Director, Recovery Strategy Unit - London, United Kingdom - United Kingdom Government

Description

ContentsLocationAbout the jobBenefitsThings you need to knowApply and further informationLocationLondon, WolverhamptonAbout the jobJob summarySafer and Greener Buildings Group (SGB) started work 5 years ago to make buildings safer following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Since Grenfell, the extent of the challenge and nature of the work needed has become clear:
it is now estimated ~ 11,000 buildings require some form of remediation.

Until now, all delivery has taken place in two programmes within DLUHC, supported by delivery partners in Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

In future, delivery will be conducted through five programmes, with a much greater role for Homes England, the newly established Building Safety Regulator, and industry itself through Developer Self Remediation.

As the complexity and scale of remediation increases, a Portfolio model is being implemented.

The Portfolio itself will be made up of 7 functions, and will lead some areas of work, and co-ordinate others between the Department and its Delivery Partners.

The Recovery Strategy Unit (RSU) is a delivery unit demonstrating the government's ongoing commitment to protecting leaseholders and holding those responsible for unsafe building work and poor practices to account.

The RSU pursues and exposes firms and individuals that have failed to make buildings safe, making them pay to fix the issues they created.

The Unit takes forward the most egregious cases, holding the worst actors to account, delivering for leaseholders, reducing risk and helping to restore confidence in the housing market.

Through direct action, the RSU aims to change the culture in the housing and construction sectors.

Job descriptionThe RSU deploys the following lines of activity:

Intelligence gathering; gathering, collating and interpreting information on actors to understand patterns and trends, behaviour and actions towards construction, remediation and building safety issues.

This includes company structures and links to other actors, incentives, and levers for interventions. Communications; strategic communications look to exert pressure or incentivise behaviours.

Legal; using new powers in the Building Safety Act (BSA) to compel actors and their associated companies to fix and pay to fix buildings.

The new powers are significant but untested, a successful case brought by the RSU will set helpful legal precedent and pave the way for other cases, including those brought by homeowners and local regulators.

Employing the right legal strategy demonstrates the Department's resolve, expedites cases and ensures value for money in funding litigation and recovering costs.

The objectives of the Unit are to:
Incentivise or force irresponsible industry actors to pay to remediate all unsafe buildings for which they are responsible.
Over time, shift behavioural norms across the industry such that RSU intervention is rarely necessary.
Demonstrate to wronged parties, especially leaseholders and residents, that Government is on their side.

Demonstrate to industry that Government will pursue irresponsible actors by all means, and that it is now overwhelmingly in the interest of firms and executives to do the right thing.

The RSU has already launched legal action against freeholders who are not remediating their buildings fast enough, receiving significant press attention.

The unit was instrumental in securing 42 developers to sign Remediation Contracts to fix their buildings, and is also engaged in pursuing construction product manufacturers, contractors and other sector players.

The RSU Director will report directly to the DG, Richard Goodman and is expected to manage a team of 8-10 FTEs and multi million legal and business intelligence contracts.

The Director will have no other corporate responsibilities and will be entirely focused on maximising the operational impact of the unit.

The Director will attend regular Remediation Board meetings, chaired by Director General Safer Greener Buildings and by the Remediation Policy Director, as needed.

Key accountabilitiesThe Director of the Unit will be responsible and accountable for the strategic direction and operational performance of the unit.

This will involve:
Developing and implementing the Unit's strategy in support of Ministers' wider remediation and building safety objectives.
Devising appropriate legal strategy with advisors, identifying legal cases for the government and mitigating the risks.

Successfully changing the behaviour of industry actors such that buildings are fixed faster and all responsible sectors provide remediation contributions.

Making sure that the Unit has the capabilities necessary to achieve its aim.
Being the face and voice of the Unit with Ministers, Parliamentarians, leaseholders, industry and other stakeholders.

Person specification​This is an ideal role for an experienced and visible leader who is a strategic thinker, can work at pace, has the ability to develop a high performance culture and can effectively manage multiple senior stakeholder relationships across the Department at all levels and with broader stakeholders across sectors.

​You will be an expert negotiator, able to quickly understand the positions and interests of the parties involved, and build consensus and agreed solutions.

They must also be able to pursue robustly those who persistently resist, and willing to follow through with consequences.​You will be confident in providing strategic direction to support the team to triage and prioritise effectively the most egregious cases thereby demonstrating that the Government takes this issue seriously and driving broader behaviour change.

You will need to engage and motivate the team whilst working under pressure and often at pace.​You will need to utilise your excellent knowledge of the construction sector and the legal, commercial and reputational levers available to drive behavioural change, ideally with a background in business or operational intelligence.

Experience of litigation is also useful.​You will also need to brief Ministers and stakeholders confidently and credibly, drawing on your ability to explain complex legal arguments and corporate structures clearly and succinctly.

As a senior leader in the Civil Service, you will also have a strong commitment to the Civil Service values of impartiality, honesty, integrity and objectivity.

We particularly encourage applications from people from an ethnic minority background and those with disabilities, who are underrepresented at this level in DLUHC.

As one of the Department's senior leaders, you will also be a visible role model for the Civil Service leadership behaviours.

Essential criteriaAn inspiring and confident leader, who can set direction for the team and lead through ambiguity effectively, with the personal resilience to work under sustained pressure and scrutiny and a strong ability to develop staff and nurture talent at all levels.

Results driven, evidence-based track record of delivery, in the face of adversity or challenge.

Track-record of working effectively with senior stakeholders, and the personal credibility to secure the confidence of Ministers, and senior officialsPowerful communicator, who can operate in a complex landscape with multiple stakeholders, achieving outcomes through strong relationships, persuasion and influencing as well as positional power.

A strong understanding of the construction sectorAn expert in intelligence gathering techniques, including open source and human intelligence gathering.

Strong knowledge in corporate structures, and tactics deployed by companies to mitigate or limit their liabilities including in the establishment of multi SPV/shell companies, offshoring and accounting practices.

Desirable criteriaExperience of litigation in property managementBenefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pensionThings you need to knowSelection process detailsHow to applyPlease click the Be Applied link to provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on Monday 26 June 2023.You will be asked to enter some personal details, upload your CV and to provide your responses to the role's advertised essential criteria.

​When prompted to upload your CV, please upload a single documentconsisting of:
​ a CV (including the names of 2 referees and your current remuneration) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, achievements and your academic qualifications, specifying subject and degree level achieved. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. ​ a statement of suitability explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria provided in the person specification. (max. 2 pages)​Please remember to save these two items in one document.​Please note that only completed applications through the Be Applied route will be considered and that any further progress updates will be sent through Be Applied.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact the Recruitment team by emailing selection panel will be made up of:

Paul Gray, Civil Service Commissioner and chairRichard Goodman, DLUHC Director General and hiring managerEmran Mian, DLUHC Director GeneralAlison Nimmo, DLUHC Non-Executive DirectorAdditionally, the panel will be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion.

Selection process and assessmentsCandidates that are shortlisted may be invited to attend a peer engagement panel.

These are designed to help us build up a rounded picture of each candidate and give us an insight into how you might engage and interact with stakeholders and peers should you be successful.

The purpose of the session is to help us assess your engagement and communication skills. Feedback from the session is passed on to the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview.
Candidates may also be invited to a meeting with a relevant senior stakeholder. This may be a minister or the Secretary of State. Feedback will be passed on to the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview.
Candidates will be made aware before we take references. Any references taken for shortlisted candidates will be passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview. We will also be conducting full due diligence as part of this recruitment campaign.

Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at the beginning of their final interview.

Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates when invited to interview.
All of the evidence presented as part of the process will be considered in the final assessment.
Security ClearanceAll DLUHC colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.

In addition to the BPSS, the level of security clearance required for this role is Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC) and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete.

For more details of vetting levels and requirements please refer to the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls.

SalaryFor external appointments, remuneration for this role will be circa 100,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension.​For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.

If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for Director.​​Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
SecuritySuccessful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed.

The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirementsThis job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationalsnationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UKnationals of the Republic of Irelandnationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Servicerelevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Servicecertain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationalsFurther information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)Working for the Civil ServiceThe 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.

Apply and further informationThis vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicantsJob contact :

Name :
SCS Recruitment TeamEmail : teamEmail : number
294086
Salary100,000c. 100,000. For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for Director.
GBPJob gradeSCS Pay Band 2Contract typeFixed TermLoanSecondmentLength of employment2 YearsBusiness areaSafer & Greener BuildingsType of roleSenior leadershipWorking patternFlexible working, Full-time, Job shareNumber of jobs available1