Strategic Advisor to Midlands, Places for Growth

Places for Growth (PfG) is a 10-year Civil Service transformation programme at the heart of delivering Civil Service transformation in a Productive and Agile State. The programme supports the wider Public Sector Reform agenda, Government mission delivery, and the future strategy for the Civil Service. As part of PfG we are strengthening our ambition for impacting in Place; developing thriving and sustainable Civil Service communities and strengthening our cross government partnerships in place.

This is an exciting and unique high-profile role working across the East and West Midlands regions to drive the Places for Growth (PfG) strategy and delivery plan in the regions.

As a Place Strategic Advisor, you will be a core part of the Places for Growth team in the Cabinet Office, driving the full breadth of the programme in your region and delivering genuine civil service transformation. The role is based in Birmingham and are offered on a loan, fixed term contract or secondment basis for 12 months, with the possibility to extend to March 2028.

You will work across government, leading a team to deliver Places for Growth regional activities to facilitate cross-public sector collaboration, build a strong Civil Service community, develop our talent pipelines, and engage stakeholders at the local level. You will provide strategic leadership in the region, supporting the Head of Place, Permanent Secretary Place Champion, and the wider senior leadership community to bring to life the ambition of a modern, innovative, thriving Civil Service that is connected to its communities and delivering the Plan for Change.

The role is an interesting blend of delivering a national programme at a local level, with the opportunity to shape and influence central policy directly. You will need to be a credible local leader with excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to cultivate strong relationships in place. You will be responsible for articulating the purpose of the PfG programme, influencing senior leaders to support delivery, and help set strategic direction to local place plans, including supporting delivery of the West Midlands Transport and Infrastructure Campus. You should be creative in your approach, supporting the civil service to be ambitious and innovative in every region and nation, utilising data to provide a sound evidence base of regional insights, and delivering a regular drumbeat of public comms to share best practice.

This exciting role will provide the right candidates with the opportunity to work with a wide variety of stakeholders across government and external partners.

Place is a very live programme of work and the role may evolve to meet PfG priorities.

Key responsibilities will include, but not limited to:

• Leading local delivery of Places for Growth place activity for the West and East Midlands, including developing a shared cross-government Place Plan and establishing senior support of key workstreams.
• Supporting delivery of the West Midlands Transport and Infrastructure Campus, sharing best practice from other thematic campuses, convening across government and wider sector, and creating opportunities for the campus.
• Supporting senior stakeholders including the Heads of Place and Permanent Secretary Place Champions for both the West Midlands and East Midlands to deliver the programme objectives; offering guidance and challenge in setting local priorities.
• Co-ordinate and lead cross-government teams working in place to achieve ambitions including delivering impactful events and engagement opportunities; delivering through others and facilitating sharing of best practice at a local level.
• Establishing and developing Places for Growth place policy, ensuring Places for Growth ecosystems and leadership in regions/nations can be strengthened and leveraged to contribute to wider government priorities.
• Working with the wider Places for Growth team to understand the Civil Service talent pipeline and workforce in your region, highlighting barriers and enablers to relocations in place and spotting opportunities to collaborate.
• Ensuring sound evaluation and implementation of a monitoring framework to measure the impact of regional PfG activities on delivering programme objectives.
• Drafting briefings for ministers and directors to inform policy, outline challenges and issues, and update on progress.

  Additional information:

  Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.