English Devolution

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 290756**Salary**:

- £50,238**Job grade**:

- Grade 7**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- DFT - Roads and Local Group (RLG) - Regions, Cities and Devolution**Type of role**:

- Policy**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 4Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Birmingham, LeedsAbout the job

**Job summary**:
Do you have strong communication skills and the ability to negotiate and effectively handle challenge from senior stakeholders?

Have you got sound judgement and can you quickly understand requirements to achieve the task at hand?

Are you an experienced policy professional seeking a new and exciting challenge?

**If so, we would love to hear from you**

**Job description**:
Regions, Cities and Devolution Directorate is the cross-cutting team leading the Department’s relationships with places - local authorities, Combined Authorities and Sub National Transport Bodies - right across England. Stakeholder engagement is a vital part of what we do, but our work is so much broader and deeper than that: our mission is to support DfT in taking a place-based approach to better transport, local and regional economic growth and productivity, and wider Government objectives including Levelling Up, as well as improving transport for the user and reducing carbon emissions. The directorate provides local insight on a whole range of transport issues related to specific localities, unblocks issues affecting scheme development or delivery, ensures policies impacting a particular place are aligned and works with teams across DfT and Government to support the best outcomes for places and government. Our work makes a huge difference to the daily lives of millions across England, whether they drive, walk, cycle or hop on the bus or tram.

Within RCD, the English Devolution Division leads for DfT on the Levelling Up White Paper mission that by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement. We lead the DfT input to a DLUHC-led cross-Whitehall programme of devolution deals, with transport being a top priority of all places for their deals, given its vital role in unlocking opportunity, increasing pride in place and supporting economic growth.

**_ Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: _**
- Identify the risks and opportunities to DfT from each emerging deal and develop new policy as needed to ensure deal negotiations are based on a set of coherent asks from DfT as well as asks put forward by places.
- Develop and implement a robust negotiating strategy for each deal, working within the deal framework established by DLUHC while protecting DfT’s interests and maximising transport benefits and factoring in any implications for other deals.
- Assess proposals from places or elsewhere in Government, working with relevant modal teams to draw out suitable options for further devolution and ensure a strategic approach to devolution deals across the Department.
- Negotiate across Whitehall and with places to agree deals, securing compromises as necessary to deliver across multiple objectives and in the face of competing priorities, and ensuring the overall approach to transport remains coherent.
- Secure Ministerial agreement to deals.
- Implement deals via further policy development and negotiation on specific issues, oversight of cross-departmental commitments and taking forward Statutory Instruments.
- Cross-cutting (cross-deal) strategic thinking and policy development for the division.
- Leading aspects of programme-wide delivery
- The role may involve line management of SEO/HEOs with specific deliverables.

For more information about the role and responsibilities please see the attached Role Profile.

**Person specification**:
**About you**

To thrive in this role, you will have experience working within a fast-paced policy environment, ideally working across Whitehall and with demanding external stakeholders. You can work at pace across teams to develop sound policies in the face of differing views and sometimes conflicting or incomplete information.

You will have excellent communication and influencing skills and are not afraid to be challenged and negotiate with senior stakeholders to deliver high quality outcomes.

You enjoy working autonomously and are passionate about delivering on new ideas and ways of working to improve outcomes.

**Additional information**

A minimum of 40% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. While the post is open to applicants based in either Birmingham or Leeds, the team has existing