SCS1 Deputy Director, Strategy

Job summary

DWP is looking to fill a Deputy Director, Strategy role in the Policy directorate.

The SCS1 Strategy Deputy Director role is a high profile, mission critical position at the heart of DWP, operating in a fast paced and highly dynamic environment. It provides the department’s senior strategic leadership, driving fiscal strategy for Policy Group, overseeing Ministerial priority tracking, and ensuring effective implementation across key areas of reform.

The role demands confident, collaborative engagement with senior officials and Ministerial teams, shaping strategic direction at pace. With recent changes in the Strategy team, the postholder will be expected to lead through transition, setting a strong, positive team culture and guiding new colleagues as they settle in, while continuing to deliver high quality outputs and tangible results for stakeholders.

Job description

Role responsibilities will include:

• Provide senior strategic leadership for DWP, overseeing fiscal strategy for Policy Group, Ministerial priority tracking, and implementation activity in a fast‑paced and dynamic environment.
• Lead and develop a multi‑team function of approximately 35 people including four Grade 6 team leaders, ensuring clear prioritisation, high‑quality delivery, and a strong performance culture.
• Shape and contribute to the leadership of the Strategy, Governance and International Directorate, helping to build an inclusive, high‑performing, and engaging place to work.
• Drive collaborative working across senior officials, cross‑departmental colleagues, and Ministerial private offices to deliver coherent and timely strategic outputs.
• Lead teams through organisational change, setting a positive team culture, supporting new colleagues as they settle into post, and ensuring continuity of strong delivery throughout periods of transition.
• Oversee the ministerial correspondence function, ensuring high‑quality, timely, and consistent correspondence by working closely with the team leader and the Department’s parliamentary champion.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• Policy and strategy experience at a senior level
• Credibility and confidence to engage and influence a wide range of stakeholders including influencing decisions across the organisation, being able to build relationships of influence at senior levels, and the ability to win the trust of senior officials and Ministers
• Ability to deliver results at pace and progress activity to achieve results in complex environments.
• Strong people leadership skills including:
  • Ability to provide visible, positive and collaborative leadership
  • Ability to motivate and engage newly forming teams across multiple locations
  • Ability to build capable, inclusive and high performing teams.
  • Make a full contribution to the wider leadership team of the directorate.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of working in central government and/or with ministers and permanent secretaries

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Department for Work and Pensions 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.

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

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.

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process outlined below no later than 23:55pm on Monday 23 March

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years;​
• A personal statement (maximum 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities, and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification. ​

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.

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 : Senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk
• Email : senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact: senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk

If you are not satisfied with the response, you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Candidate pack Deputy Director Strategy FINAL Opens in new window (pdf, 528kB)