New Towns DevCorps Set-up – Operational Adviser

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 2 weeks

Policy

Flexible

£41,890 - £45,649 per year

Job summary

Are you able to build strong relationships that will enable you to influence and challenge at all levels? Are you a natural communicator with the ability to tailor your communication approach to suit your audience, and help leaders to think differently?

If so, we have an exciting opportunity for a New Towns DevCorps Set-up – Operational Adviser to join our team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and we'd love to hear from you!

This role sits within the New Towns Strategy and Policy Division, in the New Towns Unit. We are an expanding, high performing unit leading a key government priority to build a ‘new generation of new towns’; building on the recent report of the New Towns Taskforce.

The team also holds responsibility for large housing site delivery, including policy and legislation for development corporations (DevCorps) – powerful public bodies creating new communities across the country, with a new wave set to be designated in coming years.

As the operational adviser, you will play a significant role in establishing the operational model in delivering the development corporations for new towns, a key Government priority.

You will work in a supportive team of experts on large site delivery, advising joint MHCLG and Homes England teams who are responsible for specific places. As well as holding direct responsibility for advising teams on the new towns and operational models of delivery vehicles, you will develop networks with a range of related operational experts including finance, digital, resourcing, corporate services, central strategy and governance.

This role will provide you with opportunities for professional growth, widen your knowledge and skills in policy development, governance and delivery; expose you to central departmental teams and key external stakeholders.

Job description

You will be responsible for helping to coordinate and drive the set up process, requiring an understanding of the corporate requirements to establish new bodies, and how this delivers the aims of new towns as set out in the New Towns Taskforce Report. This role will provide you with opportunities for professional growth, such as exposure to central departmental teams, legislative and operational agreements, policy and delivery interactions, governance design, and exposure to key external stakeholders.

As the New Towns DevCorps Operational Adviser your responsibilities will include:

Scoping and agreeing sponsorship and assurance processes for development corporations.
Liaising with MHCLG corporate services including Digital, HR, Commercial, Finance, and Audit.
Liaising with MHCLG policy teams including ALB Governance Team, Public Appointments and the New Towns Unit.
Engaging across Whitehall with Government Property Services, HMT and the Cabinet Office.
Supporting the organisational and governance design work.
Drafting memoranda and framework agreements.
Supporting communication and engagement material with stakeholders (internal and external, e.g., Local Authorities, Homes England / GLA, private sector stakeholders).
Drafting and publishing guidance on development corporation establishment.
Supporting development of policy on development corporation set up and closure.
Continuously identifying and implementing improvements to new body set up processes and supporting organisational change.
Coordinating internal and external governance boards.

Person specification

Self motivated and the ability to work independently, as well as working collaboratively with diverse levels of seniority partners.
Excellent communication skills, and collaborative working style. Demonstrable cross-functional coordination across corporate services (in particular with finance, digital, resourcing, commercial, corporate services, central strategy and governance specialists), converting corporate requirements into deliverable plans.
Confident stakeholder engagement across MHCLG policy teams, local authorities, and OGD partners (in particular Government Property Services, HMT, Cabinet Office).
Foundation level, or equivalent experience, of understanding of operating models, governance and assurance processes for new public bodies, i.e. agreeing proportionate controls and oversight routes, translating policy intent into clear operational designs and assurance frameworks.
Experience of working in partnerships with places and organisations.
Practical application of programme and board governance and secretariat skills.
Continuous improvement and supporting organisational change, identifying process enhancements and implementing them at pace.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,890, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £12,135 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 Childcare Voucher 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

Application and Selection
The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Strengths

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: Your covering letter should be no more than 1000 words referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

Stage 2: Interview

Behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Communicating and Influencing
Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 9th March 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 23rd March 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

Applying

Sifting

Interview

Interview Results & Feedback

Reserve List

Near Miss

Civil Service Grades

We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer

Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

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

Artificial Intelligence

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 - Internal Fraud Register

Appeals and Complaints

Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

London Office: + CTC

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

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 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

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Contact point for applicants

Salary range

£41,890 - £45,649 per year