Co-Head of Policy and Markets

UK Debt Management Office

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 17th November 2024

 

Details

Reference number

375030

Salary

£160,000
Up to £160,000
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade

Other

Contract type

Permanent

Type of role

Finance
Policy

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

This role will be based at the DMO's London Office

Job summary

This vacancy has arisen as a result of the previous incumbent being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DMO. The job holder is a member of the Executive Committee and Advisory Board.

This role exists to provide senior day-to-day management and oversight of the Policy and Markets Area of the DMO, working closely in conjunction with the DMO’s senior team, the Executive Committee and, in particular, with the Deputy Chief Executive/Co-Head of Policy and Markets with whom there are a number of shared, complementary and jointly owned areas of responsibility.  A brief description of these areas is shown below:

Markets

The DMO’s Gilt and Cash Desks are responsible for undertaking the key day-to-day operations in the financial markets, dealing with investment banks and other counterparties, split generally into debt management, cash management and fund management functions, although all team members work closely together. In addition, the team is responsible for a number of other market-related operations.

Public Works Loan Board (PWLB)

The PWLB lending facility is operated by the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of HM Treasury. The facility provides loans to local authorities, and other specified bodies, from the National Loans Fund, operating within a policy framework set by HM Treasury.  The day-to-day lending activities including advancing new PWLB loans and collecting repayments are delegated to the DMO.

Policy

The Policy team’s main responsibility is to develop robust evidence-based strategic advice to HM Treasury on the Government’s wholesale debt management strategies, taking account of the Government’s debt management policy objective and framework, investor preferences and developments in financial markets more generally.

Research

The Research team of policy advisors, research economists and quantitative analysts support the DMO’s market intelligence capability by providing both regular analysis and longer-term specialist research in relation to the DMO’s debt management function and other core activities.  The team provides thought-leadership on a range of strategic topics relevant to the DMO’s mandate, including structural trends in fixed income investment and global developments in such markets.

Job description

The focus of the role is on:

  1. Working alongside the Deputy Chief Executive and Co-Head of Policy and Markets on the strategic management of the Policy and Markets area (longer run resource planning etc.) and its business objectives.
  2. Together with the Deputy Chief Executive and Co-Head of Policy and Markets, ensuring day-to-day Policy and Markets team management, with a particular focus on developing and deploying DMO’s specialist market analytical resource and associated line reports.
  3. Providing direction to, and quality assurance of, Policy and Markets core deliverables, particularly those relating to technical market analysis and applying these, as appropriate, to the team’s key activities and issues relevant to HM Treasury.
  4. Senior level engagement with stakeholders including HM Treasury and other government officials, end investors, market practitioners and international counterparts.
  5. Project sponsorship of key business initiatives and providing guidance to the DMO’s project work plan.

Person specification

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate that they can meet the following Essential Criteria:

  • Significant experience of working in a senior position in a financial markets’ role, with a high degree of familiarity with the technical issues associated with fixed income markets (ideally the Gilt market) and a strategic understanding of factors affecting market conditions and developments.
  • Strong communication skills, in particular to synthesise complex technical matters for a non-technical readership and audience.
  • Excellent management and interpersonal skills with the capability to develop staff and maximise their potential. Strong teamwork experience with the ability to work at all levels, in partnership with the other Co-Head, as part of the small Executive team as well as leading multiple teams.
  • Excellent analytical skills and demonstrable track record in providing board level technical insight, ideally with practical application to the DMO’s core activities of presenting policy, advising, and importantly, implementing a debt financing programme.
  • A strong focus on delivery of high-quality outputs.
  • A high level of commitment to the Principles of Public Life/Civil Service Code, operating to the highest standards of integrity, and a strong appreciation of the DMO’s mandate and ethos.
  • University degree or similar demonstrable evidence of analytical aptitude and skills in finance.

The Co-Heads of Policy and Markets will share line management responsibility for team leaders in the Policy and Markets area.

The role will be at senior level, reporting to the CEO, and will involve covering, with the senior management team, key operational decisions.  The successful candidate is expected to be a member of the Executive Committee and the Advisory Board.

Alongside your salary of £160,000, UK Debt Management Office contributes £46,352 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

To apply for this role, please submit your application via this link:

Co-Head of Policy and Markets application link –

Please send the following information by no later than 23:55 on Sunday 17 November 2024.

Your application should include:

  1. The reference number 3705030 and role title in the subject line of your email.
  2. Your CV, with educational and professional qualifications and full employment history, including an explanation of any gaps in your employment history, and details where possible of budgets and numbers of people.
  3. A short covering statement of no more than two A4 sized pages explaining why this appointment interests you and how you can evidence your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria referenced in the Person Specification. If this type of statement is unfamiliar to you, please contact Andrew.Timlin@hays.com for more details.
  4. A Diversity Monitoring Form. You will find this as part of the application process in the link above. All applicants are invited to complete this information to assist the Civil Service with monitoring its recruitment process. All data is reported in an anonymous and aggregate format and will not be seen by anyone assessing your application.

Please note that references and open-source due diligence checks (including into social media accounts) may be undertaken for all short-listed candidates.

We want to encourage disabled people to apply for jobs and give them an opportunity to show their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage. The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme, offering an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum selection criteria for the job. If you wish to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this on the Diversity Monitoring Form above.

Civil Service recruitment processes at senior level are regulated by the Civil Service Commission, and we follow clear guidelines to ensure that our recruitment is fair and open.

We also design our recruitment processes to reflect our values-based approach to HR (using staff engagement panels, for example) and to ensure that shortlisted candidates have the opportunity to meet key stakeholders for the role, before they join us.

We expect the process for this role to be as follows:

Stage 1 — Application: You will receive an acknowledgment of your application on submission to Andrew.Timlin@hays.com as per the application process set out below.

The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter. Candidates selected for longlisting will be invited for a preliminary discussion with (one of our Non-Executive Directors) to further explore their skills and experience.

Stage 2 — Sift and Shortlist: The panel will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the Essential Criteria set out in the 'Person Specification' section. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Shortlisted candidates will be advised on the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Stage 3 — Assessment: If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in the following assessment activities.

Psychometric assessment. An assessment that will give the interview panel some insight to your strengths and aptitude for the role.

Stage 4 — Informal conversation: Shortlisted candidates will also have the opportunity to speak to members of the Executive Committee with whom they would be working, and potentially wider stakeholders, prior to final interview. This is an informal discussion allowing candidates to learn more about the role and not part of the formal assessment.

Stage 5 — Interview: You will be asked to attend a panel interview where you will be asked to give a presentation and then have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the 'Person Specification' section.

Longlist w/c 18th November

Shortlist w/c 25th November

Psychometrics & informal chats w/c 2nd December

Interviews w/c 9th December



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.

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.

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).
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 : Andrew Timlin
  • Email : Andrewtimlin@hays.com

Recruitment team

  • Email : Andrewtimlin@hays.com

Further information

If you feel at any time your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting us at HR@dmo.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commissioners via info@csc.gov.uk, alternatively they can be contacted at the following address: G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ

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