Change Manager

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Finance2030 transformation programme, a major strategic initiative to transform Finance services across Defra group. Finance2030 is modernising Finance through service improvements, process simplification, enhanced ways of working and the development of future service delivery models, helping to create a more efficient, effective and customer-focused Finance function.

As a Change Manager, you will play a key role in preparing colleagues for change, supporting the adoption of new ways of working and helping deliver successful programme outcomes. Working closely with project teams, subject matter experts, process owners, business stakeholders and senior leaders, you will assess change impacts, support business readiness, and develop communication and engagement activities that help stakeholders understand, influence and adopt change.

This is an excellent opportunity to apply and develop your change management expertise within a high-profile transformation programme that is shaping the future delivery of Finance services across Defra group.

Job description

As a Change Manager, you will support the delivery of business change across the Finance2030 programme, helping Finance and people in the business prepare for, adopt and embed new ways of working.

Working with project managers, delivery teams and stakeholders, you will assess change impacts, develop change management products, support business readiness activities and deliver communication and engagement activities that promote understanding, involvement and adoption. You will also create presentations, briefing materials and key messages to build awareness, understanding and support for programme objectives.

You will build strong working relationships across Finance and the wider organisation, providing practical change management support that helps ensure programme outcomes are successfully implemented, embedded and sustained.

Key responsibilities include:

• Support the delivery of business change activity across Finance2030 programme workstreams

• Develop and maintain change management plans, impact assessments, stakeholder analyses and readiness assessments

• Support Project Managers in developing and maintaining the business change elements of business cases.

• Assess the impact of change on people, processes, services and ways of working.

• Support stakeholder engagement activities and maintain strong working relationships across Finance and the wider organisation

• Support business readiness activities and provide evidence to inform implementation and go-live decisions

• Develop and deliver communication and engagement activities, including presentations, briefing materials and key messages that support understanding and adoption of change.

• Work with other functions and communications teams to help ensure change messaging is joined up and consistent across Defra Group.

• Facilitate workshops, meetings and engagement sessions to gather feedback, build understanding and support adoption

• Identify and manage change risks, issues and resistance to change

• Support benefits realisation activities and monitor the adoption of new ways of working.

• Provide advice, guidance and reporting on change activity, stakeholder engagement and business readiness.

Person specification

• Experience of supporting or delivering business change, transformation or organisational improvement activity within a complex organisation
• Experience applying change management approaches, frameworks or methodologies to support implementation and adoption.
• Experience developing change products such as change plans, stakeholder analyses, impact assessments or readiness assessments
• Experience of stakeholder engagement and building effective working relationships across multiple teams and business areas.
• Experience supporting business readiness, implementation and benefits realisation activities within a project or programme environment.
• Experience developing communication and engagement materials, including presentations, briefing papers and key messages for different audiences.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex information clearly to a range of audiences.
• Experience delivering work to agreed timescales while managing competing priorities in a busy and changing environment.

The following qualifications are aligned to the Project Delivery Capability Framework, for Business Change Managers that would be suited to the role are:

• Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner

• APMG Change Management Practitioner

• APM Project Management Qualification

Equivalent knowledge, skills and practical experience gained through business change, transformation or project delivery roles will also be considered.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Changing and Improving

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,665, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £12,360 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application Process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, a Personal Statement (no more than 500 words) and a 250-word Behaviour statement (Changing & Improving).

Please provide evidence for the personal statement to detail experience of supporting business change, with a particular focus on communications and engagement. Candidates should include examples of developing clear communication products, tailoring messages for different audiences, working with stakeholders, using change management approaches, and delivering work to deadlines.

Further details around what this will entail are detailed on the application form.

Sift

Should there be a large number of successful applications, there will be an initial sift assessing the Personal Statement. Those who pass the initial sift will either be progressed to a full sift or straight to interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Behaviours and Experience.

If selected to attend an interview you will be required to make a short, informal presentation to the panel. Those invited to interview will be provided with further information as part of the interview invitation process.

Your interview will be conducted virtually via MS Teams.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations. Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to DEFRA 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

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 via defrarecruitment.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.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Near Miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.

Criminal Record Check

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 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.

Internal Fraud Database Check

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.

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

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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 theCivil 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.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Synergy Resourcing
• Email : Synergyresourcing@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here