About the job Summary

Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Is your passion to empower consumers to make good and informed choices? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). OPSS was created to provide dedicated national capacity for product safety while taking forward work on supporting small business growth and implementing the Industrial Strategy vision of simplifying regulation.

We have been given a huge opportunity to shape the future, and how regulation works in the UK and overseas. By our actions, we can improve protections for consumers and the environment, improve business confidence and drive improved productivity in industry that delivers jobs and security.

We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Designed and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and productivity.

Our Mission is to be a trusted product regulator for the UK.

Our goal is to be leader of good regulatory practice and a champion of local regulation.

We are currently a departmental Office of BEIS, operating as the national regulator for products. When we were established in January 2018 the then Secretary of State asked us to get started straight away and committed publicly to a consultation on our future status. Many of our more vociferous stakeholders think we should be an independent agency now. Ministers have recently decided that we should agree a Business Case with HMT and Cabinet Office as the next step.

This post is central to that journey.

For further information on OPSS please visit www.gov.uk .

Further details on working for OPSS can be found on the OPSS careers website.

Job description

About the Role

As our new Deputy Director for Science and Analysis, you will be responsible for developing strategies and leading the organisation’s work on analysis, insights, science and technical research and policy advice. This is an area of high public, media and parliamentary interest, particularly in the context of the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower and high-profile product safety issues – such as recall programmes for domestic white goods.

Key Objectives

• Developing and implementing effective processes to oversee the analytical, science, technical and insights advice given to underpin policy and enforcement decisions across OPSS;

• Overseeing the wide range of high-profile analytical work to support the Office in delivering its objectives, including scenario planning, developing business cases, leading economic risk assessments and overseeing the analysis for the Office’s bids for funding;

• Overseeing the governance and delivery of our Strategic Research Programme and our Research Hub; to ensure it delivers high quality and relevant scientific output and develops strong relationships with academia, industry and consumer bodies where appropriate;

• Providing leadership and continued development of your team as Government Science & Engineering Professionals and Analyst Professionals;

• Leading the relationship between OPSS and Other Government Departments where OPSS provides science and technical services and advice;

• Leading the relationships with other Government Science and Engineering professionals in BEIS and other relevant Government Departments and Agencies, relevant research institutes, learned societies, academic partners and UKRI.

You will lead a team based predominantly in London and Teddington and be responsible for ensuring robust scientific advice underpins OPSS’s product regulatory policy and operations. You will report directly to Graham Russell, CEO, and will have direct line management responsibility for several G6 Functional Team Leads. As a key member of the OPSS’s leadership team, you will play an active role in the leadership, management and development of the organisation, including leading or sponsoring change projects across the Department.

We expect all our senior leaders to be:

• Inspiring – about our work and its future
• Confident – in our engagement with others
• Empowering – to allow our teams to deliver

As a departmental office with policy and delivery responsibilities we are working to achieve a supportive, diverse culture that values our staff and the work they do, supports a close engagement with the department but recognises our specific role.
 

Responsibilities

What we are looking for:

To be successful in this role you will need to be an exceptional leader with extensive senior management experience and a strong track record of delivery.

In addition, you will also need to be able to demonstrate your capability and potential against the following essential criteria:

• Qualified to at least degree level in an analytical or scientific discipline;

• Experience of delivering analytical scientific advice for policy development and decision making;

• Extensive experience of providing visible leadership to support long term strategies, with a proven ability to develop a motivated, engaged and high performing workforce and demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion;

• The ability to communicate complex positions and ideas clearly, and with impact, to a wide range of stakeholders, both internally and externally;

• The ability to network and work collaboratively across a large number of internal and external teams, communicate scientific analytical or evidence to a non-technical audience;

• The proven ability to supervise evaluation of the effectiveness of communication against objectives, reviewing lessons learned and comparing industry best practice to identify areas for improvement for future strategies;

• The financial, commercial and project leadership skills to oversee successful delivery, management of risks, and to make sound judgements in a changing context, with demonstrable experience of making complex, evidence-based decisions;

• The commitment to continuous improvement of processes and policies and to ensure relevant policies and procedures are delivered in an efficient and effective way and are applied throughout the organisation in a consistent and compliant manner;

• The ability to build and maintain successful relationships internally and externally at Board level, winning the trust of those who may have differing or conflicting views;

• The confidence, presence and impact to operate within a complex, highly regulated environment, garnering the respect and support of your staff, colleagues and counterparts in other organisations.

Please take time to read the attached Candidate pack for further information about this role and the recruitment process.

Benefits Benefits

BEIS offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

Things you need to know Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

Selection process details

As part of the application you will required to complete a CV and Statement of Suitability.

1. A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where applicable of budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years

2. A Personal Statement (no more than 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification

Failure to complete both sections (CV and Personal Statement) will mean the panel have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

Applications will be sifted to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please ensure you keep this in mind when writing your CV and supporting statement.

Expected Timeline subject to change

At this stage, the expected timetable is:

Sift to be held by: w/c 13th April 2020
Assessments to be held: w/c 20th April 2020
Assessment Location: Birmingham
Interviews to be held: w/c 4th May 2020
Interviews Location: London

Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Please note it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for either the assessments or interview.

Expenses incurred by candidates during the recruitment process will not be reimbursed by the Department except in exceptional circumstances and only when agreed in advance.

Full details of the selection and assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates once the shortlist has been completed but will include a Staff Engagement Exercise, an Alternative Leadership Assessment, and a Final Panel Interview.

If candidates are required to prepare a presentation for their interview, they will be given at least one week’s notice of the subject.

Candidates invited to interview will be asked to undergo the following assessments:

Staff Engagement Exercise (SEE)

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to prepare and present a 5-minute presentation to a group of staff of varying grades, representative of the business area/organisation where the role will be based. The staff will then ask questions and have a discussion with the applicant for 30 minutes.

The interaction will be witnessed and recorded by an observer who will provide feedback and observations in a written report provided to the final interview panel.

You will need to be flexible about setting aside time in your diary to do this. The presentation topic will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

Alternative Leadership Assessment (ALA)

Candidates will complete two psychometric tests and the profiles/results are interpreted by an Occupational Psychologist (OP).

The OP facilitates a 60 -75 minute phone validation call with the candidate in order to validate and discuss the profiles/results in relation to their career and leadership style. Evidence from the interview and psychometrics is processed and summarised in a written report provided to a final interview panel, covering the main themes and recommending areas for the panel to probe the candidate at interview.

The SEE and ALA will not lead to a pass or fail decision; rather, they are intended to highlight areas of strength and possible concerns which the panel can probe at interview.

Further information

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies in the Civil Service requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

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 circumstance 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.

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

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.

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

Any move to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

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.

Please note that BEIS does not hold a licence to sponsor visa applications.

BEIS does not offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs

• Complete the “Assistance required” section in 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 if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

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

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

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.