Deputy Director, Senior Civil Service HR

Shape a new team that’s central to the Home Office’s work and take on a rare challenge that could be a defining point in your career.

About us

Our mission at the Home Office is to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK by helping to reduce crime, strengthen homeland security and support legal migration. From recruitment and onboarding, to building a diverse and inclusive organisation, our HR function gives our teams all the support they need to focus on their vital work.

Our new Senior Civil Service (SCS) HR team looks after around 400 senior members of staff. Supporting with the full recruitment lifecycle from workforce planning, induction and training, all the way through to exit interviews, this team provides a high-level of service to our most senior colleagues, including the Permanent Secretary. This newly formed team will look to you, as Deputy Director, to shape their way of working and set them up as a critical enabling function for years to come.

About the role

As our Deputy Director for Senior Civil Service HR, your role will be critical to helping senior civil servants within the Home Office deliver their important work. You’ll be the link between senior colleagues and HR, which means expertly engaging stakeholders will be key to everything you do.

Your team will be less than a year into its infancy, so this is very much the start of an exciting journey where you can build on the recently established infrastructure and make the role your own. You’ll bring your ideas and experience and be able to identify opportunities for continuous improvement. And you’ll look at ways to grow the service while ensuring an extremely high standard is maintained.

It’ll be challenging, but highly rewarding. You’ll become an influential figure within the Home Office as you collaborate and build trust with senior civil servants. And for your team, you’ll be a courageous leader. Someone who’s always looking for opportunities to grow the function, and who encourages bold thinking and new ideas.

The role will be office-based for 60% of the week, during which time you can work from any of the locations listed, however, regular travel to London will also be required.

About you

You’ll be an experienced HR Director with a strong background in senior-level recruitment and talent development. You’ll also be confident having sensitive conversations and managing conflict resolution. Plus, you’ll be a compassionate leader, with a record of developing and motivating teams, and of building an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

MCIPD or FCIPD qualified, you’ll bring an excellent eye for detail, and care deeply about the quality of work your team is producing. Integrity and accuracy will be important to you, and you’ll understand how to ensure that work is always of a high quality, regardless of external pressures.

Closing date for applications: 11:55pm, 22nd December 2024.

Application process

First, you’ll provide a CV and a statement of suitability, explaining the ways your experience matches the needs of the role. This will help us understand your skills and experience and help us get to know you better.

If successful, we’ll then invite you to an individual leadership assessment (ILA) which will consist of psychometric tests and a virtual meeting with an assessor. Further to this you will be required to conduct a virtual Staff Engagement Exercise (SEE) for which you will need to be available in the w/c 13th January 2025.

The final selection panel interview will include a presentation and be held in London at the Home Office.

Both, the ILA and SEE will be assessed along with the interview. If you are shortlisted, you will be provided with full details of the next stages of the selection and assessment process.