Whitehall Systems Specialist

Government Property Agency

Details

Reference number

403540

Salary

£41,055 – £48,300

GPA SEO National £41,055 to £44,415

GPA SEO London £43,890 to £48,300

GPA is also committed to recognising and rewarding where our staff hold the “Gold Standard’ accreditation relevant to their Specialism and offer a £5000 non-pensionable allowance to staff who have achieved this.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

Senior Executive Officer

GPA SEO National/GPA SEO London

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

GPA – Workplace Services – Workplace Service Delivery, Assurance

Type of role

Operational Delivery

Working pattern

Full-time

Number of jobs available

1

Contents
• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Swindon

About the job

Job summary

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern, cost-effective real estate service solutions.

Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. And we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service. Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Job description

The post holder will support the Whitehall Systems Manager so as to provide the technical, administration and contract management services required across the network, by monitoring the service providers performance against the contractual KPIs, addressing issues, mitigating risks, and fostering a positive and responsive service for all stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Development
• Maintaining continuity between the Whitehall Systems Manager, customers and service providers.
• Promote and develop opportunities for investment and expansion of the customer base within and without the network.

Business Management
• Maintaining budgetary and financial records, monitoring and assurance of PPM activities, processing for payment of all invoices and recording spend before forwarding to Whitehall Systems Manager for authorisation.
• Assure documentation for completed PPMs, create applications for contractual and financial approval for projects in excess of contractual agreed values prior to passing Whitehall Systems Manager for forward approval at the GPA Investment Committee.
• Processes in a timely manner the service provider invoices for payment.
• The assurance of the collation of service providers monthly management information on heat consumed by customers through the provision of monthly readings for every meter detailing cumulative readings and consumption in month. Review data to identify discrepancies – high / low consumption or defective meter [static reading] and factor into strategic planning. Providing liaison with the GPA Utilities Bureau.
• Responsible for processing invoices for works projects above contractual rates following financial and contractual approval by Whitehall Systems Manager.
• Provide accruals information to the finance department at the end every month.
• Ensure that annual estimates of income and expenditure are in place and agreed with the Whitehall Systems Manager.
• In conjunction with the Whitehall Systems Manager, set & review prices to customers annually, calculate standing charge.

Compliance: Risk Management, Business Continuity and Environmental
• Assist the Whitehall Systems Manager by ensuring all CDM and statutory obligations for Health & Safety are met with and maintained. Assist external and independent bodies as required, ensuring that timely reports are provided and that assurances can be provided to the Head of Critical Environment & Technical Services on a quarterly basis.
• Assist the Whitehall Systems Manager to manage incident / escalation procedures and liaise and all stakeholders on arising issues.
• Liaise with key stakeholders to assist with the government objectives for sustainable energy systems that reduce the carbon footprint of Whitehall, by developing the Whitehall systems in line with investment modelling.
• Assist the Whitehall Systems Manager in ensuring that the ISO 14002 environmental standard for the site and systems meets its targets & objectives.
• Assist the Whitehall Systems Manager to maintain ISO 18001 and any upgrade of standards in H&S accreditation, through managing the day-to-day safety management on the systems and promoting a positive and responsive safety culture.

Asset Management
• Ensure the Service Provider is managing the asset for the benefit of government and its users connected to the systems by monitoring the regimes for the operation, maintenance and management of the systems and service duct networks.
• Day to day liaison with service providers so as to maintain impetus of the maintenance programme and reporting of daily issues that may impact upon GPA’s commitment to its Customers.
• Support the Whitehall Systems Manager to conduct regular meetings with all stakeholders including FM & contract managers, clients and customers.
• Support regular inspections of the service duct network, reporting any faults and liaising with the Whitehall Systems Manager so that assurance on asbestos management & structural integrity can be provided to the owners on a quarterly basis.

CRM
• Ensure all customer initiatives, issues and requests for data are managed in a timely manner.
• Be responsible for ensuring all stakeholders are appraised regularly through face-to-face, user group and project meetings.
• Ensure that GPA has an up-to-date copy of as fitted drawings and record of amendments to systems.

Other Duties

The systems operate 7 days per week, 365 days per year and as such the post holder is work to with the Whitehall Systems Manager to ensure that sufficient GPA resource is available.
• Act as a point of contact with customers regarding issues e.g. problems with service, information requests, charging queries.
• Help to manage security clearance process for service provider and visitors to site.

Person specification

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities and wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and well-being and aim to create a sense of belonging in a workplace where everyone feels valued.

Experience & Technical Skills

Essential criteria:

We are looking for an experienced professional who can demonstrate knowledge, skill and experience in:

Skills in:
• Knowledge of Operational and Maintenance (O&M) contracts.
• Knowledge and understanding of asset management systems CAFM.
• Hands-on, skilled, adaptive, and client-focused.
• Ability to manage effective relationships with senior management/ stakeholders.
• Professional credibility, self-motivation, proactive and knowledge sharing. Able to prioritise tasks across a number of projects.

Experience of:
• Ability to analyse complex asset data, scenarios and ascertain a view/client position which can be simply communicated to Stakeholders.
• Initiating and completing projects.
• A technical role working on engineering projects in the public office estate.
• Effective governance controls in a complex business environment.
• Supplier/customer relationship management.
• Hard FM service and O&M contracts.

Desirable criteria:
• Experience in an engineering, property maintenance or construction based role.
• Background of working in or with the public sector property.
• Extensive experience in construction engineering position.

Qualifications and Accreditations

Desirable criteria:
• HNC (Higher National Certificate) Level 4 vocational qualification, or HND (Higher National Diploma) Level 5.
• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, electrical, energy or construction engineering.
• Working towards chartered status (CEng) in a / engineering or facilities management related discipline.

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
• Customer Perspective
• Commercial Acumen
• Property Market Knowledge
• Innovation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,055, Government Property Agency contributes £11,893 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%
• Generous annual leave

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities and wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and well-being and aim to create a sense of belonging in a workplace where everyone feels valued. 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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

The Civil Service Code 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 .

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 (RIS) to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Sift

The sift is due to take place week commencing 26th May 2025.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to include a CV and a 750-word personal statement. The personal statement should then align with the person specification.

Interview

GPA policy is for interviews to be held face to face, with virtual interviews only by absolute exception. The date and location will be confirmed if you are invited to interview. If you feel this will be a problem for you, please contact recruitment@gpa.gov.uk to discuss prior to submitting your application.

At interview, applicants will be scored against 4 behaviours – Working Together, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, and Delivering at Pace.

Interview questions will be a blend of Behaviour, Experience, and Technical (core skill) questions.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via gparecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to GPA 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

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 security check .

See our vetting charter .

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

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:
• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .

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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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 : Marc Routledge
• Email : marc.routledge@gpa.gov.uk

Recruitment team
• Email : gparecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact HR@gpa.gov.uk.

To apply for this job please visit www.glassdoor.co.uk.