Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
People & Workforce Strategy Lead
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Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York
Job Summary
The Circular Economy Directorate is delivering an ambitious and complex portfolio of reforms to move the UK away from a throwaway model and towards a more resource-efficient economy. To deliver this successfully, the Directorate needs a stronger, more forward-looking People Function that can translate business priorities into a coherent People Strategy, People Plan, workforce strategy, resourcing approach and organisational effectiveness programme. The People and Workforce Strategy Lead will provide dedicated strategic leadership for this agenda, working under the overall direction of the G6 Head of Workforce, Finance and Delivery Partners. The role will provide senior-level advice, challenge and assurance on workforce capacity, capability, culture, engagement, leadership development, recruitment, resourcing and organisational resilience. It will lead the People Function through three SEO strand leads and two HEOs, agreeing priorities, integrating activity across portfolios, assuring delivery and ensuring the function operates as a strategic partner to the Directorate rather than a transactional support service. This is a strategic leadership role, not an additional operational delivery post. Its purpose is to help the Directorate plan earlier, act faster and make confident people and workforce choices that strengthen organisational resilience, capability and delivery confidence.
Job Description
The People and Workforce Strategy lead will lead delivery and assurance of the Circular Economy Directorate’s people, workforce and capability agenda. The postholder will translate Directorate priorities into a coherent People Strategy, People Plan, workforce strategy, resourcing approach and organisational effectiveness programme aligned to business priorities, delivery risk and future demand. The role will maintain a forward view of organisational health, workforce capacity, capability requirements, culture, engagement, leadership development, succession, organisational resilience and delivery risk. The postholder will use data, insight and evidence to provide clear advice, challenge and assurance to senior leaders, supporting prioritisation, business planning, organisational design and workforce investment decisions. The postholder will lead the Directorate People Function through three SEO strand leads and two HEOs, setting direction, agreeing priorities, integrating activity across portfolios and assuring delivery. The role requires a confident, collaborative and data-led leader who can bring structure to ambiguity, influence senior stakeholders and ensure people activity is aligned to current delivery priorities and future organisational need.
Person specification
Key Responsibilities Will Include
- Lead the development and delivery of the Directorate’s People Strategy, People Plan and workforce strategy, ensuring they are aligned to business priorities, delivery risk and future demand.
- Provide senior leaders with clear advice, challenge and assurance on organisational health, workforce capacity, capability, culture, engagement, leadership development and organisational resilience.
- Maintain a strategic forward view of people and workforce risks, including capacity, capability, succession, leadership, engagement and delivery risks, translating insight into practical plans and recommendations.
- Strengthen organisational effectiveness by improving role clarity, governance, service standards, prioritisation, ways of working and the overall performance of the People Function.
- Lead the Directorate People Function through three SEO strand leads and two HEOs, agreeing priorities, integrating activity across portfolios, assuring delivery and building a collaborative, inclusive and high-performing team culture.
- Lead long-term capability building by identifying priority skills, learning and development needs, talent risks and succession gaps, and working with senior leaders to turn these into practical development plans.
- Ensure people, workforce and business planning are joined up with finance, HR, recruitment and delivery planning, supporting robust prioritisation, workforce investment decisions and trade-offs.
- Oversee resourcing strategy, recruitment pipelines, temporary resourcing models, secondees and knowledge transfer as part of a wider people and workforce strategy.
- Build strong relationships across the Directorate and with corporate partners, influencing senior stakeholders and ensuring people activity is aligned to current and future organisational need.
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Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
Seeing the Big Picture
Salary
Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 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).
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
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.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- A CV detailing your career history, including any relevant qualifications (for info only)
- A Personal Statement (max. 750 words) demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria. The personal statement should explain how the candidate’s skills and experience meet the job description and responsibilities, with particular focus on strategic people and workforce leadership, organisational effectiveness, capability building, stakeholder influence, data-led decision making, senior advice and assurance, and leading others in a complex environment.
- A (max. 250 words) statement on the Lead Behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture.
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using your Lead Behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Interview Process Details
You will be asked to prepare a presentation as part of the Interview, the details will be released to successful candidates at the next stage.
You will also be asked questions based on the following Civil Service Behaviours:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
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Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.
Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.
The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Near Miss
Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.
Merit Lists
Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.
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 defrarecruitment.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 interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to DEFRA 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.
Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Criminal Record Check
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 on your behalf.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms
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