Director of Non-Domestic Revaluation

This is a substantial leadership role with responsibility for delivering the Valuation Office Agency’s revaluation programme involving each of over 2.1 million properties in England and Wales. 

The role holder will report directly to the VOA’s Chief Valuer within Chief Valuer Group (CVG) and will be a member of the senior operational leadership team within the Agency.

CVG is responsible for the successful delivery of valuation and technical advice across the VOA.  It promotes and assures professional standards, consistency, objectivity and transparency to deliver reliable property valuations. It provides valuation and technical advice to the Chief Executive, the Executive Committee and other government departments to assist with policy development as well as playing an influential role with professional bodies and the Government Property Profession.

The role holder will be responsible for the revaluation programme budget of circa £70m. They will lead a geographically dispersed core programme team of over 35 and have line management responsibility of 2 staff, with additional annual resource of circa 500-600 FTE at peak working across operational and corporate teams.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the VOA’s Chief Valuer – the role will be responsible for:

• The Agency’s largest single deliverable over a 3 year operational delivery programme. This ensures the Agency values over 2.1 million properties, which currently represents £74Bn of Rateable Value which establishes the tax base for £34Bn of annual revenue.
• The revaluation programme budget of over £70m which involves an annual resource of circa 500-600 FTE at peak working across operational and corporate teams. 
• revaluation programme will need to produce robust valuations which can be supported when challenged, providing HM Treasury, DLUHC, Welsh Government and over 350 local authorities a financial base to plan future government tax and spending decisions.  
• developing viable and robust business cases to secure the resources required to set up and run the programme, including transitioning to a new technology platform within the life of the programme, as the Agency rolls out its business transformation programme from 2023.
• ensuring the delivery of the revaluation whilst also ensuring operational colleagues transition to a new way of collecting data from customers and dealing with customer challenges following publication of the compiled lists because of the proposed changes to government policy and our NDR Reform Programme. Legislation is expected to be introduced in 2023.
• Establish programme governance and assurance. Allocate resources and finances of the programme in an effective manner, making strategic and risk-based choices as required. Identify, monitor and deliver mitigations to address key strategic risks facing the programme in the three-year cycle and the potential impacts to future programmes
• each revaluation programme which will take place on a new rolling 3-year cycle. This will require a new approach to the design and delivery of the programme and ensuring leaders and teams effectively manage this transition.
• Policy development and Ministerial liaison with DHLUC & Treasury, and Welsh Government, and alignment with HMT fiscal events, also ensuring that the Agency can support policy divergence required by devolved administrations. Preparing ministerial briefings and media lines to effectively manage all stakeholders.

Essential Requirements

• Full professional surveying qualification (RICS Valuation Pathway or equivalent).
• Excellent leadership skills and proven ability to build, motivate, develop and deliver through diverse teams and professions.
• Highly effective and adaptable communication skills with a demonstrable track record of building sustainable collaborative relationships with a diverse range of senior internal and external stakeholders.

Desirable Requirements

• Experience of delivering large and complex programmes
• Experience of delivery a non-domestic revaluation
• Experience of working with ministers and policy officials.

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the VOA and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

Equality , Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service values and supports all its employees. For example, we have strong and pro-active staff networks, reasonable adjustments put in place for those who need them, and diversity talent programmes to help everyone irrespective of background, to achieve their potential.

Work life balance

At the VOA we believe in working flexibly to enable our staff to achieve a great work life balance. This is reflected in our flexible working, hybrid working and family friendly policies.

Holiday allowances start at 25 days with an additional 9 bank holidays and 1 privilege day. Your entitlement will increase up to 30 days once you have 5 years’ service which equates to 6 weeks leave per year (pro-rata for part-time working).

Colleagues in grades AA-SEO are able to take up to three days flexi leave in each four-week period, or 39 days a year, on top of their annual leave. All colleagues at Grade 6 and Grade 7 can access flexi leave on a more informal arrangement with their line manager, using the same principles.

We offer generous paid maternity and paternity leave above statutory requirements, with up to 4 weeks paid paternity leave (double the statutory requirement).

We are also investing heavily in our premises with flagship offices opening recently in Leeds, London and Manchester.

Pay pension and other financial benefits:

All new joiners are automatically enrolled into the Civil Service Pension Scheme; a competitive contributory pension where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. This is an average salary scheme, and the VOA contributes between 26.6% and 30.3% based on your earnings. Our People’s contributions are between 4.6% and 8.05% (2023/24 rates) and benefit from tax relief. For comparison, according to the Pensions Regulator, the minimum total employer and employee contribution are only 8%, of which just 3% has to come from the employer. The Civil Service Pension Scheme is a huge benefit for our people and sets us apart from private sector organisations.

Our great reward system ensures our people are recognised for their hard work via a high street and online retailor voucher scheme. Our people also have access to great discounts on key shops/services. Long service awards are presented for career milestones. In addition, there is a season ticket loan scheme, a cycle to work scheme (worth up to £4000) and vouchers for eye care.

Our people also have access to our employee assistance programme, which provides a range of wellbeing support services including free counselling.

Learning and Development:

We invest in helping our people to be the very best they can be. This means you can expect comprehensive, ongoing training, a tailored development plan, and support to keep progressing. And as part of the Civil Service, you’ll have opportunities to progress, and explore new areas, both in the agency and beyond.

We’ll support your learning and development with:

• A structured induction and Individual Learning Plan.
• Mentoring and shadowing opportunities.
• Access to a wide variety of cross government networks.

There are many more Benefits to working for the VOA. For full  details of what could be available to you as a VOA employee  Download our Benefits Booklet.

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.

Job contact :

• Name : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : VOARecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk