Description
The post holder will lead an ambitious change agenda at the heart of the department.
This is an exciting role for somebody to make a substantial impact on the development and delivery of strategic change at Defra.
The role provides strategic direction, specialist change delivery capability and strong leadership, to drive the successful design and implementation of Defra's change agenda.
The Deputy Director leads a team of people to enable delivery of a series of organisational shifts that will put Defra in the best possible position to successfully delivery its outcomes, ensuring change is aligned to the Future Civil Service Programme.
The successful candidate also leads a portfolio of change projects and programmes to deliver Defra's efficiency targets, identifying and implementing interventions that ensure the department operates within its spending envelope.
Key Responsibilities:
- Translate policy intent into strategic design to deliver change that is meaningful and impactful
- Work closely with colleagues across Defra to lead the delivery of a series of organisational change initiatives designed to make Defra more modern, agile and effective, and better placed to successfully deliver its outcomes
- Oversight of the efficiencies portfolio to ensure that projects are managed effectively to deliver the required outcomes, efficiencies and organisational benefits and that Defra is on-track to deliver its efficiencies targets
- Establish and manage a wide range of relationships and key strategic alliances with stakeholders including ALBs Change and Transformation Directors, functional colleagues and delivery partners to ensure change is effectively cohered and delivered
- Develop, deliver and lead change functional governance and reporting, ensuring governance and reporting informs effective decision making
- Lead work to understand the effectiveness of change delivery at Defra, providing insights to senior colleagues and making recommendations for improvement
- Lead work to consider the role of business design in Defra and take forward the preferred approach for business design standards and guardrails to inform the development of the policies and services we deliver
- Work closely with Defra's Executive Committee - use simple language and cut through complex responsibilities to communicate with impact
Person Specification:
Essential Criteria
- Seeing the big picture: Demonstrable ability to interpret policy intent into strategy and delivery in a way that delivers meaningful change.
- Changing and improving: Experience operating at a senior level in complex organisations, providing evidence-based advice and constructive challenge to senior leaders on organisational change, strategy, business priorities or transformation.
- Delivering at pace: Demonstrable ability to deliver high-quality outcomes at pace; setting clear priorities, managing risks and proactively removing blockers, whilst making timely decisions and responding quickly when circumstances change.
- Communicating and influencing: Experience of communicating complex issues clearly and persuasively to influence senior stakeholders and support effective decision making.
- Leadership: Outstanding people leadership skills and experience in leading across organisational boundaries to develop multidisciplinary teams in complex or changing environments; creating inclusive conditions in which people feel empowered to deliver, supported to reach their potential and proud of their work.
- Working together: Experience of building collaborative relationships at a system level and across organisational boundaries to deliver shared outcomes.
Benefits:
Alongside your salary of £86,000, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%