Policy Team Leader roles - Priority Sectors, Skills and Sponsorship

Skills are central to both growth and opportunity supporting people to get in to work, helping them progress and increase earnings and giving employers access to the skills needed for growth. This is an exciting time to be joining DWP to work on skills as we seek to maximise the opportunities from the recent Machinery of Government change and embed skills alongside labour market support.

The Priority Sectors, Skills and Sponsorship team provides broad system leadership setting the strategic direction for adult skills strategy in DWP, leading on priority sectors skills packages to support growth, and sponsorship of three important skills arms length bodies, Skills England and the Industrial Training Boards.

We are recruiting for up to seven G7 roles to develop an adult skills strategy across DWP and ensure the labour market and skills system can effectively tackle workforce challenges including in priority sectors.

Collectively, these teams are responsible for:

• Setting the strategic direction for adult skills in DWP and developing close working relationships across DWP and DfE teams and other government departments, including DBT and HMT.
• Driving coherent sector skills strategy, including co-ordinating activity across government to support key growth-driving sectors and development of Jobs Plans.
• Strategic oversight and reporting for the whole, and driving delivery activity on DWP elements of, the sector skills packages in Construction, Defence, Engineering and Technology sector packages.
• Supporting Skills England and Industrial Training Boards to maximise their contribution to the skills system through effective sponsorship arrangements, ensuring clear strategic direction, robust governance and an effective strategy for the relationship between these ALBs and government.

We are recruiting for up to 7 roles across the Priority Sectors, Skills and Sponsorship team:

• Strategy roles working across the skills system. These roles will lead the development of adult skills strategy, provide high‑quality advice to Ministers and senior officials, and work closely with DfE and other government departments to shape coherent, system‑wide responses to skills challenges, including in priority sectors. The roles require strong strategic thinking, policy design and delivery skills, and the ability to work at pace in a complex, high‑profile policy environment.
• A Briefing and communications role responsible for leading the reactive and proactive communications of strategic messaging on adult skills and on sector skills packages, working with strategic comms and ministerial offices to ensure high‑quality ministerial and senior stakeholder briefings. This role will bring leadership for the division in coordinating communications on skills strategy, sponsorship and packages with other teams across the skills portfolio and beyond, ensuring clear, timely and consistent messaging on the divisions priorities.
• Programme management, reporting and delivery for the sector skills packages. These roles will be responsible for understanding progress against agreed milestones and a strategic approach to maximising the impact of the packages, and considering risks and mitigations. They will coordinate activity across departments and with delivery partners and bring a strategic overview to ensuring delivery has maximum impact and aligns with Ministerial priorities.
• A sponsorship role leading on the sponsorship of Skills England and the Industrial Training Boards. This role will work alongside an existing G7 to provide strategic oversight of these important ALBs, manage senior relationships and build strong connections across government, ensure effective governance and assurance arrangements are in place, and support sponsored organisations to agree and deliver against agreed objectives aligned with Government Priorities. The role will lead key elements of work to enhance the impact of these organisations, which includes proposed reforms to the Industry Training Boards and a formal review of the effectiveness of Skills England.

These roles are exciting and challenging. You will lead the development of innovative policy solutions on crosscutting problems and have the opportunity to show clear strategic thinking and leadership, both within and outside the Department. There will be a strong emphasis on building relationships across the organisation with other policy teams; and beyond the Department with external experts and other Government Departments. The roles offer great scope for personal development, including strong leadership skills and opportunities to influence key decision makers.

The successful candidates will be responsible for developing and delivering elements of future skills strategy and will be expected to:

• Provide high quality thought leadership and strategic thinking, demonstrating curiosity, innovating and building a strong understanding of the Departments skills and labour market priorities.
• Lead skills strategy activity, including collaborating with DfE and externally to resolve cross cutting skills challenges at a system level and driving strategic alignment on how skills outcomes will be delivered between DWP and DfE.
• Lead policy design and delivery support to develop and implement policy, including compiling evidence, conducting analysis and developing solutions to policy questions.
• Support Minister for Skills to have visibility across full skills portfolio, distilling complex information, quickly and succinctly to provide clear advice to senior officials and Ministers, both in writing and in person, often to tight deadlines to support the Department in making effective decisions.
• Lead performance management and reporting work with cross government stakeholders to ensure project delivery and effective governance helping to deliver against agreed milestones. Advising ministers and joining up across departments on skills particularly where advice relates to the delivery responsibilities of another department.
• Lead multi-site and multi-disciplinary teams on managing and resolving complex problems, delivering key skills objectives for the Department and identifying opportunities to improve capability and policy thinking within the Group.

Engage widely within DWP, across Government and with external organisations including skills delivery partners, local and devolved governments, employers/ employer representative bodies to promote and support delivery.

Experience Key Criteria

• Working across organisational boundaries (lead criterion): Experience of building strong influential relationships, across Government, externally and when delivering in complex environments.
• Leadership: Experience of working through others to deliver positive outcomes in an inclusive way, and promoting a strong culture of reflection, feedback and continuous improvement.
• Strategic thinking: experience of focussing on the big picture, analysing evidence, thinking critically about trends and emerging issues, and articulating complex issues to a wide range of stakeholders succinctly and clearly.
• Proven experience of strategic leadership in a policy environment, with evidence you have developed evidence-based solutions to complex problems.
• Problem solving and proactivity high levels of personal effectiveness to shape work of the team and demonstrable planning and delivery skills.

A knowledge of adult skills policy would be advantageous in this role.