Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Planning & Devolution Engagement (Telecoms) Adviser
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford
Job Summary
At DSIT we’re all about improving people’s lives by maximising the potential of science & technology.
We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development.
We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared.
We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back.
We do all this to enable the Government’s 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future.
Above all, we focus on improving people’s lives. Whether it’s researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do.
Our Inclusive Environment
We offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.
Please note
Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.
Job Description
The Digital Infrastructure Directorate (DI) is responsible for ensuring that the UK has the digital infrastructure it needs now and in the future. The directorate develops and delivers policy across fixed, mobile and wider digital infrastructure, helping to ensure that people, businesses and public services can access fast, reliable, secure and resilient connectivity. DI works to support economic growth, strengthen national security and ensure that communities across the UK can participate fully in an increasingly digital society.
The Delivery and Build (DAB) team sit within the Digital Infrastructure Directorate and works to improve the rollout and coverage of fixed and mobile digital infrastructure across the UK including responsibility for ensuring that the UK meets it connectivity ambitions and target. The team leads engagement with industry, local authorities, regulators and other government departments to identify and address barriers to deployment, helping to ensure that new and upgraded infrastructure can be delivered efficiently – the work is vital to ensuring that the UK is able to connect all premises that want to have access to gigabit fibre and mobile connectivity.
The successful candidate will sit in The Barrier Busters Taskforce, which are a high-profile, high-performing team at the forefront of creating an environment that supports investment and the nationwide delivery of gigabit broadband and 5G. We do this by identifying and removing barriers which are slowing down rollout of digital infrastructure, including both gigabit broadband and 5G infrastructure. Our work is varied, ranging from designing, delivering and implementing primary and secondary legislative change across different areas, to developing relationships with key stakeholders and mediating between groups when challenges arise.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Person specification
The successful candidate will support the team’s work on planning reform and local authority engagement, and possible new priorities from our DCMS ministers. On planning reform, they will contribute to the development of policy and support the formulation and drafting of a potential technical consultation. This will involve extensive engagement across government, particularly with departments that have an interest in planning policy, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The role will involve developing policy proposals, drafting consultation content, analysing evidence and stakeholder views, and supporting the publication and delivery of the consultation. Lastly, the role may involve supporting the delivery of potential secondary legislation following the consultation.
In addition, the postholder will support the team’s work to identify how digital infrastructure policy can contribute to the Government’s wider devolution agenda. The exact tasks will depend on ministerial priorities but could include leading engagement with local planning authorities across England to better understand local barriers to network deployment and identify opportunities to improve collaboration between government, local authorities and industry or working on coverage gaps at a local level. This work is high profile and may involve working directly with Ministers. It will help inform policy development aimed at supporting the rollout and upgrading of digital infrastructure.
Essential Criteria
- Experience of organising, supporting and delivering policy work to make policy recommendations and achieve strategic policy outcomes.
- Strong relationship building skills, including with seniors.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to tailor outputs for briefing and advising seniors and documents for publication.
- A strong analytical approach, requiring close reading of complex written documents and the ability to process information from analytical colleagues.
Desirable Criteria
- A knowledge of telecoms or local government would be beneficial, but not essential.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Making Effective Decisions
Alongside your salary of £36,735, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £10,642 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).
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
- A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
- Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
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.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and behaviour statements. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to explain how your skills and experience make you suitable for this role.
Please note - the CV incorporated into the application form is for information purposes only and will not be scored.
In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement only.
The interview will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Further Information
Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.
Reasonable Adjustment
We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.
We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 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.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).
DSIT cannot offer
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location