Please send your CV and a covering letter paying particular attention to the person specification essential and desirable skills to:dwpneds@dwp.gov.uk
If you would like further information, please contact the same address
Department for Work and Pensions - Lead Non-Executive Board Member
Application deadline 8 September 2023
Page contents:
Summary
- Organisation
- DWP Departmental Board
- Sponsor department
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Location
- London
- Sectors
- Public Administration
- Skills
- Business, Communication, Regulation
- Number of vacancies
- 1
- Time commitment
- 3 day(s) per month
- Remuneration
- £20000 per annum
- Length of term
- 3 Years
- Application deadline
- 11:59pm on 8 September 2023
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Timeline for this appointment
-
Application deadline
11:59pm on 8 September 2023
Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change
About the role
Introduction
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is seeking to appoint a Lead Non-Executive Board Member.
Role description
The Role of a Lead Non-Executive Board Member
The Lead Non-Executive Board Member will report directly to the Secretary of State for the largest operational government Department. He or she will support the Secretary of State and Board members in their leadership of the business, while monitoring the Board’s performance.
Role
- Constructively challenge and contribute to the development of strategy and business planning, including the setting and development of key objectives and targets.
- Work with the Permanent Secretary and his Executive Team to scrutinise the performance of the organisation in meeting agreed goals and objectives, monitor the reporting of performance, including financial targets
- Attend a minimum of four departmental Board meetings per year and contribute effectively to its subcommittees as required.
- Connect the Board to people and organisations who can provide different perspectives, opinions and expertise which will assist in furthering the business of the department.
- Lead on tasks, as requested by the Secretary of State, related to the management of the Board (including Board Effectiveness evaluations)
- Work with the Government Lead Non-Executive Director, Michael Jary, to learn from the experiences of other government departments, and other comparable organisations, and to feed back the views of the Prime Minister
- Lead the Department’s team of Non-Executive directors, ensuring that they are able to fulfil their role effectively.
- Undertake an annual assessment of the Permanent Secretary’s performance to inform the Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee and the Cabinet Secretary.
- Seven Principles of Public Life set out by the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Organisation description
Our Organisation
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability, and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.
We are responsible for:
- understanding and dealing with the causes of poverty rather than its symptoms.
- encouraging people to work and making work pay.
- encouraging disabled people and those with ill health to work and be independent.
- providing a decent income for people of pension age and promoting saving for retirement.
- providing value for money and reducing levels of fraud and error.
- .
Our priorities are to:
- run an effective welfare system that enables people to achieve financial independence by providing assistance and guidance into employment
- increase saving for, and security in, later life
- create a fair and affordable welfare system which improves the life chances of children
- deliver outstanding services to our customers and claimants.
- deliver efficiently: transform the way we deliver our services to reduce costs and increase efficiency
Person specification
Essential criteria
The successful candidate will demonstrate a wide range of the following qualities or skills:
- Experience of taking high level ideas, turning them into deliverable products or programmes and of monitoring delivery programmes to successful outcomes.
- Ability to understand complex strategic issues quickly and analyse and resolve difficult problems.
Desirable criteria
- Previous Non-Executive Director experience on a public or private sector Board.
- An understanding of how government works, including the role of Departmental Boards, and of the role of Non-Executive Directors.
Application and selection process
In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.
There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.
The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards.
You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:
you are disqualified from acting as a company director (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);
have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;
your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.
When you apply, you should declare if:
you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this.
you are subject to a current police investigation.
You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points.
When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)If you need further advice, please contact dwpneds@dwp.gov.uk
The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance SC Security Clearance level will be required when appointed.
Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.
Additional information for candidates
We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.
We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.
When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.
We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people.
As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert.
When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.
We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.
Some examples of common changes are:
- ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
- making adaptations to interview locations;
- allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
- giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
- allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
- making provision for support animals to attend.
When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.
Holders of public office are expected to adhere to and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7-principles-of-public-life--2. These are:
- SELFLESSNESS - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family or their friends;
- INTEGRITY - Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties;
- OBJECTIVITY - In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit;
- ACCOUNTABILITY - Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office;
- OPENNESS - Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands;
- HONESTY - Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest;
- LEADERSHIP - Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.
The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.
Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully:
- any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government;
- any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made;
- and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported;
You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies.
Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).
Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers. Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years
Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.
We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.
The Department will process personal data relating to you in accordance with relevant departmental data protection policies. The Department’s data protection privacy notice and relevant policies are available on the Department’s Personal Information Charter: Personal information charter - Department for Work and Pensions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
For more information about this role please send your query to dwpneds@dwp.gov.uk