Head of UK Ireland in Belfast

The Northern Ireland Office supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in promoting the best interests of Northern Ireland. We ensure that Northern Ireland interests are represented within the UK Government and that UK government responsibilities are fully and effectively represented in Northern Ireland. We are the centre of expertise on Northern Ireland issues across Government. The Northern Ireland Office employs around 170 staff, with offices in Belfast and London. As a small Department, we adopt a flexible project-based approach to ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place to support the delivery of our key objectives.

Our key priorities are set out in our Operational Delivery plan and include:

• Supporting greater inclusion, tolerance and openness in Northern Ireland
• Contributing to a safer Northern Ireland, where terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities
• Ensuring that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public service.
• Addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Head of UK/Ireland role is pivotal in providing strategic leadership that ensures smooth delivery of Strand 3 institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and UKG priorities as well as the continued development of key stakeholder relationships.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to:

• Provide strategic leadership and direction for the UK/Ireland team
• Lead of maintaining key relationships internally and externally with stakeholders in the UK/Ireland space
• Working in partnership with Irish Government counterparts to deliver the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference on a biannual basis
• Supporting the delivery of the British Irish Council
• Leading briefings on UK/Ireland matters for senior officials and Ministers
• Working closely with other government departments to deliver work on cross-cutting issues on UK/Ireland with the confidence of Whitehall
• Working closely and effectively with the wider team to proactively identify opportunities to contribute to team and business area objectives and priorities

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:

• Strong partnering and collaborating skills, and the ability to build strong relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders to support effective delivery of strategic outcomes
• Sound judgement and analytical skills, the ability to make evidence based recommendations and decisions
• Excellent communication and influencing skills to influence a wide variety of stakeholders at different levels; the ability to present and communicate complex information and recommendations to senior decision makers in a clear and impactful manner
• The ability to deal with uncertainty, self-organise, prioritise and pay close attention to detail

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

• Knowledge of the UK and Irish geopolitical landscape
• Experience in events coordination

BEHAVIOURS:

We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours at the G7 level during the application sift and interview process:

• Delivering at pace
• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the bigger picture
• Working together

EXPERIENCE:

Please provide a CV or work history and statement of suitability no longer than 500 words outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria. Both will be used in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role. Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above.

OFFER:

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first. The successful candidate will be notified of a start date following successful security checks.

SECURITY CLEARANCE:

This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

The NIO offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different NIO sites and/or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

BENEFITS:

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension
• 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after five years service
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance