Deputy Director, Recruitment and Resourcing Expertise
Cabinet Office
Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 30th September 2024
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About the job
Job summary
Want to know more about the role?
We are running three virtual information sessions to allow prospective applicants to find out more about the role advertised and the recruitment process.
This will be hosted by both the vacancy holder and a representative from the GRS recruitment team, they will take place on: 10th of September, 13.00 – 14.00, 12th of September, 10.00 – 11.00 and 26th September 10.00 - 11.00.
The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about the application, and the interview and assessment process.
Please register your interest by the 8th September by emailing Patrick Harris at: patrick.harris4@cabinetoffice.gov.uk and you will be sent a Google Meets invitation.
Job description
The Deputy Director, Recruitment and Resourcing Expertise provides overall oversight, direction and leadership for our work on recruitment and resourcing. Ultimately, the postholder is the person who is able to set and recommend the way forward for recruitment across the Civil Service and, through working with departments and professions, can improve the recruitment experiences for all existing and future civil servants.
As part of this, the Deputy Director will ensure that the team’s work is integrated with and maximising the linkages and synergies with work across the wider Government People Group, looking for example at how work to improve the use of secondments supports the wider skills agenda and how improving recruitment links with work to improve line manager capability. They will have a particularly close working relationship with the Government Recruitment Service as our internal Civil Service recruitment delivery organisation. They also hold lead responsibility for delivery of the key recruitment commitments set out in the People Plan to :
- Improve and speed up recruitment in the Civil Service, including through embedding and fostering improvement through a new Civil Service wide set of time, cost, quality and diversity metrics;
- Work with departments and professions on a rolling programme of discovery pilots to test and apply learning from new approaches and innovation;
- Fully open up the Civil Service with a new brand and attraction strategy and better use of Executive Search; and
- Continue to increase and improve the use of secondments within the Civil Service, ensuring they are embedded in the resourcing strategies for all departments and professions.
Across a normal working week, the postholder will be :
- Briefing Ministers and Civil Service leaders in writing and in meetings about progress and opportunities across recruitment and secondments;
- Ensuring and unlocking progress across the agreed work programme, and providing updates and assurance to the Recruitment Director and Government Chief People Officer as required;
- Supporting and empowering team members to progress their workstreams and work packages;
- Engaging with departmental HR Directors and Recruitment leads on issues and options across the recruitment and secondments landscape;
- Dealing with a wide range of commissions and questions from any and all of the above;
- With their Senior Leadership Team, leading team discussions and activities to ensure a positive working environment for all team members.
- As part of the wider GPG leadership team, contributing to the continuing change and improvement programme.
The postholder will therefore need to be able to :
- Influence and partner with Civil Service employers to support and challenge them to continue to improve recruitment performance and practices;
- Foster best practice and innovation, looking both across and outside the Civil Service at what works and where new approaches should be tested and evaluated;
- Ensure data and insight is gathered, analysed and applied to drive continuing improvements in metrics, practices and outcomes; and
- Work collaboratively with the Security profession and other relevant colleagues to drive improvements in the wider end-to-end onboarding processes.
Person specification
It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.
Essential Criteria:
- Has experience of leading delivery and improvement of HR practice and processes, either on recruitment and resourcing or transferable experience from another area of HR.
- Is able to lead and influence change and demonstrate how that can be applied to deliver change within a multi-organisational sector like the Civil Service.
- Is an effective and inspiring leader and manager of people and budgets. Is an effective and inspiring leader and manager of people and budgets. The postholder will lead a direct team of 18 and manage a budget of c£2.5 million. In addition, they will work closely and collaboratively with recruitment teams across departments, including the Government Recruitment Service, to ensure wider resourcing and investment decisions contribute to continuing improvements in recruitment practice, value for money and outcomes.
- Takes an evidence-led approach and fosters innovation.
- Is able to engage credibly and influentially with senior leaders on HR, either on recruitment and resourcing or transferable experience from another area of HR.
Qualifications
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
- Making Effective Decisions
Benefits
Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead. You’ll benefit from a wide range of training and development opportunities, regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.
This includes:
- 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays and one privilege day to mark the King's birthday.
- A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
- Flexible working patterns including part-time or time-term working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours;
- Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
- Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
- The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable); and
- Occupational sick pay.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process, outlined below. This should be completed no later than 23.55, Monday 30th September 2024.
A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
A Statement of Suitability setting out your answers to the following 3 questions about how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the requirements for the role. There is no word limit for each individual question but the statement should not exceed 1250 words in total :
- Tell us about how you have successfully led delivery and improvement of HR practice and processes, either on recruitment and resourcing or transferable experience from another area of HR.
- Tell us about how you have led and influenced organisational change on one or more aspect of HR and about how that can be applied within a multi-organisational sector like the Civil Service.
- Tell us about how you have achieved successful delivery and / or change through providing effective and inspiring leadership.
Failure to submit both portions of the online application form (CV and Statement of Suitability) will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a series of assessments which will include psychometric tests. These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. For more information about the assessment process, please follow this link: https://scs-assessments.co.uk/
In addition, RARE is developing a new assessment questionnaire for use in recruitment in the Civil Service. The assessment is still under development and testing, and is designed to measure a range of aspects of personal effectiveness in the workplace. If shortlisted, you will be invited to complete the assessment as part of the development process to test the validity of this new instrument. The results of this assessment will not be provided to the recruitment panel and will not form part of the selection process. After the recruitment is concluded and the vacancy outcome is published, we will share a copy of the results of this assessment with you, which will include feedback on your work styles preferences. Similarly, after the recruitment is concluded, the assessment results will be shared with Andrew Kean, as Director of Recruitment, as part of evaluating the value of the new questionnaire.
If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. We will be assessing against the success profiles Behaviours and Strengths at interview.
Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. If you are required to prepare a presentation for the final interview you will be given the subject in advance.
Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with us via: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies in the Civil Service requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without the need for a new competition.
Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date – w/c 14th October 2024
Expected assessment date/s – w/c 21st and 28th October 2024
Expected interview date/s – w/c 4th November 2024
Reasonable adjustments
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 at: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘assistance required’ section in the ‘personal information’ page of your application form to provide information we should be aware of that will enable us to support you further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Further information
Please note that this role requires CTC clearance, which would normally need 3 years UK residency in the past 3 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.
Current Civil Servants (all contract types) will need to ensure that they are still employed as a civil servant at the point of starting in the relevant new post. If their contract ends (e.g. end of FTA contract or resignation) at any point during the recruitment/onboarding process for the advertised role, they will no longer be eligible and may be withdrawn.
Any move to Cabinet Office 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 here.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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
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Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : SCS Recruitment Team
- Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. 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; scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk and more information can be found at www.civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk
