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United Kingdom
Department for Education Hiring for Director General – Schools Group Job at London, England , UK Full Time
Details
Reference number
262774
Salary
£130,000
If you are successful and are from outside of the Civil Service, you can expect your salary on appointment to be circa £130,000 per annum. If you’re an existing Civil Servant, your salary will be agreed in line with the Civil Service pay rules in place on the date of your appointment.
Job grade
SCS Pay Band 3
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
DFE – Schools Group
Type of role
Policy
Senior leadership
Senior leadership
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
You can be based in any DfE location listed above, but will require frequent presence in our London office, due to its proximity to Ministers, so you will need to be prepared to spend time there.
About the job
Job summary
**This advert replaces the previous vacancy reference 260435** The Director General (DG), Schools Group is the person that leads the DfE to deliver the Secretary of State’s mission to raise school standards, delivering a rich and stretching education for all. That involves leading the delivery of the Government’s Schools White Paper, which sets out the reforms necessary for every child in every part of the country to recover from the pandemic and get the support they need to reach their full potential.
Job description
The post-holder is responsible for delivering the Group’s priorities, with a focus on; recruiting, retaining and training brilliant teachers, especially by a reformed delivery system for initial teacher training and continuing professional development; ensuring high standards in the school curriculum, and the delivery of qualifications and the pupil assessment; ensuring there is targeted support for those who need it most, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; and ensuring that the school system is effective in safeguarding children and supporting their wellbeing and mental health.
The post holder is responsible for policies for the reform of the school system and the regulatory and accountability systems that hold schools to high standards and keep children safe. This requires close working with the Director General for the Department’s Regions Group. As a senior leader in the Department for Education, the DG plays a crucial role in the wider leadership of the department.
Person specification
We are looking for an inspirational leader who is able to set a clear direction for the department, allowing us to deliver the DfE’s purpose to help children and learners up and down the country to realise their potential. You will reflect our strong values, professionalism, and a commitment to building capable and diverse teams.
The Civil Service is open to talented people from anywhere in the world, and from any career background; we will always seek to identify transferable skills from the individual’s experience. To help you succeed in this role, you will likely have:
- Policy development and delivery experience
- Strategic thinking
- Leadership
- Engagement.
More detail can be found in the Candidate Brief attached below.
Benefits
- 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%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Civil Service recruitment processes at Director General level are regulated by the Civil Service Commission, and we follow clear guidelines to ensure that our recruitment is fair and open. We also design our recruitment processes to reflect our values-based approach to HR (using staff engagement panels, for example) and to ensure that shortlisted candidates have the opportunity to meet key stakeholders for the role, before they join us.
We expect the process for this role to be as follows:
- The closing date for applications will be 23:55pm Wednesday 25 January
- A shortlist of the applications will take place on Wednesday 1 February
- Between 2 – 17 February shortlisted candidates will then: participate in a staff engagement panel with a selection of people from across the department and meet with key stakeholders, potentially including a senior Minister or leader from the department
- Inputs from all of those steps will then form the basis of a panel interview, chaired by Paul Gray from the Civil Service Commission on Monday 20 February. Other panel members at the interview will include Susan Acland-Hood, the Permanent Secretary at DfE, Sarah Healey, the Permanent Secretary of DCMS and Sir Mufti Hamid Patel CBE, Chief Executive of Star Academies.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting.
See our vetting charter.
People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals 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)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Further information on nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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.
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 information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Name :
Sarah Vale from the DG Workforce Team or the current postholder Andrew McCully
Email :
Recruitment team :
Email :
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