Deputy Director, Priority Events​

Job summary

Business Intelligence and Engagement (BIE) Directorate sits within BIST's Business Group and plays a central role in the government’s efforts to drive business growth and investment. We are a dynamic, multidisciplined team working across the breadth of DBT’s priorities to ensure good business engagement, share intelligence, and co-create policy. This includes:​

• Driving a high-quality approach to business engagement across government​
• Providing business intelligence and business sentiment data to inform policy-making and make government more responsive, including through our Strategic Companies Insights Tool (SCIT)​
• Responding to special situations and economic shocks to support companies in distress​
• Delivering high-profile reputationally important events for No.10, Ministers and across government​
• Leading BIST's Emergency Response function to respond to crises​
• Ensuring strategic coherence across Business Group, ensuring the DG area operates with clarity and consistency, and through the Sectors Briefing Hub, responding to over 50% of BIST’s correspondence​

​This role leads delivery of BIST's highest profile reputationally important events. You will work closely with BIST Ministers, No.10, the Office for Investment and colleagues across the Department, to showcase the UK’s world-leading innovators and entrepreneurs and support the Prime Minister’s growth agenda. Working across government, you will deliver a highly professional event experience for UK and global businesses – from the International Investment Summit to Davos - developing clear themes and narratives for each event, and demonstrating how the government is partnering with business to create jobs, drive investment, and improve living standards across the UK.

The role is expected to commence 31/03/2027.

Candidate Information Call ​

The hiring manager for this position; Tim Stern, will be hosting a virtual call for any interested applicants to discuss the role and answer any questions. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. ​

This will be held via Microsoft Teams on 21/09/2026 at 10:00-11:00 (UK time). ​

Please click here for the meeting link.

Job description

• Lead an award‑winning, multidisciplinary team of 16, directly managing two Grade 6 leaders responsible for distinct workstreams.​
• Set strategic direction for BIST and No.10 ministerial events, overseeing their planning, delivery and evaluation in a fast‑paced, complex environment, grounded in a strong understanding of audiences.​
• Provide visible, senior leadership across the Department - engaging at the highest levels, inspiring teams, and ensuring resources are prioritised to deliver organisational objectives.​
• Lead with strong strategic judgement and political awareness, quickly assessing the landscape, maintaining clear long‑term direction, and enabling the team to respond effectively to emerging priorities at pace.​
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with Ministers, Special Advisers, senior officials and industry partners, influencing at the highest levels to deliver impact.​
• Oversee event delivery through the Department’s events management company, managing contracts, engaging at board level, and acting as Senior Responsible Officer for key events as required.​
• Contribute as an active member of the Business Intelligence and Engagement Leadership Team, sharing responsibility for directorate performance, culture and the development of people.​
• Shape the Department’s Events Engagement Strategy, ensuring coordination across BIST, including the use of AI and digital technologies.​
• Lead financial oversight of the events portfolio, developing robust business cases, ensuring value for money, and identifying opportunities for sponsorship and partnership.​
• Champion professional standards in event delivery, invest in capability across the directorate, and represent BIST in cross‑government forums to advance strategic priorities and external relationships.

Person specification

• Proven senior experience of delivering large scale reputationally important events in a complex, high profile environment – balancing strategic direction with rapid response to political and reputational pressures. ​
• Demonstratable track record of influencing senior officials (board level, C-Suite, Ministers or equivalent), combined with a strong ability to build and sustain relationships across complex stakeholder landscapes and organisational boundaries. ​
• Ability to think strategically, horizon scan, identify political and geographic opportunities and risks to delivery. ​
• Exceptional leadership skills driving high performance in a supportive and inclusive environment ensuring the team can adapt rapidly to emerging priorities while maintaining strategic coherence, nurturing talent, and fostering a culture of continuous learning. ​
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage, inform and persuade credibly on behalf of the department and HMG, always recognising your role as an ambassador for BIST.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, Department for Business and Trade contributes £24,914 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

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 04/10/2026. ​

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. ​​

Please refer to the Candidate Information Pack for further information on the recruitment process.​

DBT now host Senior Civil Service (SCS) Candidate Support sessions for those wanting to learn more about the application and recruitment processes for SCS roles within DBT, if you are interested, please register for a session here - https://registration.crowdcomms.com/dbtscsrecruitment

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 basic (or equivalent) 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, Priority Events - Domestic Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 6780kB)Deputy Director, Priority Events - Accessible Candidate Pack Opens in new window (docx, 122kB)