Deputy Director - Materials Analyst

Job summary

The Materials directorate works to ensure the UK has internationally competitive construction and rail sectors, and resilient supply chains for strategically important materials and products such as chemicals, steel, aluminium, critical minerals, glass, ceramics, cement, and other construction products. This supports economic prosperity, national security, and the net zero transition.​

Within this directorate, the Steel and Services Analysis team is a multidisciplinary analytical team, leading a high-profile and influential programme of analysis that shapes the work of several directorates within Business Group. ​

The Steel and Services Analysis Team plays a leading role in advising Ministers on key decisions relating to the steel industry, including major spending decisions and trade policy, as well as the wider services industry, infrastructure and technology, and responses to economic shocks.​

This embedded analysis team builds strong relationships with steel policy leads, contributing to policy development from inception. The team draws on a wealth of technical analytical skills and wide-ranging sector expertise to deliver evidence-driven insights that shape the Directorate’s priorities.​

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Job description

• This is a senior leadership role, supporting the Government’s growth agenda. The role holder’s key objectives are to:​

  • Provide inspiring and inclusive leadership for a multidisciplinary team of around 20 analysts, including statisticians, social researchers and economists. This includes direct line management for two Grade 6 analysts. Create a motivating working environment while prioritising competing demands on the team’s resources.​
  • Work on high-level strategic issues, providing evidence-based analysis to help senior stakeholders, such as Ministers and Directors, to make sound investment decisions that support businesses and the economy.​
  • Lead teams to provide analysis of the sectoral implications of free trade agreements and other aspects of trade policy.​
  • Work across government to ensure that analysis, evidence and an understanding of business priorities are highly influential in developing UK policy positions on steel and services.​
  • Develop capability within the team to deliver innovative and cutting-edge analytical approaches to support policy development, including the use of modelling and AI.​
  • Make an active contribution to the culture and corporate life of the Materials Directorate as part of its SLT, and as SCS champion for some of its corporate workstreams.​
  • Play an active role in the cross-cutting Analytical Leadership Team (ALT) of all senior analysts in DBT, helping to build analytical community and capability, strengthen external engagement on analysis, innovate new analytical techniques, and ensure the analytical function supports high-quality policy delivery across DBT.​
  • The postholder will be line managed by the Director of Materials and will work closely with both the Director for Steel Transactions and the Director for Analysis. ​
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Person specification

To be successful in this role, you must be able to show evidence of the following essential criteria:

• Badged member of a Government analytical profession* or be willing to be successfully ‘badged’ as a GES member as part of the recruitment process (please see attachment). ​
• Demonstrated ability to lead and manage teams effectively, including experience leading multi-disciplinary and multi-location teams at senior levels: setting clear direction, prioritising resources and developing people to deliver analysis and advice that supports high-priority decisions.​
• Demonstrated ability to influence and communicate with impact, using evidence and analysis to shape outcomes across organisational and departmental boundaries. This includes strong oral and written communication skills, with experience translating technical analysis into clear messages for non-technical audiences, including senior stakeholders such as Ministers, C-suite executives or senior officials. ​
• Demonstrated ability to provide intellectual leadership on analysis and working as an analyst in a complex, large-scale organisation. This includes leading a multidisciplinary team of analysts across the analytical professions and interpreting and drawing insights from a range of technical data analysis.​

Desirable Criteria​

• Experience in leading Value for Money assessments of high-value spending policies. ​

*You can be a badged member of any of the following professions: Government Operational Research Service (GORS), Government Economic Service (GES), Government Statistical Service (GSS) or Government Social Research (GSR) ​

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Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Department for Business and Trade 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.

• 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

How to apply

Please follow the online instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply for this role. Applications must be submitted no later than 23:55 on 07/06/26. ​

You will be asked to upload the two documents outlined below. It is essential you add your full name to both documents:​​

1. A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. Please provide reasons for any gaps within the last two years.​​ ​
2. A Supporting Statement of around two pages of A4, providing examples of how your experience meets the essential criteria.​​​

​Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. ​​​​

If you encounter any issues or are unable to apply online please contact SCSRecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk in the first instance​.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 Team
• Email : scsrecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scsrecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email at SCSRecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Civil Service Commission Complaints​

Attachments

Deputy Director Materials Analyst Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 6522kB)Deputy Director Materials Analyst Accessible Pack Opens in new window (docx, 156kB)GES Assessment Opens in new window (docx, 15kB)