Deputy Director, Communities Delivery Unit

Job summary

This is a high-profile opportunity to lead delivery of the £5bn Pride in Place Programme, one of the Government’s top priorities, supporting 244 communities across the UK to drive long-term, locally led regeneration.

The programme empowers communities in areas experiencing ‘double deprivation’ to shape and deliver their own plans for change, backed by up to £20m over 10 years. Each area brings together local leaders, businesses, authorities and MPs through neighbourhood boards to design and deliver transformative plans.

As Deputy Director, you will lead a significant, geographically dispersed programme at scale, ensuring Phase 1 areas deliver high-quality, fundable plans, and that Phase 2 areas are set up for success. You will operate at the heart of a politically high-profile agenda, working closely with Ministers, No10, the Cabinet Office and senior stakeholders across the UK.

You will provide visible, inclusive leadership to a team of around 40 staff, setting direction, building capability and driving delivery. You will also play a key role in the senior leadership of the Directorate, contributing to wider strategic priorities and organisational culture.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of the £5bn Pride in Place Programme across 244 locations, ensuring effective implementation, strong outcomes and value for money.
• Provide strategic leadership to a multidisciplinary team of c.40 staff, setting direction, building capability and driving a high-performing, inclusive culture.
• Oversee programme performance, including monitoring, evaluation, risk identification and mitigation, and regular reporting to Ministers, No10 and senior officials.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Ministers, MPs, Special Advisers, local authorities, Devolved Administrations, community leaders and delivery partners.
• Work closely with strategy and policy teams to ensure delivery insight informs ongoing policy development and programme evolution.
• Balance competing priorities, respond to emerging issues and provide confident, timely advice in a politically sensitive and high-profile environment.
• Contribute to the leadership of the Directorate, supporting cross-cutting priorities and enhance a collaborative senior leadership culture.

Person specification

This is a demanding SCS1 role requiring strong strategic leadership, sound judgement and the ability to deliver at pace in a complex and high-profile environment.

You will be comfortable leading a large-scale, nationally significant programme with significant political interest, balancing strategic oversight with a strong grip on delivery. You will demonstrate the ability to translate policy intent into tangible outcomes on the ground, using data, insight and stakeholder engagement to continuously improve impact.

You will be a credible and confident communicator, able to influence and advise at the most senior levels across government and externally, including in politically sensitive situations.

As an inclusive and visible leader, you will build high-performing teams, develop capability and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement. You will also contribute actively to the wider leadership of the Directorate, supporting cross-cutting priorities and organisational effectiveness.

Essential criteria:

• Strategic programme leadership and delivery - A strong track record of leading complex, high-profile programmes at scale, delivering through others, managing significant risk, and maintaining pace and grip in a politically exposed environment.
• Senior stakeholder engagement and political acumen - Proven ability to build credibility and influence at the most senior levels, including with Ministers, Special Advisers, senior officials, MPs and external partners, navigating competing priorities and sensitivities.
• Leadership of large, multidisciplinary teams - An inspiring and inclusive leader with experience of leading sizeable teams, developing capability, and creating a high-performing, delivery-focused culture across dispersed or complex structures.
• Translating policy intent into effective delivery - Demonstrable experience of ensuring policy works in practice, using data, insight and frontline feedback to adapt delivery, improve outcomes, and inform future policy development.
• Strategic thinking and problem solving in ambiguity - Ability to operate confidently in ambiguity, balancing strategic and operational demands, identifying risks and opportunities, and driving innovative, practical solutions to complex challenges.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working on place-based, community, regeneration or local growth programmes.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

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

How to Apply - To apply you will need to submit a CV and Statement of Suitability via the Be Applied link. Your CV (up to two pages) should set out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. Your Statement of Suitability (up to two pages) should explain how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential and desirable criteria for the role.

Equal Opportunities - We encourage candidates to complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Data via Be Applied. The data will be treated in the strictest confidence and used for monitoring and statistical purposes only.

Interview Schemes - MHCLG is a Disability Confident employer and is committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health of all colleagues and applicants. We also operate the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Redeployment schemes. Applicants applying under these schemes who meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview. Applicants applying under these schemes who meet the essential criteria, will be invited to interview.

The Panel - Kay Withers - MHCLG Director and Hiring Manager, Nico Heslop - MHCLG Director, one additional panel member - TBC. Additionally, the panel may be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion.

Shortlist - Applications will be sifted after the closing date and shortlisted candidates will be invited to the next phase of assessment and interview. Your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria, these will also be used to form the basis of the panel’s final interview questions. Desirable criteria will only be used to determine the merit order of candidates who rank evenly against the essential criteria.

Assessment - Shortlisted candidates may be invited to attend a Staff Engagement Panel, designed to provide insight into how you engage and interact with your team. Feedback from the session is passed to the panel for consideration alongside your final interview.

Candidates may also be invited to meet with a Senior Stakeholder. This is not a formal part of selection, but an informal chance to find out more about the role and organisation.

Shortlisted candidates may also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at interviews - further details will be provided when invited to interview.

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

Expected Timeline

• Advert closes: Sunday 31st May
• Shortlisting: W/C 1st June
• Engagement Panels: W/C 8th June
• Interviews: W/C 15th June

*Please note that we try to offer flexibility where possible, but it may not always be possible to offer alternative interview dates.

Salary​ - For external appointments, remuneration for this role is advertised at £81,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension. ​

​For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for SCSPB1 – Deputy Director. Please also note that, if successful, any existing specialist allowances you currently receive will not automatically transfer or be retained upon moving to this role.​

​Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.​

Eligibility​ - This post is advertised on level transfer or promotion to existing civil servants, and externally.

Full Information & Benefits - Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database

• Appeals and Complaints

We are MHCLG

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 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

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 : SCS Recruitment
• Email : scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

- a procedural irregularity
- an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy
- exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk.