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About the job
Job summary
The Home Office is here to make our country safer. As well as working to reduce crime and enforce the law, we also work to protect the most vulnerable and have a proud history of providing refuge to those who have been displaced or are seeking asylum. Whether its fighting crime, protecting our borders or combating slavery, the Home Office is at the cutting edge of public policy in this country and our work is some of the most challenging and rewarding in government.
About the Public Safety Group:
The Public Safety Groups role is to keep the public safe by protecting the vulnerable, cutting crime, disrupting the highest harm criminals and ensuring that our police, fire and rescue services are as trusted, efficient and effective as they can be in delivering front line public services. The people in our Group develop and implement policy, provide funding, and deliver legislation. We make the most of innovation, data, and partnerships to protect the vulnerable, prevent crime, and tackle the highest harm crimes. To deliver on our mission we operate locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
About the Joint Combating Drugs Unit:
The government published From Harm to Hope, its 10-year drugs strategy, in December 2021.
This was a landmark moment with considerable funding allocated to deliver a world-leading and ambitious vision to break drug supply chains, continue to build the treatment and recovery system, and reduce drug demand. This committed the whole of government and our public services to work together and share responsibility for creating a safer, healthier and more productive society.
Job description
Senior Policy Adviser Role:
This post is funded until March 2025, with the possibility of extension.
The Joint Combating Drugs Unit (JCDU) is looking to recruit a SEO reporting to the Grade 7 Local Systems Lead. This is an exciting opportunity to join the unit as we focus on delivering on one of the Governments top priorities combating the misuse of illegal drugs. The work will be varied and fast-paced, requiring a high degree of initiative, personal ownership and commitment to delivery and continuous improvement.
In return, we can offer a strong focus on development and support in a stretching and high-profile policy area that is already an exemplar for collaborative working across Whitehall, with a high profile and its own Minister for Combating Drugs.
This post will play a key role in ensuring that JCDU has good links with local delivery partners, understanding their challenges and successes, and supporting them appropriately. You will play a key role in identifying what works as part of a whole system approach to tackling drugs, working closely with wider programmes such as Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) to extract good-practice and lessons learned to apply on a national level through Combating Drugs Partnerships (CDPs).
This role will be based in the Performance Team of the JCDU, which oversees the delivery and coordination of all projects and programmes delivered under the Drug Strategy. However, it will also entail close work with the other two teams in the Unit, covering analysis and strategy.
The Senior Policy Adviser role is rewarding, with exceptional long-term career prospects. You will work in a rapidly changing environment, working with your team to develop policy in politically contentious areas, and delivering high quality advice and input to Home Office ministers and senior leaders, and other partners inside and outside Government.
Specific responsibilities will include:
1. Monitoring and reporting working with the Local Systems Lead to understand local drugs strategy delivery, including leading on reviewing key products from CDPs, e.g. action plans, progress reports. This should include consideration of equalities impact and diversity and inclusion.
2. Communications and stakeholder management Coordinate and lead on communications from central government to Combating Drugs Partnerships (CDPs). This would include:
Engage across stakeholder networks to share evaluation learning and ensure the CDPs have the most up to date learning to help improve their work going forward
Plan and coordinate a series of webinars for CDPs, covering key topics and developments
Maintain an up-to-date and vibrant online forum for CDPs
Compile and coordinate a regular, informative and useful cross-government bulletin for CDPs
Coordinate annual survey of CDPs
Liaise with CDPs to ensure these products are relevant and helpful, reflecting their interests and needs
Be an initial point of contact for CDPs queries and concerns
Linking up with relevant units across and outside of the Home Office, including Drug Supply and County Lines Unit (DSCLU) and Drugs Misuse Unit (DMU), with particular focus on DSCLUs ADDER project
3. Briefing provide clear, comprehensive and concise updates to stakeholders, including senior civil servants, Ministers, and members of JCDU and wider drugs strategy stakeholders with a sharp and accurate update of how local delivery of the drugs strategy is progressing.
Due to business requirements this post is full-time, job share and compressed hours are available.
Person specification
You should be able to think strategically and consider how your teams work can deliver the right outcomes. You also need to be comfortable collaborating with a range of people at both junior and senior levels and have the ability to learn quickly, think, present and write clearly, and demonstrate understanding of complex information to others. Furthermore, you will need to be able to evaluate complex information quickly, including legislation, using it to develop evidence-based policy. It will be necessary to work flexibly, as priorities can change rapidly.
These functions will require working closely with colleagues both within JCDU and across different government departments, to ensure activities and messaging are coordinated and well understood. The post holder will need to develop strong working relationships with policy and programme colleagues across the team and other departments. As the primary point of contact for delivery partners, the postholder should take a personal lead in being a visible motivating and encouraging local delivery partners to collaborate and drive improvements for their communities.
Essential criteria
Successful candidates will need to demonstrate:
Excellent written and oral communication skills, using language to clearly articulate recommendations in strategy documents, briefings, papers and presentations within a policy environment;
Excellent engagement and interpersonal skills, including an ability to link effectively with internal and external stakeholders, quickly building and maintaining effective relationships with colleagues across government departments and partner agencies, providing credibility and insight.
Keen appraisal and strategic skills, building awareness of emerging issues and risks and opportunities for improvement.
Experience of working in a changing environment and planning, collaborating, and delivering through others to meet deadlines on multiple pieces of work.
Proven record of managing conflicting priorities
Desirable skills
For this role, the below knowledge and experience would be beneficial, but is not essential:
Experience working with external delivery partners (e.g. police, local authorities.
Experience responding to commissions/briefings.
Knowledge of drugs policy and substance misuse and/or related fields
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Benefits
- 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 average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Statement of Suitability (Max Limit: 1000 words).
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please note your Statement of Suitability should be aligned to the Essential criteria as set out in the job advertisement.
The sift will take place on the Statement of Suitability.
CVs will not be scored.
Candidates who pass the sift will be invited to interview.
The interview will entail a briefing exercise further testing candidates’ experience, combined with a virtual interview which will include questions on behaviours and strengths.
Further details for the final assessment will be provided at the interview stage of the process.
The sift will take place week commencing 20th November Oct 2023
Interviews are expected to take place from 5th December 2023
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given.
Further information
For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV. A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
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
A reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs).
Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis 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.
Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.
We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.
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.
For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.
Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidates responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.
Transfer Terms: Voluntary.
If you are invited to an interview you will be required to bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.
Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.
Any move to the Home 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
Reasonable Adjustments
If a person with disabilities is 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 HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk 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
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the Contact point for applicants section.
Feedback
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 : Will Haydock
- Email : William.Haydock@combatingdrugs.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
