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Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
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About the job
Job summary
The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) is seeking a G6 Head of Evidence and Analysis to join our successful secretariat team on a permanent basis with a potential start date of October/ November 2023.
The Social Mobility Commission is a non-departmental public body that is sponsored by the Cabinet Office. We have a responsibility to monitor the Government’s progress on social mobility, to improve and advocate social mobility.
The G6 Head of Evidence and Analysis reports to the Director of the SMC Secretariat and the role combines team management with strategic thinking, research and data analysis.
The secretariat is made up of four teams: Senior Leadership, Evidence & Analysis, Policy, Government & Parliament, Stakeholder Management and External Affairs and Operations, Coordination & Governance. The G6 Head of Evidence and Analysis will guide and manage the Evidence & Analysis team and sit on the secretariats senior management team.
As a data analyst and experienced researcher, you will contribute to setting the direction for the secretariat with other senior audiences. You will navigate how to translate our commissions vision into action and help steer the research programme that adheres to the Chair and Commissioners priorities and ways of working.
Candidates will have a strong track record in research and analysis related to social mobility, with evidence of authorship of published work inside or outside of government. This would include high-impact reports, working papers, or academic articles.
You will have experience managing and supporting a team, ready to develop a talented team across grade levels. You are innovative, flexible and collaborative. You will be up to date with contemporary analytical techniques and research methods as they apply social mobility.
Candidates will have excellent interpersonal skills as well as a keen eye for detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
The jobholder oversees developing the evidence that underpins the Commissions workplan, including:
- The State of the Nation Annual Report
- Data for Social Mobility
- Education & Families
- Employment & Routes to Work
- Economy & Enterprise
Job description
Through their team the jobholder will deliver:
- Set direction and provide excellent management across a high performing team (supporting the Director) on a diverse range of issues. You will guide a team, managing four Grade 7s and overseeing two SEOs, as well as working at times across the team and drawing on others in the wider team.
- The State of the Nation statutory report (content of the chapters; analysis that underpins policy and influencing messages).
- Evidence that responds to and informs Commission priorities. They will review where the evidence gaps lie and work to address these as a leader in the sector. This includes positioning the SMC at the center of the debate on social mobility.
- Thought leadership on monitoring social mobility in the UK understanding the landscape, trends, forecast and bringing this to Commissioners and the wider Secretariat.
- Networking with the wider social mobility community (policy, academia, private sector, think tanks, charities) identifying opportunities for driving Commissioner priorities, including horizon scanning.
Person specification
Essential Skills
The following skills are essential. The Social Mobility Commission is an open and inclusive team that seeks to reflect the society we live in. We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds. Diversity is a strength, and we seek to work as inclusively as we can to harness it. In our team, your potential matters more than your qualifications.
- A strong analytical background with a track record of developing and authoring high impact publications inside or outside of government. This would include evaluation and writing reports, rapid evidence reviews and research reports. It would be desirable that the background is in social mobility.
- Experience and proficiency in using a range of analytical techniques, and applying them to monitor and assess using large datasets, including but not limited to the Labour Force Survey and Understanding Society.
- Proficiency in any one of R, Python, or STATA. Must be able to provide guidance to and develop members of the team.
- Demonstrable track record heading up an analytical or research team, who has experience in overseeing, supporting and developing a large and diverse team. You will manage 4xG7s (and oversee 2xSEOs), empowering them to deliver and take control of their own development.
- Ability to produce, translate and communicate complex findings into plain English and for a wide range of audiences.
- Experience initiating and forming partnerships with research/policy/academic institutions and think-tanks which result in tangible shared outputs and outcomes.
- Experience in scoping, contracting and managing commissioned research. You have developed good working relationships with external academics and experts to deliver large and complex deliverables.
Desirable Skills
- Experience in developing a broad and varied research programme at a senior level, and across key areas for social mobility: early years, families, education, higher and further education, employment, economy and enterprise.
- PhD in an appropriate discipline (e.g. core area of social mobility) or comparable experience
- Demonstrable understanding of the interplay between research and policy interventions, and the ability to apply evidence and policy to programme delivery.
- Be a badged member of one of Government Analytical Professions (Government Economic Service, Government Social Research, Government Operational Research Service, Government Statistical Service). If you are currently an unbadged analyst, this selection process is not a badging assessment for membership to one of the analytical professions. If required, please contact us for guidance on the membership requirements for the analytical professions if you want to apply for badging once in post.
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Benefits
£16,661 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 which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 27%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Application process
Applicants are required to complete a CV and 750 word personal statement demonstrating their evidence against the job description and person specification as detailed above. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Selection process
Applications will be sifted on CV and personal statement.
If successful at the interview stage, the candidates will be interviewed on their experience and behaviours and asked to complete a presentation. Further information on the presentation will be provided to the candidates who are shortlisted for the interview.
Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date 14 August 2023
Expected interview date/s 23 August – 25 August
Interview location – Remote
Reasonable adjustments
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 at: cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
- Complete the assistance required section in the personal information page of your application form to provide information we should be aware of that will enable us to support you further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional..
Further information
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘contact point for applicants’ section.
Please note that this role requires BPSS clearance. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
Any move to Cabinet Office 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.
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
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/Disclosure Scotland 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 Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk
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 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.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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Working for the Civil Service
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).
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Susan Power
- Email : Susan.Power@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service at: cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: info@csc.gov.uk.
For further information on the Recruitment Principles, and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk.
