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Philanthropy Policy Advisor

  • Public sector
  • Manchester
  • 19/01/2024
  • £33,095.00 - £37,026.00 /yearly
  • Fixed Term Contract
Job expired!

Job Overview

Location

Manchester

Job Type

Fixed Term Contract

Salary

£33,095 - £37,026 yearly

Date Posted:

19/01/2024

Expiration date:

25/01/2024

Additional Detail

Job ID

4074

Work Location

Remote and/or Onsite

Job Description

Manchester

Job summary

This is an exciting role, offering the opportunity to join a newly established team in the Civil Society and Youth directorate, seeking to expand, enable and encourage more philanthropic activity in the UK. It offers the opportunity to work on a high profile programme of work with exposure to Ministers and special advisors, as well as feeding into key fiscal events, such as the Spring Budget and next Spending Review. 

Philanthropy is the process that enables wealth holders to apply their private capital in pursuit of positive and transformative change to the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges. Unlocking the full potential of philanthropy in this country is one of Secretary of State's top priorities. This will be a fast-paced and stretching role and will suit someone able to work flexibly, and often under pressure, to deliver high quality work to tight deadlines. 

The Secretary of State has agreed a package of policy measures to take forward, which must now be progressed and agreed with other Government Departments. You will be part of the central team coordinating colleagues across DCMS, officials in other government departments and public bodies to develop and deliver this set of policies. This will require strong policy development and stakeholder engagement skills, as well as working at pace. 

Job description

Philanthropy is a quickly developing policy area. The exact objectives will be determined once in post and will depend on the direction and ambition set by Secretary of State. The postholder will therefore need to be agile and responsive to Ministers’ preferences and changing policy priorities. 

Responsibilities will likely include: 

  • Leading on the design and delivery of one or more of the philanthropy initiatives chosen by the Secretary of State, which will require close working with other Departments;
  • Drafting multiple briefings for a range of audiences (including ministers and senior officials), keeping core lines up to date, and responding to Parliamentary Questions & correspondence. 
  • Engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior officials, Ministers and external partners. 
  • Working flexibly with a changing portfolio as the policy matures and in response to evolving wider priorities, which may include developing new programmes and supporting business case development.
  • Conducting independent policy research on philanthropy to develop policy proposals which seek to expand, enable and encourage philanthropy in the UK. 
  • Working closely with the DCMS comms team to support the development of a philanthropy comms and engagement strategy. 

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential Requirements:

  • Effective decision-making: experience designing and delivering a set of policy solutions in response to a specified problem and/or objectives. Ability to use evidence and knowledge to provide accurate, expert decisions and advice to seniors. 
  • Working at Pace: ability to rapidly develop and deliver policy ideas, remaining flexible to shifting requirements. Strong collaboration skills, and comfortable working in a constantly changing environment, taking responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive. 
  • Excellent stakeholder engagement and management: ability to build strong interpersonal relationships and work with an array of colleagues internally, and with external partners, to successfully deliver a joint programme of work. 

Desirable Skills:

  • Experience of working in/with the civil society sector, with some knowledge of charity and/or philanthropy policy.
  • Experience of working in partnership with other government departments and/or external partners to deliver shared objectives.
  • Strong project management/delivery skills.
  • Experience working with communication teams. 

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Delivering at Pace
  • Working Together
  • Communicating and Influencing

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. We’re 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

  • 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.

Selection process details

This 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 9:00 AM Wednesday 24th January 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 500 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.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with: [email protected].

The interview process will assess behaviours and strengths and potentially include a presentation.

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

  • Making effective decisions
  • Delivering at pace
  • Working together 
  • Communicating and influencing 

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.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to DCMS 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

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter


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 counter-terrorist 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.

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 :

Recruitment team

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact ([email protected]) in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/

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