BEIS UK Jobs – Deputy Director

About the job

Location

Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford

Job Summary

About the job

Thank you for your interest in joining BEIS for this maternity cover opportunity. We are very glad to see that you are considering our Directorate for your next step in your career. We offer challenging, interesting and fulfilling career opportunities.

This is an exciting time to join the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy as we deliver the Government’s Plan for Growth.

The Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate is at the heart of this agenda. What we do affects businesses, consumers and the overall economy. Getting it right is therefore critically important and we pride ourselves on the quality of our advice and our project delivery.

BEIS is a great place to work – people are enabled and supported to perform to their best and the culture is energetic, collaborative, kind and inclusive with excellent flexible working.

In order to rise to today’s challenges, we need the best people to work on them.

The Deputy Director, Analysis, Corporate Support and Digital Markets will ensure the analytical underpinning of all the Directorate’s work is robust and will have specific policy responsibilities for the implications for competition of digital and data driven markets. On digital policy you will work closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the Government’s approach to possible regulation of Google, Facebook, and other digital platforms.

Job Description

The Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate in BEIS aims to create competitive markets that benefit consumers and businesses. The Directorate aims to be evidence-driven, engaged, collaborative, innovative and influential. We have a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Much of the Directorate’s work this Autumn and next year will be focused on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill which will be published later this year.

The Directorate Has Four Teams

• The Competition Policy team is responsible for ensuring that the UK competition regime and postal networks operate effectively. This means leading Government interest in important mergers and takeovers, ensuring that the UK competition regime continues to operate effectively after the UK has left the European Union, sponsoring the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Competition Appeal Tribunal, and ensuring the efficient and financially sustainable delivery of the universal postal service. This team also has oversight of the Pubs Code and the independent Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA), the Groceries Code and the independent Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA); and the postal network.
• The Subsidy Control team is responsible for implementing the Subsidy Control Act 2023 (which replaced the EU state aid regime), empowering public authorities to design and deliver subsidies for businesses that unlock new investment while protecting competition and investment in the UK and preventing harmful distortions to international trade. The work of the team consists of developing policy and guidance for the new UK subsidy control regime as well as for international negotiations, and reaching out to public authorities to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities and to provide case-specific advice
• The Consumer Policy & Enforcement team covers consumer policy including taking forward proposals in the 2018 Consumer Green Paper, setting the framework for consumer protection; raising awareness of consumer rights and empowering consumers to exercise those rights through the sponsorship of Citizens Advice (and Citizens Advice Scotland) to deliver advice and education to consumers and advocate on their behalf; and through the sponsorship of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to advise and educate business on compliance with consumer law and regulation. The team also works on protecting consumers through the sponsorship of organisations such as National Trading Standards and Trading Standards Scotland and the Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP).
• The Analysis, Corporate Support and Digital Markets team leads provides analytical support to all the other teams and in addition leads policy development on: a) (new powers to regulate the largest tech firms with legislation expected in the coming year); b) (policy aimed at letting customers benefit from their own data more, with measures in Part 3 of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill currently in the Commons; as well as corporate support services for the directorate.

Person specification

The jobholder will lead analytical input into consumer and competition policy issues across the directorate as well as being responsible for delivering across a number of key policy areas.

The Team Currently Consists Of Four Separate Branches

• Analysis – responsible for all analysis within the Directorate. It also acts as a centre of expertise for BEIS on consumer and competition policy analysis (see here for an of our work).
• Smart Data – responsible for Smart Data policy, delivering legislation (currently in parliament) to allow government to introduce schemes like in other sectors, and providing ‘ecosystem support’ to practically encourage the development and delivery of those schemes in various sectors of the economy (see here for an of this work).
• Digital – leads work on competition in digital markets working closely with DCMS colleagues, and is in the process of preparing legislation for Autumn publication that will give the CMA new powers to impose requirements on the biggest tech firms (see here for )
• Corporate Services – provides support to the rest of the Directorate including financial and information management

The team of approximately 20 FTE works closely with other areas within CCP, with other areas of BEIS including the Analysis Directorate and the Department’s Chief Analyst and with other government departments including No 10, HMT and DCMS. It also has good links with key stakeholders such as the CMA, consumer organisations such as Citizen’s Advice and Which?, and academia.

Responsibilities Include

• Devising and delivering (with DCMS) the Government’s approach to maintaining effective competition in digital markets and effective use of smart data.
• Working collaboratively with the CCP senior leadership team to ensure that CCP policy advice is evidence-based, rigorous and founded on sound economic analysis.
• Credibly representing BEIS’s views with ministers, senior officials, other government departments and with senior external stakeholders
• Building capability within the team to deliver its objectives, and enhancing its reputation as a centre of expertise on consumer, competition and subsidy control policy analysis

Person Specification

Essentials – The Successful Candidate Will Be a Strong, Credible Leader, And Will Need To Show Evidence Of Their Capability In The Following Areas

• Strategic thinker, able to lead and manage a complex agenda, maintaining a grip on the bigger picture while demonstrating understanding of the underlying detailed policy issues
• Excellent evidence-based analytical skills, with experience of applying economic concepts rigorously to underpin sound policy development
• Strong track record of delivery, with experience of leading on complex projects, ensuring their successful completion to tight deadlines and through periods of challenge and ambiguity
• An inspiring, confident and engaged leader, able to motivate and engage a team to deliver high quality outputs at pace
• Highly developed communication skills, able to brief on complex issues to a variety of audiences
• A degree qualification or higher in economics is a strong advantage though not essential. However, candidates are expected to be familiar with economic concepts. Whilst not essential, experience of consumer and competition policy issues would be an advantage.

The postholder will be overseeing the delivery of significant parts of two Bills going through Parliament in the next 8 months and consequently the postholder will be required for extensive London-based face to face briefings with Ministers and Parliamentarians during the passage of the Bills. This will require the postholder to be London based for several days each week while each Bill is in Parliament.

Benefits

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead. You’ll benefit from a wide range of training and development opportunities, regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This Includes

• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
• A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
• Flexible working patterns including part- time or time-term working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours;
• Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
• The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centers and staff canteens (where applicable); and.
• Occupational sick pay.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

To apply for this post please follow the instructions on the CS Jobs website by no later than 23:55 Sunday 16th October 2023.As part of the application process you are asked to complete the following:

• A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability(no more than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
• Final Interview.

Overview Of The Process

Government Recruitment Service will acknowledge your application and advise you of the outcome of the sift meeting. Depending on the number of applications received there may be a second stage sift.

Applications will be sifted to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please ensure you keep this in mind when writing your CV and supporting statement.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Arrangements for interview

The final selection panel interview will be held in person at Victoria Street, London.

If candidates are required to prepare a presentation for their interview, they will be given at least one week’s notice of the subject.

Expenses incurred by candidates during the recruitment process will not be reimbursed by the Department except in exceptional circumstances and only when agreed in advance.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is

People working with government assets must complete

Nationality Requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Working for the Civil Service

The

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact

• Name : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team :

• Email : [email protected]

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service- recruitment/complaints/