Deputy Director, Design, Compliance and Sustainability

Birmingham, Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield

Are you a high-performing individual, who thrives in complex environments? Do you want to work in the Government’s largest department, where people are at the heart of what we do?

DWP has the largest commercial estate in government and our team is committed to being smaller, greener and better – helping people to work, grow and thrive. Our estate provides accommodation for colleagues who support millions of daily customer interactions in Jobcentres and Health Assessment centres, back of house offices delivering frontline services and hub sites housing expert functions such as Policy, Finance, Digital and HR.

The DWP Estates function ensures the smooth and efficient operation of this network on a day-to-day basis. We manage a private sector supply chain that delivers essential services such as security guarding, maintenance, property and leasehold, construction, cleaning and facilities management. Many of these services are business critical and we cannot safely open our offices without them.  

This is a broad role that is responsible and accountable for all aspects of commercial property related statutory and regulatory compliance – from property safety, through to sustainability to the design and feel of our workplaces this role leads on complex but rewarding issues. You will have lead responsibility for the setting of policy, process management and governance arrangements for an estate that has a budget of c.£1.2bn and is the largest leasehold estate in government.

You will lead a team that promotes and leads a robust and proportionate risk management culture across the DWP portfolio. You will need to ensure that the standards expected are clear to the business and are appropriately followed. You will drive a leading, innovative and effective approach to the way Estates operates. You will promote and work with our cross-Government partners at a senior level in Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, DEFRA and others to drive an innovative and effective approach to delivery within a property environment. You will ensure we meet government approvals and standards on property related matters such as Energy and Sustainability through to leasing buildings and investing in properties

Leading a team of subject matter experts that set the standards, provide advice and assure our business, you will work across a wide-ranging stakeholder network to provide guidance and lead on compliance matters within the Estates function. You will ensure that DWP conducts itself in a lawful and ethical manner and is achieving best practice in the way it manages its real estate portfolio.

You will specifically lead the following DWP Estates Teams:
•    Workplace Design 
•    Property and Construction Compliance 
•    Governance and Control 
•    Energy and Sustainability 

Your application must demonstrate that you have the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post, as well as the leadership skills to succeed at Deputy Director level in the Senior Civil Service.

Essential Criteria

• A track record of effective property compliance leadership in a large, complex, customer-facing operating context with exposure to a broader portfolio which may have included including property safety, workplace design, sustainability and energy management
• Experience in leading teams of subject matter experts and drawing on their skills and experience to deliver complex, multi-disciplinary change programmes, and through both directly employed and supply chain partners
• Knowledge of risk management, governance arrangements, control procedures & audit processes within a complex real estate environment
• Ability to advise and influence senior stakeholders and build trusted relationships across the Department, including the ability to do so at Ministerial level, with other Government Departments, commercial partners and with employees and their representatives
• A persuasive communicator, able to distil complex concepts, data and analysis into compelling advice and guidance that can be understood and adopted by all parties, embedding a culture of compliance
• Strong financial acumen, with ability to forecast and manage large budgets with an emphasis on securing value for money and effectiveness
• Full (eg Chartered) professional membership/accreditation of a recognised property professional body, for example but (not limited to) IWFM, IOSH, RICS, IEMA and/or an equivalent qualification, or the experience and willingness to seek such membership/accreditation.

To learn more about the role, hear from our Director of Estates, Craig Varian here.

For further information about DWP and this role please see the candidate pack attached to this advert.

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Work and Pensions contributes
£15,000 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 average employer contribution of 27%

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration
is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them
to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through
building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above.
This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions.
Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and
conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your
personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any
absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you
to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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Job contact :

• Name : duncan.collins@gatenbysanderson.com
• Email : julie.myers@gatenbysanderson.com

Recruitment team

• Email : julie.myers@gatenbysanderson.com