Bristol Job Summary The South West Area Team is recruiting for a G7 Area Lead. Area leads are the experts for their sub-region on local growth challenges and opportunities and manage HMG’s relationships with key delivery partners in these places. Our team works collaboratively with partners in the South West to develop economic growth opportunities, while sharing invaluable insight on regional issues with local and central government to help inform decision making. Local stakeholders include both the public and private sector and includes external engagement with key business and business representative organisations in the area. You will also manage relationships with key partners within Government and gather and present intelligence to ensure maximum impact. Area teams are experts on the places. We have a strong grasp of the facts and figures, but facts and figures don’t explain a place. We understand local individuals and institutions. We know how places feel. We know their history. We can tell stories about them and work with them to deliver change. MHCLG, DBT and the centre of Government, rely on area teams to work with people and places across the UK to develop and deliver policies to deliver Ministers’ objectives. The teams are an integral part of the policy development and delivery mechanisms. The Cities and Local Growth Unit represents the Government Local Growth agenda across the whole of the UK focusing on relationships with local partners and delivery. It is a joint Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) directorate formed of 5 area teams (North West; Yorkshire, Humber & North East; West Midlands & South West; East Midlands, East Anglia and Ox Cam; London & South East). Job Description Key responsibilities As an Area Lead for the South West Area Team, you will: Lead Government’s relationships on local growth in your area, including collaborating on economic development plans in the area and supporting local authorities, universities, business groups and others in their interactions with central government. Represent CLGU at key regional business representative organisational events/meetings as well as with other businesses in the region. Produce high quality local economic intelligence, ensuring impacts of energy costs, supply chain pressures and other high level changes are understood and supporting the HMG response to local economic shocks. Use your relationships and influence with partners across Government to feed local knowledge into the design, appraisal, assessment, and decision-making process of policy and programmes design. Lead and support Ministerial briefings on regional risks and opportunities and ensure a high-quality service on parliamentary business and ministerial visits. Assure delivery of government funded growth projects by local partners through performance management reviews on a regular basis for the larger or more complex local authorities in your area. Deputise for and support G5s and / or G6s in their responsibilities as appropriate. The role may require a specific geographical area focus in the future and therefore some flexibility is required.The role may involve some line management. Key Responsibilities As an Area Lead for the South West Area Team, you will: Lead Government’s relationships on local growth in your area, including collaborating on economic development plans in the area and supporting local authorities, universities, business groups and others in their interactions with central government. Represent CLGU at key regional business representative organisational events/meetings as well as with other businesses in the region. Produce high quality local economic intelligence, ensuring impacts of energy costs, supply chain pressures and other high level changes are understood and supporting the HMG response to local economic shocks. Use your relationships and influence with partners across Government to feed local knowledge into the design, appraisal, assessment, and decision-making process of policy and programmes design. Lead and support Ministerial briefings on regional risks and opportunities and ensure a high-quality service on parliamentary business and ministerial visits. Assure delivery of government funded growth projects by local partners through performance management reviews on a regular basis for the larger or more complex local authorities in your area. Deputise for and support G5s and / or G6s in their responsibilities as appropriate. The role may require a specific geographical area focus in the future and therefore some flexibility is required.The role may involve some line management. Person specification Essential Criteria Proven leadership skills and the ability to identify and advocate an evidence based response to risks/issues/opportunities, even when overlooked by others. Excellent oral communication and influencing skills, able to build rapport with colleagues from different backgrounds and experiences. Robust written communication skills, able to translate complex policy detail into simple and strategically consistent briefs and speeches. Strong organisational skills, able to manage competing/changing deadlines and effectively articulate pressures faced. The ability to quickly get up to speed with a range of policy areas, able to adopt a holistic approach to Whitehall policy developments. Proactive stakeholder management skills, able to listen to key stakeholder issues/opportunities and translate these into action within government. Desirable Criteria An understanding of the key challenges and opportunities for the South West economy. An understanding of local government structures and developments. Demonstrated competence using data, including key economic indicators. Alongside your salary of £51,934, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £15,045 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 As part of our pre-employment checking process we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process. CV and Cover Letter Declaration We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment. Please Remove References To Your name/title educational institutions age gender email address postal address phone number nationality/immigration status You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors. At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing: Experience Your covering letter should not be more than 750 words and your CV should not be more than 2 sides of A4 paper. In your covering letter, please include: a. why you are interested in the role; b. how you meet the essential skills and experience required The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements: Behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing Strengths The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates. Candidates will be expected to complete a presentation at interview stage to assess Communicating and Influencing, further details would be provided upon invitation. In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements: Behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing Strengths: Yes We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign. Grade 7 salary The salary for this role is £51,934 (National). For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges. Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions. Benefits Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: Any move to MHCLG 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 For further information about the benefits available to MHCLG employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: Bristol There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. Sift And Interview Dates Sifting is envisaged to take place w/c 18th November 2024 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. Reserve List In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details in a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitmentcommunities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. Candidate Pack Information Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the MHCLG candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules Internal Fraud Database The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented. For more information please see - Internal Fraud Register Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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. 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. 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). This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. 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 : Josie Gough Email : josie.goughbusinessandtrade.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : recruitmentcommunities.gov.uk