Head of Physical and Personnel Security

London

Job Summary

Are you able to build strong relationships that will enable you to influence and challenge at all levels?

Do you enjoy finding creative and innovative solutions to problems?

If so, we have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Physical and Personnel Security to join our team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and we’d love to hear from you!

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives. Whether it’s through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we are all a part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. If you are thinking of joining us, there’s never been a more exciting time.

Government security is also undergoing a step change, and now is an exciting time to get involved. The security profession has an increasingly important role to play in a more digital world – the vision is to create an energetic, forward-thinking and technically proficient profession for government that leads the way in balancing security risks with the delivery of cost-effective, high-quality services. If you share our vision, and you are ready to drive innovation and push boundaries, we want to hear from you.

This role sits within the MHCLG Security Team, which covers physical, and personnel security, as well as education and awareness, incident management, ministerial security and business continuity. The team is led by the Senior Security Adviser, who this role will report into, and sits within the Commercial Directorate.

Job Description

As the Head of Physical and Personnel Security your responsibilities will include:
• Identify and mitigate the risks to buildings where MHCLG operate, working effectively with Government Property Agency, Site Leads, Estates colleagues and other relevant stakeholders to ensure a joined-up approach to security
• Monitoring the services delivered by the Protective Security Centre (PSC) and Government security Centres of Excellence to ensure they meet Service Level Agreements, and the services provided meet the needs of the department
• Supporting the Senior Security Adviser in delivering best practice security advice and support to the department
• Physical security analysis and assessment, including threat identification, risk assessment, evaluation of physical and personnel security controls and assessment against government and industry standards
• Manage the development of a range of Personnel and physical Security policies and procedures to help mitigate against the threat of an insider incident. Working with National Protective Security Authority and other agencies to ensure that up to date intelligence is shared and translated internally to ensure MHCLG are at the forefront of mitigating against the insider threat
• Representing MHCLG on a range of personnel and physical security working groups, using these groups as an opportunity to share expertise, best practice and influence emerging Government policy.
• Managing the relationship and MHCLG’s subscription with the PSC Consultancy, ensuring MHCLG’s requirements are understood, met and MHCLG receives value for money
• Input to the annual Departmental Security Health Check, taking forward subsequent recommendations as required
• Providing support, advice and guidance on accessing high classification material
• Effective line management of two SEOs, ensuring they are suitably supported to offer subject matter expertise and guidance to the wider department
• Be a role model for the security community, modelling Civil Service values to champion and develop the profession across government.

As the Head of Physical and Personnel Security your responsibilities will include:
• Identify and mitigate the risks to buildings where MHCLG operate, working effectively with Government Property Agency, Site Leads, Estates colleagues and other relevant stakeholders to ensure a joined-up approach to security
• Monitoring the services delivered by the Protective Security Centre (PSC) and Government security Centres of Excellence to ensure they meet Service Level Agreements, and the services provided meet the needs of the department
• Supporting the Senior Security Adviser in delivering best practice security advice and support to the department
• Physical security analysis and assessment, including threat identification, risk assessment, evaluation of physical and personnel security controls and assessment against government and industry standards
• Manage the development of a range of Personnel and physical Security policies and procedures to help mitigate against the threat of an insider incident. Working with National Protective Security Authority and other agencies to ensure that up to date intelligence is shared and translated internally to ensure MHCLG are at the forefront of mitigating against the insider threat
• Representing MHCLG on a range of personnel and physical security working groups, using these groups as an opportunity to share expertise, best practice and influence emerging Government policy.
• Managing the relationship and MHCLG’s subscription with the PSC Consultancy, ensuring MHCLG’s requirements are understood, met and MHCLG receives value for money
• Input to the annual Departmental Security Health Check, taking forward subsequent recommendations as required
• Providing support, advice and guidance on accessing high classification material
• Effective line management of two SEOs, ensuring they are suitably supported to offer subject matter expertise and guidance to the wider department
• Be a role model for the security community, modelling Civil Service values to champion and develop the profession across government.

Person specification

The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate
• A thorough understanding of the security landscape within Government and recent experience of working within the security function
• The ability to recognise, anticipate and effectively deal with existing or potential conflicts at an individual, team or strategic level
• The ability to work effectively under pressure. Excellent written and verbal communication with an ability to influence.
• Experience of identifying risks and strategic planning to mitigate them
• Able to build and maintain good working relationships with a wide range of personnel and act with integrity and discretion
• Strong demonstration of the ability and confidence to use your own initiative to suggest different ways or processes of working
• Perform effectively to deadlines, maintaining focus in challenging situations and adapting to find solutions that meet the needs of stakeholders
• Managing complex and diverse workload, liaising with multiple teams to complete tasks
• A recognised professional security qualification
• DV is required for the role but the candidate can start with SC with a commitment to gain DV when in post
• Membership of the Security Institute or a willingness to work towards it within the first 12 months in post

This post requires British nationality (some dual nationals may be ineligible) and Developed Vetting (DV) clearance. As the post holder will have access to very sensitive information, there are limitations on travelling to a small number of countries and we will undertake additional security checks as part of the recruitment process. Applications from candidates with close connections to certain countries may take considerably longer to process, or in some cases result in a withdrawal of an offer of employment. Further details will be provided at the conditional offer stage.

Alongside your salary of £65,000, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £18,830 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
• 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%

Selection process details

As part of our pre-employment checking process, we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process.

CV and Cover Letter Declaration

We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity – this is called name blind recruitment.

Please Remove References To Your
• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors.

At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing:

Experience

Technical

In Your CV And Covering Letter, Please Include
• why you are interested in the role;
• how you meet the essential skills and experience required

Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:

Behaviour – Seeing The Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Managing A Quality Service

Experience: Yes

Candidates invited to interview will be expected to prepare a presentation further details of this will be sent along with interview invites. This will be assessed against Experience

In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements:

Experience: Yes – Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description

Technical: Yes – Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Behaviours: Yes

Please contact the vacancy manager if you have any questions about the role.

We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs.

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.

Grade 7 salary
• The salary for this role is Circa £65,000 (London)
• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.

Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.

Benefits

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018:

Any move to MHCLG from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.

For further information about the benefits available to MHCLG employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack.

Location
• London

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role.

At present, a minimum of 60% of your working time will be spent in your contractual office location. Requirements to attend other office locations or off-site meetings will be counted towards this. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process.

Sift and Interview dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place starting 24/03/2025 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall.

Reserve List

In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@communities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list.

DV (Developed Vetting)

Important note

Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is DV (Developed Vetting) and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete.

Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the DV checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 10 years. Please refer to the MHCLG Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Developed Vetting.

Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by MHCLG. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database.

Candidate Pack Information

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information.

Internal Fraud Database

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

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.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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 : Laurel Hounslea
• Email : laurel.hounslea@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team
• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk