Vacancy -- Community Cohesion Manager

'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.

The role of the Equality branch is to work across Welsh Government and with external partners to advance equality in Wales and to foster good relations, inclusion, mutual respect and understanding within and between communities.

The branch works on following policy areas: disability; race; faith; Gypsy, Roma and Travellers; LGBT; gender; hate crime; community cohesion; human rights. The branch’s responsibilities include:

• Promoting and mainstreaming equality and human rights throughout Wales
• Delivering the Equality and Inclusion programme
• Providing strategic direction, support and guidance to Welsh Government departments on building equality, diversity and human rights into policy making and delivery. It works with Equality Champions, policy makers and implementers to ensure they meet Ministerial commitments and statutory requirements, including Equality Impact Assessments
• Coordinating action under the Strategic Equality Plan, the Gypsy and Traveller Plan, Disability Action Plan, Transgender Action Plan, and Refugee and Asylum Seeker Plan

The purpose of the post will be to enhance delivery of our community cohesion work and to work with the wider team to promote equality and foster good relations.

We are looking to recruit a secondee with experience of working in at least one or (preferably) more of the following areas: hate crime, community cohesion, race and faith issues, barriers facing disabled people, Gypsy and Traveller issues, Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant issues, sexual orientation and gender reassignment issues.

The duties of the post will to some extent be tailored to reflect the knowledge and expertise of the person recruited. We would expect them to enhance delivery of our community cohesion work and wider work to promote equality and foster good relations through:

Enabling us to deepen collaborative working across Welsh Government departments to promote and mainstream equality and cohesion.  Specifically, this is likely to involve

• helping to arrange, prepare for and follow up on meetings and events with officials across Welsh Government, and discussing a range of key equality issues related to their policy areas;
• helping to negotiate agreements on collaborative work;
• following up on, and monitoring the impact of, this collaborative work.

Enabling us to undertake a programme of collaborative engagement with our external delivery partners at a national and regional level to deepen partnership working in the field of community cohesion and equality. Specifically, this is likely to involve

• helping to arrange, prepare for and follow up on a regular series of meetings and events with stakeholders
• helping to negotiate agreements on collaborative work
• following up on, and monitoring the impact of, these agreements

Working with our emerging Equality and Inclusion network to develop and enhance our communications and engagement activity that seeks to counter negative rhetoric in the media. Specifically, this is likely to involve

• working closely with partners in the network to project plan future communications activities
• following up on, and monitoring impact of, the communications activities
• developing the approach by expanding the network, developing the key messages, and developing new tools and techniques

Project managing specific pieces of collaborative work with partners, in areas of fruitful joint work to be determined by autumn 2018. As an example, this might involve project-managing the collaborative community tension monitoring project (with Cardiff University and the four Police Forces), or our work with internal colleagues to build equality outcomes into the wider Welsh Government work on employability.

This two year secondment offers an opportunity for an external candidate to

• Gain experience working within Government in a fast-moving policy area, including drafting ministerial advice and briefings
• Develop stakeholder engagement, negotiation and influencing skills with both internal and external partners
• Effectively apply project management skills and techniques to deliver outcomes

27/04/2018, 16:00

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

• UK Visas and Immigration - GOV.UK

• Nationality rules – GOV.UK

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

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

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

• Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
• Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
• For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
• Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have a disability which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to a disability in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

For further information regarding the Welsh Government recruitment process, please see the Recruitment Guidance for External Candidates (link).

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.