Job description
This is an exciting opportunity to join a team working at the heart of the department's engagement with the largest, most complex public inquiry in the history of the UK. Your role will be essential in organising the department's evidence base, supporting the delivery of witness statements and assembling supporting documents. This will see you building constructive, mutually beneficial relationships across the department.
You will develop excellent user knowledge of our third party e-Disclosure platform, working with the Disclosure Manager to gather, search and present evidence, including exhibit tables. You will work closely with our external legal team as you manage documents from across DCMS during the pandemic to find the key ones that will form the backbone of our witness statements. You will also work closely with another HEO to drive the witness support workstream, ensuring witnesses have access to necessary material and are well-prepared to give evidence.
The Inquiry is a long-running project and the department's engagement varies in intensity. As time allows, you may also lead on or support other priorities, such as research projects, drafting desk instructions, making redactions to documents or assisting with projects in the wider directorate.
Person specificationThe ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:
Essential requirements:
- Ability to drive forward work independently and prioritise time effectively, shifting priorities as needed
- An analytical and methodical approach
- Familiar with spreadsheets and managing data, plus a willingness and ability to quickly develop a strong technical ability with a new digital platform
- Strong communication skills and ability to communicate vast or complex information effectively, including some experience of briefing/drafting
- Ability to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders
Desirable skills:- Experience of/interest in project management
- Experience/knowledge of the public inquiry process
We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Becky Denton, and will take place on:
3.30pm on Wednesday 1 May
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.
Please register your interest by filling out this form and you will be sent an invitation.
Please note that the session will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to
[email protected]Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
Alongside your salary of 33,095, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes 8,935 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. Were committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:
- Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home
- 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years service
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
- Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice
- 3 days of paid volunteering leave
- Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
- Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year
- Occupational sick pay
- Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice
- Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks
- Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work
- Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!
Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.
Things you need to know
Selection process detailsThis vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than
23:55 pm on Tuesday 7th May 2024 via the CS Jobs portal:
- 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 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs 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.
For the
shortlist, we will assess your
experience and 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
statement of suitability. 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 and may potentially include a
scenario based task or presentation which will be provided at interview.
The behaviours to be tested at interview are:- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview.
As part of your interview, you may be asked to deliver a short oral presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.
Your interview will take place remotely via GoogleMeets.
For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 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 Information for Applicants document .
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
[email protected] 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 applicants 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.
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting
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
[email protected] 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.
FeedbackFeedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
SecuritySuccessful 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 requirementsThis 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 ServiceThe 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.
To help VERCIDA find roles that are best suited to you at DCMS, we ask you to confidentially share information about yourself with us. Any data VERCIDA receive is securely stored and never shared with third parties.
'Did you know that users who have filled in their profile fully are 42 times more likely to get matched with the right employer?''At DCMS we are committed to having diverse interview panels at every grade we recruit.'