a role. Contract This is a temporary appointment (up to 12 months). This role is full-time and is suitable for a job share. MHCLG encourages flexible working. Security All MHCLG colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history. In addition to the BPSS, all SCS staff must be cleared to at least Security Check (SC) level, and this process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. Salary For external appointments, remuneration for this role will be circa £81,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension. For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for Deputy Director. Please also note that, if successful, any existing specialist allowances you currently receive will not automatically transfer or be retained upon moving to this role. 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 security 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 security 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 : SCS Recruitment Email : scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk