Senior Public Appointments Advisor

DCMS is responsible for 44 public bodies, delivering important public functions at arm’s length from government. They include some of the UK’s most high-profile cultural, media and sporting organisations, such as the V&A, Tate, the British Museum, the BBC, BFI, UK Sport and Sport England, as well as regulators and advisory bodies.

The Appointments Team manages more than 450 appointments to the boards of these organisations. Public appointments are regulated and highly scrutinised, and the team works closely with Ministers, No.10, Cabinet Office, senior leaders and our public bodies to deliver fair and effective appointment processes.

Our role is to attract and appoint talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, helping to ensure DCMS public bodies have strong boards that can deliver for people across the UK.

We are seeking a proactive and highly motivated individual to lead high-profile public appointment campaigns for some of DCMS’s most important public bodies.

You will oversee complex campaigns, support colleagues and provide high-quality advice to Ministers, No.10 and senior stakeholders. You will also lead key areas of the team’s wider work, including risk management, background checks and Parliamentary correspondence, while supporting continuous improvement across the team.

This is a varied and interesting role, offering the opportunity to work across the breadth of the DCMS portfolio and build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders across DCMS, our public bodies and wider government. You will work on high-profile issues, often at pace, and play an important role in ensuring our public appointment processes are efficient, effective and able to withstand external scrutiny.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead high-profile and strategically important public appointment campaigns, ensuring they are delivered effectively and can withstand external scrutiny.
• Support innovation and continuous improvement across the Public Appointments Team, including the automation of routine tasks.
• Review and improve internal processes in line with Ministerial and Cabinet Office requirements.
• Lead the team’s work on BPSS and due diligence checks, Parliamentary Questions and risk management.

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)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.
• A Behaviour Statement (max 250 words) detailing an example of when you have used Communicating and Influencing.

For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the behaviour statement. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the ‘Application and Interview Guidance’ document attached to the job advert.

The interview process will assess behaviours and strengths.

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Prior to the interview you will be sent the behaviour questions in advance.

You will also be required to prepare a presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.

You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview.

Your interview will take place remotely via Teams.

For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.

Further Information

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only. Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Candidate Information Pack’ attached.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.

In order to request an adjustment, please:

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or a verbal test rather than a written one.

Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.