Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, Wolverhampton Job Summary We are recruiting 2 Deputy Director roles within MHCLG's Fire Directorate. You will be asked during the application process whether you wish to apply for one or both roles. As the essential criteria for both roles are the same, you do not need to apply for both separately. There will be a singular panel conducting the selection process for both roles. Job Description Deputy Director, Fire Safety, Funding and Workforce The DD Fire Safety, Funding and Statutory Duties will be responsible for overseeing the department’s fire safety and protection programmes, fire funding and the reform of the fire and rescue workforce. The post sits within fire directorate and has four G6 direct reports and a total team size of around 24. The postholder will be required to work closely with the fire and rescue service, the LGA, the Fire Brigades Union and the National Fire Chiefs Council. They will also work alongside colleagues in the wider Buildings, Fire and Resilience Group on the fire aspects of the building safety agenda and with local government finance on fire funding issues. Key Accountabilities The responsibilities of this role include: Reforming the role of the firefighter, one of the government’s four main reform priorities for fire Fire Safety Policy including the ongoing programme of refreshing the suite of Fire Safety Order guidance Fire Prevention, including delivery of the Fire Kills public awareness programme Fire Protection, working closely with colleagues in building safety teams on the broader building safety agenda and delivering the legislation to require accreditation for fire assessors Oversight of fire funding and the connection with the wider local government finance system. Delivery of a review of the fire funding formula. Leading a team of c.24 FTEs Deputy Director, Fire National Resilience The DD National Fire Resilience will be responsible for overseeing the effective delivery of MHCLG’s fire national resilience capabilities, the procurement of the £96m the New Dimensions 2 capital programme to renew those capabilities, the planning for and response to major fire incidents and the implementation of the fire aspects of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Platform programme. It sits within fire directorate and has three G6 direct reports and a total team size of around 25. The postholder will be required to work closely with the fire and rescue service, especially the National Resilience Assurance Team in Merseyside and the National Fire Chiefs Council. They will also work alongside colleagues in RED on the three fire NRSA risks for which MHCLG is lead government department. The Responsibilities Of This Role Include: Successful delivery of the £96m ND2 programme by 2029 Oversight of fire national resilience functions and sponsorship of NRAT and the c.£32m annual NRAT funding Putting in place comprehensive mitigation and response plans for our three fire NSRA risks: major building fire, wildfires and fire industrial action Delivery of the fire aspects of the ESMCP programme by 2029 Oversight of the directorate grants hub, supporting all grant holders across the team Leading a team of 24 people and managing an annual budget of c.£60m Deputy Director, Fire Safety, Funding and Workforce The DD Fire Safety, Funding and Statutory Duties will be responsible for overseeing the department’s fire safety and protection programmes, fire funding and the reform of the fire and rescue workforce. The post sits within fire directorate and has four G6 direct reports and a total team size of around 24. The postholder will be required to work closely with the fire and rescue service, the LGA, the Fire Brigades Union and the National Fire Chiefs Council. They will also work alongside colleagues in the wider Buildings, Fire and Resilience Group on the fire aspects of the building safety agenda and with local government finance on fire funding issues. The Responsibilities Of This Role Include: Successful delivery of the £96m ND2 programme by 2029 Oversight of fire national resilience functions and sponsorship of NRAT and the c.£32m annual NRAT funding Putting in place comprehensive mitigation and response plans for our three fire NSRA risks: major building fire, wildfires and fire industrial action Delivery of the fire aspects of the ESMCP programme by 2029 Oversight of the directorate grants hub, supporting all grant holders across the team Leading a team of 24 people and managing an annual budget of c.£60m Person specification The roles require someone who can confidently lead their policy agenda, including by influencing and collaborating with a range of stakeholders within central and local government. You will need to be able to engage effectively across boundaries at a senior level and have proven and credible experience working with Ministers or equivalent senior stakeholders. You will be an experienced and inclusive leader, able to empower, develop and inspire their teams to deliver, including under pressure. You will need to be confident in coaching your team to deliver this work and be able to provide them with strategic leadership and the support they need from you as a senior leader. 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 Leadership: Show pride and passion for public service. Set strategic direction, lead effectively through ambiguity and get the best out of a diverse workforce through promoting an inclusive, high-performance culture. Delivering at pace: Take responsibility for leading a team to deliver timely and quality results with focus and drive, including during periods of sustained pressure and ambiguity. Working together: Form effective partnerships and deliver through others, including working confidently with a range of experts, as well as across wider MHCLG, Government and external partners. Maing effective decisions: Demonstrate excellent strategic thinking skills by using evidence and knowledge to analyse complex problems and present evidence-based policy options, insights and recommendations, carefully considering alternative options, implications and risks. Communicating and influencing: Ability to influence and make positive impacts at the highest levels through excellent interpersonal and communication skills. 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% 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 7 December 2025. 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. 1000 words) 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. The Selection Panel Will Be Made Up Of: Peter Lee, Director, Fire (Hiring Manager) Camilla Sheldon, Director, Grenfell Community and Memorial An additional panel member, TBC The panel will be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion. 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. Shortlisted candidates may 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. 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 Contract This is a permanent appointment. This role is full-time and is suitable for a job share. MHCLG encourages flexible working. Location Bristol, Darlington, Manchester and Wolverhampton. During the application process you will be asked to express a location preference, from the advertised locations. Any offer made will be based on that specific location. Please note that, as your normal work location, costs cannot be claimed for travel to and from your base office location. Salary For external appointments, remuneration for this role will be circa £81,000 p.a. 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 SCSPB1 (£81k pa). 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. Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements. Reserve List In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details in a reserve list for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Near Miss Offers 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. Security Clearance In addition to the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), all Senior Civil Service staff are required to have at least Security Clearance (SC) prior to starting the role. For more details of vetting levels and requirements please refer to the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls. Complaints Process Please see candidate pack slide 23 for details. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above. Security 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 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