Deputy Director Public Sector Reform, Test Learn and Grow (secondment only)

Government Recruitment Service; York and North Yorkshire; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A governmental body in York and North Yorkshire is seeking a Senior Deputy Director to lead the Test, Learn & Grow programme, a flagship initiative for public service reform. This critical role involves leading a growing team and fostering partnerships across local authorities to drive innovative solutions centered around citizens and frontline workers. Candidates should possess strong leadership capabilities, strategic planning experience, and a history of delivering complex government programs.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Opportunities for professional development

Qualifications

• Experience in a senior leadership role within government or public sector.
• Track record in delivering complex programs and managing teams.
• Strong understanding of public service reform and innovation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Test, Learn & Grow programme.
• Oversee coequal partnerships with various local authorities.
• Ensure quality of learning and analysis across the programme.

Skills

Strong leadership

Strategic planning

Effective communication

Analytical skills

Education

Relevant higher education degree

Job description

We recognise that candidates come from diverse employment backgrounds and are offering two distinct application routes for this role. Campaign 437971 is for those seeking a fixed-term contract or a temporary loan arrangement to become or remain a Civil Servant. This pathway is ideal for existing Civil Servants, individuals without an employer, or anyone looking for a temporary post as a Civil Servant.

Alternatively, Campaign 439038 is available on secondment for candidates who wish to maintain their current employment with their existing organisation while working with the Civil Service on a temporary basis.

For more information on secondments please refer to the "Further information about Secondment" document attached to the bottom of this advert.

Both recruitment processes are the same, but as secondees do not become employed as Civil Servants there is a different eligibility criteria.

Please apply for one campaign, duplicate applications may be removed.

This is a critical role for delivering the Government’s public service reform agenda, leading on strategy and delivery of the Test, Learn & Grow PSR Innovation Programme.

Located within the Cabinet Office, the Public Service Reform team plays a role in coordinating cross‑government efforts around reform, anchored in a series of ‘big bets’ around prevention, place‑based delivery, technology and data, and iterative and adaptive approaches to improving services and outcomes. Test, Learn and Grow is our flagship programme driving forward these efforts - a £100m Public Service Reform and Innovation Programme designed to accelerate the Government’s missions in partnership with local places.

The team sits in the wider Directorate tasked with supporting delivery of the Government’s PSR agenda and the Productive and Agile State Strategy.

The DD for Public Service Innovation and Reform is a senior role, leading a team that will grow from 15 to 50 people over the next year with a mix of design, data, technology and delivery skills.

• The role is responsible for the mobilisation of a complex and high profile programme which is one of the Government's flagship reform programmes.
• The role acts as the strategic lead for the design and delivery of a portfolio of test and learn interventions working with local authorities and combined authorities, to affect change and generate insights relevant to national strategic policy decisions.
• As the driving force behind Test, Learn and Grow, the postholder will take learning from places and develop propelling propositions for scaling what works, creating evidence for big shifts in policy and investment by central government.

This is a crucial time for this role, as we move from initial wave 1 ‘pioneers’ with a small number of local authority areas into full programme mobilisation over the course of 2025/26 with up to 13 areas.

This is the key leadership role; as Deputy Director, you will be a visible senior leader across the Senior Civil Service (SCS), advising the Director of PSR and Director General (PSR and Evaluation) and overseeing a large flagship programme. In this role, you will:

• Develop the vision and strategy for the Test, Learn & Grow programme, direct and help make tradeoffs in the day to day work of TLG delivery teams to make this vision a reality, and adapt the strategy as needed based on ongoing learning
• Oversee the delivery of Test, Learn & Grow accelerators and foundational initiatives - ensuring both strategic relevance and impact, and high quality delivery; help broker coequal partnerships with places and support teams to maximise their impact, problem solve and navigate challenges or tradeoffs
• Be responsible for the quality of the learning and analysis that is created through the programme, including qualitative insights and rigorous evaluation; develop effective strategies to ensure this learning is shared across networks of practitioners and within central government to influence practice, policy and investment at a local and national level
• Build the profile and influence of the programme with others, and act as a message carrier for the work, advocating for it to a range of different audiences inside and outside Whitehall as we seek to grow the ‘coalition of the willing’ to drive innovative approaches that centre citizens and frontline workers
• Lead a multidisciplinary 15- to 50-person team (with co-Director, PSR), including experts in design, analytics, evaluation, delivery management, product strategy, and place without needing to master these disciplines. You will confidently deploy these skill sets and support the conditions for project teams and method leads to do exemplary work.
• A strong, inspiring leader, you will create psychological safety and enable teams to act in conditions of uncertainty that are inherent in innovation. You will create a ‘high support, high challenge’ culture which is outcomes-focused and puts citizens at the heart of everything we do.