Firstly, we help to build a strong, competitive business environment, where consumers are protected and companies rewarded for treating their employees properly.
Secondly, we open international markets and ensure resilient supply chains. This can be through Free Trade Agreements, trade facilitation and multilateral agreements.
Finally, we work in partnership with businesses every day, providing advance, finance and deal-making support to those looking to start up, invest, export and grow.
The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate develops and operates tools and services to support us in this mission.
About the role
Part of DDaT in Department for Business and Trade, the Business Growth Services portfolio is at the heart of supporting the new departmental priorities outlined by our Secretary of State. We work towards delivering a new mission-driven Industrial Strategy and support small businesses, who are the beating heart of our high streets, our communities, and essential to our economic success.
Our portfolio mission is to work towards generating economic growth. We do this by supporting UK and international businesses to invest, grow, export and reinvest. This creates more jobs and drives prosperity in the UK, creating a better quality of life for everyone.
In the Business Growth portfolio, we have already established our online services as the centrepiece of DBT's support to businesses. We work to help more businesses achieve more growth by creating a compelling and consolidated cross-Government online offer, engaging decision makers to adopt business support throughout the lifecycle of their business.
To achieve our ambitious goals, we rely on our great people, across multi-disciplinary teams, working together to define and test hypotheses, maintain and measure our services and learn and challenge current assumptions., You will work with the Portfolio Service Owner and Product Lead, and be jointly responsible for:
+ running the delivery community supporting delivery managers in the mission teams, information sharing and upskilling when necessary
+ optimising the platform's delivery approach, identifying and resolving blockers and dependencies across multiple workstream, and ensuring best-practice process and delivery standards are identified and adopted
+ resourcing strategy and its implementation, + help build the right environment for the mission teams to deliver in, collaborate, communicate, and focus on the most important outcomes
+ improve processes and remove obstacles within the teams and outside of it, iterating the existing approaches and facilitating new ways of doing things
+ ensure the teams have the right set of skills and provide direction on how that should change as the products are developed
+ manage dependencies and risks across DBT and with other government departments to remove blockers or obstacles to delivery
+ have a great understanding of agile practices and be able to adapt them to suit the teams you are working with and guide continual improvement
+ line manage, mentor and coach other members of the professional community, your Platform leadership team, the delivery team, and possibly colleagues outside of DDaT
Main responsibilities
You will:
+ act as support for all planning, strategic thinking and leadership team enablement by running workshops, brainstorming, solving various issues with senior members of the team (e.g. Service Owners, DDaT Heads of Professions, Portfolio Leads within DDaT professions)
+ document portfolio processes and work with Service Owners, Product and Delivery Managers to define improvements
+ advise, support and encourage mapping and understanding of wider stakeholder landscape
+ work with the Lead Product Manager on high level planning of work, missions, timelines, dependencies and ensure this is in line with the overall platform strategy
+ work with the Portfolio Service Owners and Lead Product Manager to deliver scoped and costed submissions for business planning
+ work with HOPs to ensure business planning and continuity, alignment with their wider recruitment strategy
+ ensure project plan is communicated and signed off by wider portfolio leadership team and business stakeholders
+ ensure the teams deliver the agreed plan at pace and in the agreed timescales and that delivery across mission teams delivering value is led and optimised, + Agile and Lean practices You are an expert in Agile and Lean practices and can coach and guide teams and an awareness of GDS standards
+ Commercial Management You act as the escalation point and resolve large or high-risk commercial management issues. You know how to coach others in appropriate commercial management
+ Communication Skills You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. You can manage stakeholder expectations and moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales
+ Financial Management - You know how to negotiate, influence or set budgets in complex environments; write and input into business-cases and communicate business-value propositions
+ Maintaining Delivery Momentum You can actively address the most complicated risks, issues, and dependencies even when ownership exists outside the team or is unclear
+ Making the Process Work You can identify and question organisational processes of increasing complexity. You can coach and guide teams to adapt to new processes and whilst being the main point of expertise
+ Planning - You can manage a continual planning process in a very complex environment, planning beyond product delivery. You can identify dependencies in plans across services and co-ordinate delivery
+ Team Dynamics and Collaboration You can identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them. You can coach the team and individuals through development, As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a 2-page CV which outlines your experience, skills and fit for the role, and to complete a short, pre-recorded video screening interview (alternately you can provide written answers to questions). Inspire People will assess your application against the essential criteria listed above to compile a longlist of applications, which will then be sifted by DBT hiring managers. If you are successful, you will be invited to interview.
DBT sift will be from week commencing 9th December
Interviews will be from week commencing 16th December
Please note these dates are indicative and may be subject to change.
How we interview
At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. These are role specific and in line with the DDaT Capability Framework. You will be sent a scenario before your interview and asked to do some preparatory work.
Technical Skills
+ Agile and Lean Practices
+ Planning
+ Maintaining delivery momentum
+ Team Dynamics and Collaboration
+ Commercial
+ Making the process work
Behaviours
+ Developing Self and Others
+ Communicating and Influencing
+ Leadership
How we offer
Offers may be made in merit order based on location preferences. If you pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring you will be held on a 12-month reserve list in case a role becomes available. If you are judged a near miss at interview, you may be offered a post at the grade below the one you applied for.
This role requires SC clearance. DBTs requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet this requirement will result in your application being rejected and your offer will be withdrawn.
Checks will also be made against:
+ departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
+ UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
+ your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
+ security services record
+ location details
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has a clear mission - to grow the economy. Our role is to help businesses invest, grow and export to create jobs and opportunities right across the country. We do this in three ways.
+ 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%, This role can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. If you are based in London, you will receive London weighting. DBT employees work in a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office on average. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.
You can find out more about our office locations, how we calculate salaries, our diversity statement and reasonable adjustments, the Recruitment Principles, the Civil Service code and our complaints procedure on our website.
Find out more about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our video or reading our blog!
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.
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.