Senior Public Appointments Advisor at Department for Culture, Media and Sport in Manchester

Job summary

DCMS is responsible for 44 public bodies, delivering important public functions at arm’s length from government. They include some of the UK’s most high-profile cultural, media and sporting organisations, such as the V&A, Tate, the British Museum, the BBC, BFI, UK Sport and Sport England, as well as regulators and advisory bodies.

The Appointments Team manages more than 450 appointments to the boards of these organisations. Public appointments are regulated and highly scrutinised, and the team works closely with Ministers, No.10, Cabinet Office, senior leaders and our public bodies to deliver fair and effective appointment processes.

Our role is to attract and appoint talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, helping to ensure DCMS public bodies have strong boards that can deliver for people across the UK.

Job description

We are seeking a proactive and highly motivated individual to lead high-profile public appointment campaigns for some of DCMS’s most important public bodies.

You will oversee complex campaigns, support colleagues and provide high-quality advice to Ministers, No.10 and senior stakeholders. You will also lead key areas of the team’s wider work, including risk management, background checks and Parliamentary correspondence, while supporting continuous improvement across the team.

This is a varied and interesting role, offering the opportunity to work across the breadth of the DCMS portfolio and build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders across DCMS, our public bodies and wider government. You will work on high-profile issues, often at pace, and play an important role in ensuring our public appointment processes are efficient, effective and able to withstand external scrutiny.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead high-profile and strategically important public appointment campaigns, ensuring they are delivered effectively and can withstand external scrutiny.
• Support innovation and continuous improvement across the Public Appointments Team, including the automation of routine tasks.
• Review and improve internal processes in line with Ministerial and Cabinet Office requirements.
• Lead the team’s work on BPSS and due diligence checks, Parliamentary Questions and risk management.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be used in the vent of tied candidates:

Essential requirements:

• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and adapt flexibly to shifting high-level strategic and senior stakeholder priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to deliver clear, accurate advice and manage workloads effectively to meet tight deadlines.
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• A commitment to continuous improvement and delivering a positive stakeholder experience.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience of public appointments or working with public bodies.
• Experience of risk management.
• Line management experience.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Aidan Teare, and will take place on:

• 12:30pm Thursday 22 October 2026

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to resourcing.team@dcms.gov.uk

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home
• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice
• 3 days of paid volunteering leave
• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year
• Occupational sick pay
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice
• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks
• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work
• Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!

Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile :

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.
• A Behaviour Statement (max 250 words) detailing an example of when you have used Communicating and Influencing.

For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the behaviour statement. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the ‘Application and Interview Guidance’ document attached to the job advert.

The interview process will assess behaviours and strengths .

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Prior to the interview you will be sent the behaviour questions in advance.

You will also be required to prepa re a presentation. F ull details of this, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.

You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview.

Your interview will take place remotely via Teams.

For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.

Further Information

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only. Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

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

Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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

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

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Candidate Information Pack’ attached.

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.

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.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.

In order to request an adjustment, please:

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on 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 a verbal test rather than a written one.

Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

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