Places for Growth Place Engagement Lead

Job summary

Places for Growth (PfG) is a 10-year Civil Service transformation programme at the heart of delivering Civil Service transformation in a Productive and Agile State. The programme supports the wider Public Sector Reform agenda, Government mission delivery, and the future strategy for the Civil Service. As part of PfG we are strengthening our ambition for impacting in Place; developing thriving and sustainable Civil Service communities and strengthening our cross government partnerships in place.

Job description

These exciting roles will provide the right candidates with the opportunity to deliver genuine transformational change across government, working with a wide variety of stakeholders. The roles are offered on a loan, fixed term contract or secondment basis for 12 months, with the possibility to extend until March 2028. There are three roles available: one in Belfast, one in Cardiff and one in London.

The roles sit in the Places for Growth (PfG) Place Team, each working on a specific region/ nation and reporting to the relevant PfG Strategic Advisor. Individuals will drive the full breadth of Places for Growth priorities on the ground, working with stakeholders to bring to life the ambition of a modern, connected, thriving Civil Service Community.

The role requires an understanding of Places for Growth 2030 to enable prioritisation of actions to support and achieve cross-government objectives set out in local place plans, including a thriving civil service community in every region and nation that is connected to their communities and local partners. These roles are critical to supporting cross-departmental collaborative working, building civil service skills and capability, and promoting a closer relationship with local partners.

Individuals will not only drive activity in place but share their local insights/ knowledge with the central team and other regional teams, to support a sharing of best practice, innovation and efficiencies where necessary. Place is a very live programme of work and the role may evolve to meet local priorities.

Person specification

Key responsibilities include:

• Programme Delivery: Supporting the PfG Place programme to deliver objectives including offering guidance, support, and challenge in setting local priorities.
• Coordination: Co-ordinating Local Delivery Plan workstreams for English regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, delivering through others, and facilitating the sharing of best practice at a local level.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Influencing senior leaders to actively participate in PfG Place priorities, building collective responsibility, and mobilising a strong local change movement.
• Liaison: Liaising with departments to encourage a collective approach locally and understand departmental perspectives.
• Analysis: Highlighting barriers and enablers to relocations in place.
• Events: Setting up and running key events, including regional workforce planning workshops, SCS events, and a Permanent Secretary Place Champions event.
• Communication: Drafting board papers and Ministerial Subs on place based activity outlining challenges and issues and updating on progress.
• Insight gathering: Providing knowledge and insight to inform an evidence-based approach to support the wider Heads of Place network, shaping and delivering sustainable and tangible interventions.
• Thematic portfolio: Working across regions/nations and departmental teams on a core thematic policy area, shaping it centrally and sharing best practice across regional teams.

Essential

• Ability to build effective, inclusive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, fostering collaboration and mutual respect across diverse teams and perspectives.
• Strong project, programme or portfolio management experience and the ability to manage competing priorities whilst ensuring effective and timely delivery.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with excellent attention to detail; experience of writing submissions and briefings.
• Proven influencing skills, particularly with senior leaders, to drive participation and build collective responsibility.
• Good analytical skills to establish strong place-level data in support of policy development.

Desirable

● Experience of working across departmental boundaries.

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,760, Cabinet Office contributes £12,677 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 which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

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

The Behaviours we will be assessing in the selection process are:

• Communicating and Influencing (Lead Behaviour)
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

We will be utilising the behaviour and experience elements of the Success Profiles through this campaign and will review your statement of suitability.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete:

• A CV
• A 500 word personal statement outlining your suitability for the role, and how you meet the essential requirements as set out in the 'Person Specification' / ‘Skills and Experience’ section of the job advert
• Including examples of how you can demonstrate each of the four behaviours listed above

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be undertaken using the lead behaviour: Communicating and Influencing. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Selection process

Please note that the London based role requires CTC clearance, which would normally need 3 year's UK residency in the past 3 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – week commencing 03/08/2026
Expected interview date/s – week commencing 10/08/2026 or w/c 17/08/2026
Interview location - online via MS Teams

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service/Access NI on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Access NI confidential checking service telephone: the Access NI Helpline on 0300 200 7888 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email accessni@ani.x.gsi.gov.uk

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : PfG Place Team
• Email : placesforgrowth-headsofplace@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service by email at : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk. For further information on the Recruitment Principles and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/.

Attachments

Cabinet-Office-Employee-Offer Opens in new window (docx, 762kB)Cabinet Office Terms and Conditions - External 2025-02-20 Opens in new window (docx, 83kB)