JOB SUMMARY

The Sport Team within DCMS has overall policy responsibility within government for sport and physical activity. We lead on setting Government’s strategic direction for sport, and are the departmental sponsor for four Arm’s Length Bodies with a total annual budget in excess of £450m (UK Sport, Sport England, UK Anti-Doping and the Sports Grounds Safety Authority). The team has a broad remit that covers elite sport through to the grassroots, and works across government to promote the effectiveness of physical activity as a policy solution to a variety of social issues.
The Football Governance Team: We lead Government’s work on the future governance of Football, including the establishment of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) and designing and managing the sponsorship relationship. The team is responsible for working alongside the IFR to deliver the regulatory reform set out in the Football Governance Act, including the passage of underpinning secondary legislation.
We own a number of high profile and important relationships across government with key external bodies, including the FA, the Premier League, the English Football League and fan groups.

JOB DESCRIPTION

This is an exciting and complex programme and this role offers the unique opportunity to work on the set up of a new regulatory regime for the football industry. The post holder will provide the main support for the Programme Management Office and the wider Sponsorship Team.
The role will be responsible for the development of business critical relationships between senior colleagues across the Department and the Regulator. The role will escalate and address delivery issues raised by the Regulator, manage and develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics including Early Warning indicators to track programme performance and inform Sponsorship discussions. The post holder will support the Head of Programme and Assurance in delivering the governance framework, assurance strategy, including risk management and internal controls and provide financial management and budgeting support.
The successful candidate will be joining a strong team in a fast paced working environment with high levels of interest from Ministers, Parliamentarians and the general public.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience in program management, including planning, monitoring and evaluation.
• Knowledge of assurance frameworks, risk management and internal controls.
• Ability to develop and implement accountability and transparency measures.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced and politically sensitive environment.
• Strong leadership and matrix management skills, with the ability to operate effectively in ambiguous environments.

DESIRABLE SKILLS:

• Experience working with regulatory bodies.
• Knowledge of the football industry and its structures.
  We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Helen Riley, and will take place on: Thursday 11 September 12:00-12:30
  The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.
  Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form by Tuesday 9 September 12:30pm and you will be sent an invitation.
  Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk

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)
• 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

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the “Job History” section on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 500 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates