Head of Heritage Sponsorship and Engagement (Maternity cover)

Heritage is all around us, it is valued by people, and it drives pride in place and wellbeing. It is a key part of the Governments place and community agenda, and a brilliant place to come and make a difference. Our preserved heritage tells our national story - from monuments such as Stonehenge, to our industrial landscapes to local pubs.

The Heritage team does everything from listing buildings to designing and operationalising grant schemes, from sponsorship to developing heritage policy and potential bill measures. We are a flexible team and work to ensure the best outcomes for our Secretary of States priorities:

• Growth and good jobs in every place
• A more socially cohesive country with an inclusive national story
• Richer lives with choices and opportunities for all.

You will lead the heritage sponsorship team of 3 SEOs to oversee the performance of Historic England, The Royal Parks (TRP), Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the National Heritage Memorial Fund/National Heritage Lottery Fund (NLHF), and the Churches Conservation Trust. This role will afford you high profile and regular visibility with senior leaders in the heritage sector. Key responsibilities include:

• Driving alignment between ALBs and ministerial priorities, through building relationships with senior teams in your ALBs and holding them to account.
• Ensuring sponsorship standards are met, monitoring performance as well as compliance with government standards.
• Leading on the negotiation of a new contract with HRP, putting in place framework agreements with HRP and TRP, supporting the appointment of new NLHF and HRP chairs, supporting spending review planning and developing the business case for TRP retained assets.
• Contributing to policy preparation for a potential heritage bill.
• Ensuring correspondence is drafted in a timely way and to a high standard.

The sponsorship team sits within the wider heritage team in VEHLAC and you will be expected to make a strong corporate contribution to the life of the team and the wider directorate.

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that that desirable skills will only be used in the event of tied candidates:

Essential requirements:

• Sponsorship: You will have experience leading sponsorship of one or more ALBs and be able to set a clear vision and galvanise support across organisations.
• Line management: You will be an experienced line manager, able to set a positive, supportive team culture in line with DCMS values. You will be capable of setting direction in your team, taking responsibility for team performance, and ensuring the timely delivery of work. You will coach your team to develop new skills in line with priorities and support their wider learning and development.
• Communication: You will have a proven ability to communicate on complex issues with clarity (including to senior leaders and ministers) strong written skills, confident presentation skills, and ability to use data in communications
• Stakeholder management: You will have excellent stakeholder management skills, including evidence of working with internal and external partners to deliver government priorities at pace.

Desirable skills:

• Project or programme delivery
• Knowledge of or an interest in the heritage sector.
• Government governance or finance skills

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Seeing the Big Picture