JOB SUMMARY

The Civil Society and Youth (CSY) directorate aims to build a fairer society, in which government, civil society, and businesses are able to work together to tackle social challenges and build stronger communities. We are the Government leads for civil society responsible for a dynamic set of policy areas relating to young people, volunteers, charities and social enterprises, with over 100 staff based across the UK.
The Youth team is a high profile and friendly unit within this directorate with a vision to ensure that DCMS delivers the greatest impact for young people and their communities. In November 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of the co-production of a National Youth Strategy, which will be developed together with young people and the youth sector and aims to better coordinate youth services across England. This is a busy and exciting time for the Youth team as this ambitious strategy is developed, alongside continuing to deliver funding that creates opportunities/activities for young people to engage in, and driving greater improvement in local youth services delivery.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We’re seeking a policy and engagement lead to work to improve local youth services and deliver a major cross government programme - Young Futures Hubs. You’ll need a strong track record in stakeholder engagement, policy development and capable of navigating complex issues within a cross-government programme.
This role suits a collaborative and innovative individual with experience of engaging external stakeholders, including young people in co-design processes.

We are a newly formed team and key responsibilities are still being defined, however, we anticipate key elements of this role would include, but are not limited too:

• Responsible for managing external engagement with key stakeholders, which could include young people, local authorities, VCSE, health partners (e.g. NHS Services) and crime (e.g. Violence Reduction Units; policing).
• Responsible for developing and maintaining stakeholder engagement plans, and leading on media/comms for the programme.
• Policy development on key aspects of the programme, including considering evidence, consultation/engagement responses and drafting advice for ministers.
• Lead on parliamentary business, including parliamentary questions, debates and speeches.
• Responsible for line management of at least 1 member of staff.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Demonstrable interest in and experience of youth policy issues and/or youth services.
• Working Together: Able to build strong, credible relationships with young people and external stakeholders to collaboratively design policy.
• Communicating and Influencing: Able to effectively communicate with diverse audiences to gain buy-in, and advocates, for key initiatives.
• Delivery at pace: evidence of managing a number of workstreams to deliver positive outcomes.
• Seeing the bigger picture: evidence of strategic thinking, with the ability to understand and respond to a fast-changing policy landscape.

DESIRABLE SKILLS:

• Understanding of Local Authorities, in particular youth services.
• Experience in Youth Engagement.
  We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Michaela Wragg, Head of Youth Revenue Programmes, and will take place on: 12:00 - 12:30 on Monday 8 September
  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 Friday 5 September 12pm 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

We are a newly formed team and key responsibilities are still being defined, however, we anticipate key elements of this role would include, but are not limited too:

• Responsible for managing external engagement with key stakeholders, which could include young people, local authorities, VCSE, health partners (e.g. NHS Services) and crime (e.g. Violence Reduction Units; policing).
• Responsible for developing and maintaining stakeholder engagement plans, and leading on media/comms for the programme.
• Policy development on key aspects of the programme, including considering evidence, consultation/engagement responses and drafting advice for ministers.
• Lead on parliamentary business, including parliamentary questions, debates and speeches.
• Responsible for line management of at least 1 member of staff

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 750 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