Head of DLUHC Spending and Strategy (Maternity Cover)

Details

Reference number

322895

Salary

£64,160 – £70,525

London: £67,160 – £70,525 / National: £64,160 – £67,525. If the successful candidate is a current Civil Servant joining on level transfer, HM Treasury will honour their current substantive salary if higher.

Job grade

Grade 6

Range E2

Contract type

Temporary
Fixed Term
Loan

Length of employment

10 months

Business area

HMT – Public Services

Type of role

Policy

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information

Location

This post can be based in London (1 Horse Guards Road) or Darlington (Feethams House).

About the job

Job summary

About HM Treasury
If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.
Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.
HM Treasury is proud of a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to fairness and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all. We know that having a range of experiences, ways of working and thinking makes us stronger and better at developing policy that reflects the needs of every community. We embrace different views and experiences and value the new perspective that people from a variety of circumstances bring to the work we do. We welcome applications from candidates who have not previously worked for the Civil Service, mid- and late-career changers with transferrable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, gender, age ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.
We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you!

Job description

About the Group
The Public Services Group is at the heart of Treasury’s work to secure sustainable public finances and drive economic growth. We manage public spending of more than £250bn. across key public services and departments, including health, education, the criminal justice system, local government, housing, defence and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
We do this by working with other government departments, ministers, and other Treasury teams to ensure that spending plans support high quality public services, help the economy to grow and provide value for money for the taxpayer.
Our roles offer a range of opportunities to work with senior leaders in other government departments and on the frontline of public services and ensure the effective delivery of public services.
The Group is committed to being an excellent place to work, with a relentless focus on good management, learning and development and continuous improvement in everything we do.
About the Team
The Housing, Planning and Cities team are responsible for managing the spending for DLUHC. This involves working with DLUHC on policies to accelerate housing building, make housing more affordable, and levelling up (reducing inequalities between different places in the UK). As well as DLUHC, we work closely with many other teams in HMT, no10 and other Departments. We are responsible for over £10 billion of public spending each year, including housing, homelessness, planning reform, local economic growth and levelling up opportunity across the UK.
We are a friendly and inclusive team of around 25, we welcome people from all backgrounds and support flexible working patterns. This role is to head up one of our four E2-led (Grade 6) branches. Come join us!
About the Job
This is a high-profile role with strong interest from senior ministers, including the Chief Secretary, Chancellor and Prime Minister. You will lead on managing all DLUHC spending (c£10bn per annum) – supporting and challenging the Department to live within budgets and deliver on high-profile commitments on building safety (cladding), levelling up and housing and homelessness.
Given the balance of managing both spending branch and leading on DLUHC strategy, this role offers an excellent opportunity to work across a breadth of policy and spending issues.
Your key accountabilities will include:

Setting and articulating HM Treasury’s strategy for DLUHC spend, so we can be clear with Ministers on priorities. You will look across all DLUHC issues and be responsible for balancing fiscal, economic and social objectives, to ensure that DLUHC spend is value for money and delivers real improvements for the public. This will involve developing and delivering a strategy, including how to approach negotiations, for the next Spending Review.
Overall responsibility for c£10bn of spending; leading engagement with DLUHC on all aspects of their budget to ensure taxpayers money is spent appropriately, efficiently and delivers value for money. DLUHC spending is varied, ranging from building safety to regenerating high-streets to supporting Ukrainian refugees – the role is responsible for setting direction on spending issues, overseeing the teams’ input into fiscal events such as the Budget, and ensuring that in-year spending control is in line with HM Treasury priorities.
Provide strategic policy and spending leadership on a variety of complex policy issues, including Building Safety and Afghan resettlement. This requires strong strategic thinking skills to balance spending and policy considerations, as well as close collaborative working with cross-Whitehall and other HMT teams.
Fostering excellent relationships with senior partners in DLUHC; No 10; external housing and local growth specialists; local government; think tanks and private sector investors. We are an outward looking team and part of this will involve supporting the branch in developing wider links with external stakeholders in order to provide the best advice possible to HM Treasury Ministers.
Strong and inclusive leadership and line management of a branch of 6 with one policy Range E, one spending principal Range E, three range Ds and one policy apprentice, maintaining a professional, supportive environment. This is a priority for us, and you will be flexible enough to adapt your style to meet the needs of individuals in the branch, and regularly prioritise and act on feedback to build an outstanding team.

Candidate Drop In Session
We will look at holding a drop-in session to outline the role in further detail and provide prospective candidates with an opportunity to ask questions on 7 November.
If you would like to join us, please contact [email removed] or the hiring manager [email removed]

Person specification

We are looking for the below skills, experience and behaviours and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application form. Please review