Deputy Director - Strategic Change

Job summary

The post holder will lead an ambitious change agenda at the heart of the department. This is an exciting role for somebody to make a substantial impact on the development and delivery of strategic change at Defra. The role provides strategic direction, specialist change delivery capability and strong leadership, to drive the successful design and implementation of Defra’s change agenda.

Job description

The role works at the centre of the Department working closely with strategy, policy and delivery colleagues to ensure that change across the Defra group is coherent and supports delivery of Defra’s outcomes. The Deputy Director leads a team of people to enable delivery of a series of organisational shifts that will put Defra in the best possible position to successfully delivery its outcomes, ensuring change is aligned to the Future Civil Service Programme. The successful candidate also leads a portfolio of change projects and programmes to deliver Defra’s efficiency targets, identifying and implementing interventions that ensure the department operates within its spending envelope.

The Deputy Director will engage senior colleagues across Defra group to ensure change is impactful and delivers its intended outcomes. They will work closely with senior colleagues responsible for delivering specific projects and programmes, and functional directors and their teams delivering organisational change. They will build excellent relationships in order to enable and facilitate the delivery of others, whilst at the same time assuring and challenging the delivery of change to ensure it is both ambitious and feasible.

Key responsibilities of the role will include:

• Translate policy intent into strategic design to deliver change that is meaningful and impactful
• Work closely with colleagues across Defra to lead the delivery of a series of organisational change initiatives designed to make Defra more modern, agile and effective, and better placed to successfully deliver its outcomes
• Oversight of the efficiencies portfolio to ensure that projects are managed effectively to deliver the required outcomes, efficiencies and organisational benefits and that Defra is on-track to deliver its efficiencies targets
• Establish and manage a wide range of relationships and key strategic alliances with stakeholders including ALBs Change and Transformation Directors, functional colleagues and delivery partners to ensure change is effectively cohered and delivered
• Develop, deliver and lead change functional governance and reporting, ensuring governance and reporting informs effective decision making
• Lead work to understand the effectiveness of change delivery at Defra, providing insights to senior colleagues and making recommendations for improvement - be bold and able to set an ambitious strategy for change at Defra with the ability to oversee its successful delivery
• Lead work to consider the role of business design in Defra and take forward the preferred approach for business design standards and guardrails to inform the development of the policies and services we deliver
• Work closely with Defra’s Executive Committee - use simple language and cut through complex responsibilities to communicate with impact

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Candidates will be assessed against the following behaviors and essential criteria:

• Seeing the big picture: Demonstrable ability to interpret policy intent into strategy and delivery in a way that delivers meaningful change. Ensuring plans are adjusted as needed to reflect wider contextual changes, maintaining alignment between Defra and wider government priorities and the work of their team.
• Changing and improving: Experience operating at a senior level in complex organisations, providing evidence-based advice and constructive challenge to senior leaders on organisational change, strategy, business priorities or transformation.
• Delivering at pace: Demonstrable ability to deliver high-quality outcomes at pace; setting clear priorities, managing risks and proactively removing blockers, whilst making timely decisions and responding quickly when circumstances change.
• Communicating and influencing: Experience of communicating complex issues clearly and persuasively to influence senior stakeholders and support effective decision making.
• Leadership: Outstanding people leadership skills and experience in leading across organisational boundaries to develop multidisciplinary teams in complex or changing environments; creating inclusive conditions in which people feel empowered to deliver, supported to reach their potential and proud of their work.
• Working together: Experience of building collaborative relationships at a system level and across organisational boundaries to deliver shared outcomes.
  

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 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

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, candidates are asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement (no more than 1000 words) on how your relevant skills and experience meet the essential criteria. Completed applications must be submitted no later than the closing date of 23:55pm, Sunday 1st November 2026.

Sift

A sift will be conducted against the essential criteria above based on your CV and supporting statement. Applications will be assessed by the selection panel and shortlisted.

Staff Engagement Exercise (SEE)

These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision-making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

Informal conversations with hiring manager

Prior to interview, shortlisted candidates will be offered an informal conversation (not assessed) via MS Teams to find out more about the role with the vacancy holder. Details of how to arrange an informal conversation with the vacacy holder will be included in the email inviting you to attend an interview.

Interviews

You will be asked to attend a panel interview, to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the essential criteria for the role. As part of the interview, we will ask you to prepare a short presentation. This will be confirmed in the interview invitation.

Interviews will be held face to face in London at 2, Marsham Street, SW1P 4DF

Can I claim back any expenses Incurred during the recruitment process?

No. Unfortunately we will not be able to reimburse you.

Other Information

Please let us know what adjustments we can put in place to help you through the recruitment process if you are disabled. To discuss your requirements in more detail, please contact: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk in the first instance.

Candidates who pass the interview criteria but are not offered a post may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months and may be offered similar roles across the department.

Defra Is committed to ‘name blind’ sifting. That means that identifying characteristics such as your name, gender, age, or address are removed from your application until after shortlisting for interview has taken place. On this basis, please do not include any personal data that could identify you on either your CV or Personal Statement.

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 counter-terrorist 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
• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Attachments

Deputy Director – Strategic Change Opens in new window (pdf, 1473kB)