Deputy Head of Records and Archives - London, United Kingdom - Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

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Salary:

- £65,790 - £72,295
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About the job

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Job summary:

The post holder will report direct to the Deputy Director who is the Departmental Records Officer with delegated functions from the Secretary of State for undertaking decisions on selection, retention and closure of historic records under the Public Records Act (PRA). The post holder will lead on policy on and implementation of the Cabinet Office Public Record and Archive Unit's (COPRA) core functions. It will directly support Cabinet Office compliance with statutory obligations for Prime Ministerial, Cabinet, Cabinet Committee and other Cabinet Office Public Records (inc NSS areas) including protecting sensitive content as well as selecting records of historic value. The post holder will liaise with key stakeholders such as the offices of former Prime Ministers and The Royal Household; as well as other key government departments and agencies. The post holder will also have responsibility for overseeing improvements to the departmental archive and will have an involvement in preparing for the selection, sensitivity review and transfer of digital records.

Job description:

The Cabinet Office Public Records and Archives Unit is a part of the Cabinet Secretary Group reporting to the Director General of Propriety and Ethics. The post holder will be the decision maker on handling of sensitive records giving direction to operational staff, identifying cases where consultation needed, where records can be released and where retention is required. The role, therefore, requires the capacity to make nuanced judgments at pace on complex, sensitive and publicfacing issues carrying significant reputation risk for the Department and to be able to defend those judgments to highprofile stakeholders and to senior management within the Department. The postholder will take a high volume of these decisions on a daily basis and will have autonomy for daytoday oversight of PRA operational delivery. The post holder will provide policy leadership and direction to the Cabinet Office archive including the direction of a project for piloting and implementing systems for creating and managing the archive of PM, Cabinet and Cabinet Office digital records. The post holder will provide policy leadership direction to staff handling Freedom of Information requests for historic records; and lead on stakeholder management providing policy leadership and direction on relations with serving and former ministers, serving senior and former officials, other government departments, the security and intelligence agencies and the Royal Household.

Person specification:

Leading and managing a team, making best use of the talents of each individual, providing strategic direction, and responsibility for a range of corporate activity;
Analysing and accurately interpreting data from various sources to support decisions and be able to make a judgement on the value to put on the range of data available;
Making decisions at pace across a range of topics and the ability to make confident decisions at a strategic level;
Ensuring adherence to legal, regulatory and security requirements in service delivery;
Bringing together and balancing the views, perspectives and diverse needs of stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the issues surrounding policies and activities;
Considering the benefits of new technologies to the service as well as the challenges the service faces from disruptive technology;
Promoting diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity,and respecting difference and external experience.

Essential criteria:

Willing to undergo DV Clearance* (we will ask what your current security clearance level is at interview)
An interest and knowledge in UK and global political history would be highly desirable. (The presentation above might include reference to the relevance of UK and global political history to records sensitivity).
Strong drafting skills. (We will take this into account when conducting the sift).
Because of the sensitivity of the material being dealt with the post holder must be willing to undergo
DV clearance before taking up the role.

Behaviours:

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: