Correspondence, Guidance and Stakeholder advisor

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is at the forefront of supporting people, places, and communities. We are driving forward the government’s work to create opportunities for everyone, regardless of where they live, and putting UK citizens at the heart of our work. This is an exciting role in the Private Rented Sector Divisions (PRS), working in the friendly and supportive Strategy, Implementation and Engagement team. MPs, Peers and members of the public have the right to write to the Government to challenge or seek clarity on the Government’s position on any issues and it is vital that MHCLG’s responses are of a high quality and sent in a timely manner. The Private Rented Sector divisions have one of the largest postbags in the Department and you will be the driving force behind us delivering high quality correspondence and meeting our departmental targets. We are looking for a motivated, ambitious and independent HEO to lead on correspondence management for, + Responsibility for overseeing the management of e-case and correspondence allocations.
+ Developing relationships and encouraging collaboration in the correspondence process with policy teams and Private Office to support timely responses to correspondence.
+ Maintaining correspondence reporting, identifying and analysing patterns within the division’s correspondence allocations, and providing weekly/monthly reports on performance.
+ Supporting and coordinating commissions across the division.
+ Coordinating briefing and feeding into briefing requests on behalf of the PRS division
+ Leading on correspondence related to PRS guidance and reform implementation including ensuring effective lines and briefings, alongside keeping track of and responding to PQs, MSUs and Parliamentary debates.
+ Supporting the SEO to carry out cross-cutting stakeholder engagement activities., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Communicating and Influencing
+ Delivering at Pace
+ Managing a Quality Service
+ Seeing the Big Picture
+ Working Together, This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Ability.
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.
Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).
At application stage you will be asked to upload a CV document. Unless stated otherwise in the advert, your CV will not form part of the assessment but will be used for information purposes and only shared with the panel at interview stage.
Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions, for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.
Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.
When writing your application, remember:
+ The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.
+ Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.
+ If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!)
At sift, we will be assessing
Behaviour 1: Delivering at Pace (lead behaviour)
Behaviour 2: Seeing the Big Picture
Behaviour 3: Working Together
Behaviour 4: Managing a Quality Service
There is a 250 word limit per question.
In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:
Behaviour: Seeing The Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Working Together, Managing A Quality Service, Communicating and Influencing
Ability: Candidates will be asked to carry out a short written exercise, details of which will be provided with the interview invite
Strength: The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.
In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements:
Behaviour: Seeing The Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Working Together, Managing A Quality Service, Communicating and Influencing
Ability
Strengths
We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs
Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.
HEO salary
+ The salary for this role is £32,178 (National).
+ For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.
Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.
BENEFITS:
Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018:
Any move to DLUHC 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. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack., There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role.
Sift and interview dates:
Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 9 September 2024 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall.
Reserve List
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details in a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list.
Candidate Pack Information
Please see attached Candidate pack for further information.
Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules
Internal Fraud Database
The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.
For more information please see: Internal Fraud Register
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

the PRS and support wider divisional priorities based on business demand. The successful candidate will be able to work quickly and collaboratively to meet deadlines, balance multiple workstreams, motive others, and build relationships with policy teams and internal stakeholders. They will need to be able to demonstrate strong organisational abilities and excellent written and oral communication skills. The role will also offer opportunities to get involved with wider communications, guidance, and stakeholder engagement work within the team. This is a fantastic opportunity for both personal growth and in-depth understanding of the Department's activities., + Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to work effectively across a range of tasks, reprioritising, escalating and communicating effectively as required to deliver to tight deadlines.
+ Comfortable using the department’s Ecase management system, or willing to learn how
+ Able to work at pace and balance multiple workstreams, while maintaining focus on outcomes and deliverables.
+ Sound judgement and confidence to make tricky decisions where appropriate, recognising when to escalate difficult issues.
+ Strong oral and written communication skills, as well as excellent interpersonal skills with a proven record of establishing, building and maintaining strong, collaborative and productive relationships.
+ Competent user of Microsoft Office packages including Excel
+ Keen to keep abreast of policy developments and current events, and able to assess the likely impact on casework Desirable criteria
+ A keen interest in legislation and/or housing policy

Alongside your salary of £32,178, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £10,457 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ 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 average employer contribution of 27%