Deputy Director - Strategic Change in Newcastle upon Tyne

Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York

Job summary

The post holder will lead an ambitious change agenda at the heart of the department. This is an exciting role for somebody to make a substantial impact on the development and delivery of strategic change at Defra. The role provides strategic direction, specialist change delivery capability and strong leadership, to drive the successful design and implementation of Defra’s change agenda.

The role works at the centre of the Department working closely with strategy, policy and delivery colleagues to ensure that change across the Defra group is coherent and supports delivery of Defra’s outcomes. The Deputy Director leads a team of people to enable delivery of a series of organisational shifts that will put Defra in the best possible position to successfully delivery its outcomes, ensuring change is aligned to the Future Civil Service Programme. The successful candidate also leads a portfolio of change projects and programmes to deliver Defra’s efficiency targets, identifying and implementing interventions that ensure the department operates within its spending envelope.

The Deputy Director will engage senior colleagues across Defra group to ensure change is impactful and delivers its intended outcomes. They will work closely with senior colleagues responsible for delivering specific projects and programmes, and functional directors and their teams delivering organisational change. They will build excellent relationships in order to enable and facilitate the delivery of others, whilst at the same time assuring and challenging the delivery of change to ensure it is both ambitious and feasible.

Key responsibilities of the role will include:

• Translate policy intent into strategic design to deliver change that is meaningful and impactful
• Work closely with colleagues across Defra to lead the delivery of a series of organisational change initiatives designed to make Defra more modern, agile and effective, and better placed to successfully deliver its outcomes
• Oversight of the efficiencies portfolio to ensure that projects are managed effectively to deliver the required outcomes, efficiencies and organisational benefits and that Defra is on-track to deliver its efficiencies targets
• Establish and manage a wide range of relationships and key strategic alliances with stakeholders including ALBs Change and Transformation Directors, functional colleagues and delivery partners to ensure change is effectively cohered and delivered
• Develop, deliver and lead change functional governance and reporting, ensuring governance and reporting informs effective decision making
• Lead work to understand the effectiveness of change delivery at Defra, providing insights to senior colleagues and making recommendations for improvement - be bold and able to set an ambitious strategy for change at Defra with the ability to oversee its successful delivery
• Lead work to consider the role of business design in Defra and take forward the preferred approach for business design standards and guardrails to inform the development of the policies and services we deliver
• Work closely with Defra’s Executive Committee - use simple language and cut through complex responsibilities to communicate with impact

Person specification

Candidates will be assessed against the following behaviors and essential criteria:

• Seeing the big picture: Demonstrable ability to interpret policy intent into strategy and delivery in a way that delivers meaningful change. Ensuring plans are adjusted as needed to reflect wider contextual changes, maintaining alignment between Defra and wider government priorities and the work of their team.
• Changing and improving: Experience operating at a senior level in complex organisations, providing evidence-based advice and constructive challenge to senior leaders on organisational change, strategy, business priorities or transformation.
• Delivering at pace: Demonstrable ability to deliver high-quality outcomes at pace; setting clear priorities, managing risks and proactively removing blockers, whilst making timely decisions and responding quickly when circumstances change.
• Communicating and influencing: Experience of communicating complex issues clearly and persuasive to influence senior stakeholders and support effective decision making.
• Leadership: Outstanding people leadership skills and experience in leading across organisational boundaries to develop multidisciplinary teams in complex or changing environments; creating inclusive conditions in which people feel empowered to deliver, supported to reach their potential and proud of their work.
• Working together: Experience of building collaborative relationships at a system level and across organisational boundaries to deliver shared outcomes.

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