Director - Young People and Skills Strategy in Leeds, Yorkshire

DWP is looking to fill the SCS2 Director, Young People and Skills Strategy role within the Policy directorate. The role sits at the heart of the Government's ambition to improve outcomes for young people as outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper. This role was established in response to the Government's strategic priority to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The post-holder will lead the cross-government Youth Guarantee strategy and delivery, working closely with senior leaders across DWP, the Department for Education, HM Treasury, and key external partners.

This Director post plays a high profile and critical role within DWP, working within a fast-paced and dynamic environment, combining responsibility for leading the response to the challenge of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), with responsibility for overall skills strategy. The Government has made a clear commitment to improving outcomes for young people - and this role is central to delivering on that ambition, leading on strategy, policy delivery and working in collaboration with the Department for Education, HM Treasury, and other key partners to shape plans to address the barriers to employment for young people.

This position is critical to establishing the new adult skills function, supporting integration with DfE colleagues and policy delivery work transitioning from DfE. The role requires significant collaborative working with senior officials within DWP and DfE, ministers and external stakeholders.

You will need the credibility and confidence to engage and influence a wide range of stakeholders including influencing decisions across the organisation, being able to build relationships of influence at senior levels, and the ability to win the trust of senior officials and Ministers.

• Provide strategic leadership on youth employment policy, ensuring alignment with departmental and cross-government priorities, working closely with senior leaders across DWP, the Department for Education, HM Treasury, and other key stakeholders.
• Oversee the delivery of the Youth Guarantee, a core component of the government's commitment to using innovative solutions to reduce youth unemployment and improve transitions into work, education, or training, acting as the senior responsible officer for relevant programmes.
• Provide leadership to the Skills Hub, working across the new Labour Market and Skills Group.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across government, local authorities, and the voluntary and private sectors.
• Provide high-quality advice to Ministers and senior officials, including regular briefings and submissions.
• Represent DWP at senior cross-government forums and in public engagements as required.
• Lead a high-performing team, fostering a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• Strategic Policy Leadership: Proven experience in leading complex policy development and strategy at a senior level, ideally in a cross government, multi-agency or large-scale organisational context.
• Cross-Government Collaboration and Influence: Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders across government, including HM Treasury, DfE, and local authorities.
• Ministerial or Senior Leadership Engagement: Ability to build partnerships and trusted relationships across senior leadership and high-profile stakeholders and to gain the confidence of and influence ministers or board level stakeholders.
• Programme Delivery: A track record of working across boundaries to improve service delivery with a strong focus on outcomes, innovation and value for money.
• Leadership and People Management: Strong leadership skills, with experience building inclusive, high-performing teams and fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Analytical and Evidence-Based Decision Making: Ability to use data and evidence to inform policy, simplify complexity, and support strategic decision-making.

Desirable criteria:

• Labour Market and Youth Policy Insight: An understanding of labour market dynamics and the challenges facing young people, particularly those not in education, employment or training (NEET) would be an advantage.
• Adult Skills Insight: An understanding of the adult skills operating environment and the wider issues impacting access to adult skills opportunities.

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• A generous pension where DWP contributes over £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro-rata for part-time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 years continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women's Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

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