Senior Strategy Advisor

at  Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities

JOB SUMMARY

The Housing and Regeneration Strategy Division is responsible for some of the most high-profile issues across Government. This includes designing Government’s overall housing strategy to ensure we deliver the homes this country needs. We work across the Department and beyond to ensure all our interventions – whether on housing supply, planning, or capital funds – are working together to deliver our strategic objectives.
Our team prides itself on being welcoming and supportive, focused on building strong networks across government and externally, on fostering our talent with stretching opportunities and our curiosity to understand how wider forces can impact housing and regeneration.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with a great eye for strategy to join the Strategy, Insights and Fiscal Events team within the Housing and Regeneration Strategy Division.
This is a high-impact, fast-paced and rewarding role which will entail close-working with HMT, No.10, senior officials, SpAds and Ministers. This is a critical role in the team, as you lead preparations for high-profile fiscal events including for Spending Reviews, as well as wider strategic work including considering how we can simplify and streamline the way funding is delivered. You will be working with teams across the Group to develop our case for funding, as well as building the best possible case for investment, supporting negotiations with HMT and ensuring the best strategic fit for Ministers’ objectives. You will build strong relationships with a multitude of policy teams across Directorates within the DG Group, as well as with Central Strategy and Private Offices.

The role requires that you to be flexible to priorities arising within the team, so there will be plenty of opportunity to get involved in wider strategic work. This can include coordinating critical announcements and supporting the team to brief senior officials and Ministers.

• Strategic preparation for fiscal events to ensure that we secure the funding we need to deliver the Housing and Regeneration Group’s priorities.
• Leading effective coordination and project management to ensure a tight grip on Government processes, including fiscal events.
• Engaging with policy teams to ensure they are aware of the strategic direction and working with them to ensure we’re putting our best bids forward.
• Establishing excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Contributing to the development of our Housing Strategy, including through cross-cutting advice, and preparing papers and briefing for key Ministerial meetings.
• Leading policy projects to respond to emerging issues, events, and new priorities in the context of DLUHC’s strategy.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to get up to speed quickly on policy areas and comfortable in being a challenging voice with teams across the department.
• Ability to make links between policy areas and understand the impact of emerging trends - including on our overall housing strategy and in the long-term.
• Ability to weigh up evidence and consider competing points of view to make decisions.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships and confidence working directly with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Resilience and calmness under pressure when dealing with fast-moving areas of work.
• Ability to work at pace amidst ambiguity and be proactive in identifying and troubleshooting new and emerging issues for resolution.
• Developing colleagues and contributing to a rewarding working environment.

AT SIFT, THROUGH YOUR CV AND COVERING LETTER WE WILL BE ASSESSING:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the Essential 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.
• A Personal Statement explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the Essential criteria.
  The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of experience, behaviour and strength based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.
  Candidates will be expected to complete a written exercise as part of their interview. The details of which would be provided upon invitation.
  In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements:
  Experience: Yes - Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description
  Strength: Yes
  Behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace
  We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs:

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)

PLEASE CONTACT THE VACANCY MANAGER IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE.

As part of our pre-employment checking process we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process.
We are for everyone

The role requires that you to be flexible to priorities arising within the team, so there will be plenty of opportunity to get involved in wider strategic work. This can include coordinating critical announcements and supporting the team to brief senior officials and Ministers.

• Strategic preparation for fiscal events to ensure that we secure the funding we need to deliver the Housing and Regeneration Group’s priorities.
• Leading effective coordination and project management to ensure a tight grip on Government processes, including fiscal events.
• Engaging with policy teams to ensure they are aware of the strategic direction and working with them to ensure we’re putting our best bids forward.
• Establishing excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Contributing to the development of our Housing Strategy, including through cross-cutting advice, and preparing papers and briefing for key Ministerial meetings.
• Leading policy projects to respond to emerging issues, events, and new priorities in the context of DLUHC’s strategy