Director, Civil Society and Youth

The Director for Civil Society & Youth at DCMS is a varied and challenging leadership role driving delivery of high profile policy areas and programmes included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP)that are critical to our Ministers’ priorities and the wider Government agenda. 

The successful candidate will: 

• Lead on charity law and regulation and sponsorship of the Charity Commission, the charity regulator; lead VCSE (voluntary, community and social enterprise) policy and the government’s relationships with these sectors; lead policy on volunteering and tackling loneliness. 
• Lead sponsorship of The National Lottery Community Fund (c£800m p/a of lottery good causes) and the Dormant Assets scheme (£1bn to date to good causes, in partnership with the Financial Services industry and HM Treasury). 
• Act as the Senior Responsible Officer for the Youth Capital Portfolio, a £500m+ GMPP portfolio comprising several capital infrastructure programmes, building, refurbishing and equipping youth centres. 
• Lead policy for youth services and cross-government approach to young people, and lead government’s relationship with the youth sector. Lead delivery of the National Youth Strategy, government’s 10-year plan for young people.  
• Ensure successful delivery of multiple place-based youth services programmes, including grant-funding and working with Local Authorities. Lead delivery of 50 Young Futures Hubs, a cross-government manifesto commitment. 
• Act as the Senior Responsible Officer for the Better Futures Fund, a £500m+ innovative GMPP programme that will lift 20,000 children out of poverty through social outcomes partnerships, in line with the Child Poverty Strategy; lead policy on impact investing, social impact investing and philanthropy.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be used in the event of tied candidates:

Essential requirements: 

• Leadership: a proven record of driving performance across large, multi-disciplinary and dispersed teams. You will evidence a commitment to fostering inclusive cultures and providing the visible, system-wide presence necessary to align diverse national stakeholders and partners behind a shared mission. 
• Strategic vision and sector insight: an exceptional strategic thinker with a history of developing innovative, evidence-based policy and long-term strategies. You posses the foresight to anticipate future trends in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise and youth sectors, translating complex priorities into impactful national delivery. 
• Major portfolio delivery and accountability: a delivery-focused leader with extensive experience in the strategic oversight of high-profile, complex portfolios. Must be able to evidence an ability to act as a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO), demonstrating the resilience to ensure accountability for capital or grant-funded programmes while sustaining momentum and quality across competing workstreams. 
• Strategic relationship management: an authoritative and collaborative leader with the professional authority to influence at the highest levels, leveraging outstanding communication and negotiation skills to secure and sustain the cross-sector partnerships essential for delivering complex organisational objectives. 
• Financial responsibility: a proven track record of managing significant budgets and complex investment frameworks. You will ensure robust financial risk oversight and value for money across innovative funding models, including social impact investing and philanthropy.

Desirable skills: 

• Understanding and experience of the charity and/or youth sectors and/or the impact economy 
• Understanding and experience of place-based delivery, either through Local Authorities or other local partners. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £28,970 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

25 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service

A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following, via the Civil Service Jobs portal, which will assessed against the essential requirements for the role:  

➔A CVsetting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 sides of A4 and you should copy and paste your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form. 

➔A Statement of Suitabilityexplaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements. This should be 2 sides of A4 and no more than a maximum of 1000 words.  

For the shortlist, we will select applicants who demonstrate the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application and how this meets the essential requirements. 

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 removed - click apply for more details]

Shortlist  

The panel will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the ‘essential requirements’ section of this pack. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.  

Meeting with Permanent Secretary 

Before the interview stage, shortlisted candidates may be invited to attend an informal meeting with our Permanent Secretary, Susannah Storey. 

Meeting with a DCMS Minister 

Before the interview stage, shortlisted candidates may be invited to attend an informal meeting with DCMS Ministers. The Civil Service Commissioner would also be present. 

Assessment 

If shortlisted you will be invited to undertake an assessment as part of the recruitment process, prior to your interview, this will be: 

• A staff engagement exercise: this is a structured exercise which involves shortlisted candidates facilitating a discussion with a selection of staff from the Department on a given topic. 

This exercise will take place remotely via Google Meet. This will not result in a “pass” or “fail” decision. It is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. 

Interview 

The interview process will assess the essential requirements for the role and will include a scenario based task. The scenario topic will be provided on the day of your interview.  

Your interview will take place, in person, at DCMS’ London office: 100 Parliament Street. 

If you are shortlisted, you will also be offered an informal conversation with Ruth Hannant and Polly Payne, ahead of the final panel interview. This does not form part of the assessment process and is merely an opportunity for you to find out more about the role.  

Feedback 

Following interview, all shortlisted candidates will receive their outcome along with some short written feedback on performance at interview. 

Please note you will only receive feedback if you complete the interview stage.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

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.

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 security 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

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

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.