Vacancy -- Senior Property Adviser
Working for the Civil Service
The Welsh Government's recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
Vacancy Details
Purpose of Post:
The Land Division was established in 2020 to promote the role of land and property assets as a key part of business planning to meet current and future financial and policy challenges for public organisations across Wales.
Managing a portfolio of sites with potential for residential development, the Division also supports colleagues managing the Welsh Government administrative estate and provides value for money assurance support across government departments and other public sector partners.
The Division comprises three operational teams: Estates; Public Sector Land and Estates Operations.
This is a key post within the Estates team, providing professional property advice to senior management, partners and stakeholders to ensure the delivery of a wide range of key business and policy objectives. Advice will include acquisitions and disposals as well as day to day property management.
Acting as an intelligent client the post holder will work closely with external consultants.
The role has specific responsibility for supporting the development and delivery of the Future Workplace Strategy and more generally the provision of property and project assurance advice and guidance to Ministers, partners and stakeholders. The post-holder will have responsibility for publication of the annual State of the Estate Report.
In support of asset collaboration and the rationalisation of the Welsh public sector estate there will be close collaboration with internal stakeholders, WG sponsored bodies, the wider public and third sectors including the NHS in Wales and the UK Government Property profession.
Key tasks:
- Work with Welsh Government colleagues to deliver against the Corporate Asset Management and Future Workplace Strategies, including publication of the annual State of the Estate Report.
- Actively resolve legal, financial and subsidy issues concerning property management and transfers.
- Work with internal and external advisers to facilitate acquisition, management and transfer of Welsh Government sites and premises to maximise public value outcomes.
- Promote development of public sites for policy outcomes.
- Encourage and support collaboration in land and property activities across government and the wider public sector estate.
- Support wider public sector regarding professional knowledge and expertise.
Development opportunities:
Although primarily assigned to the Estates Land team, opportunities will be available to support the work across the Land Division.
The opportunity to learn or improve Welsh Language skills will be supported.
Closing Date:
Eligibility
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:
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.
Equality and Diversity
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.
Disability Confident
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Welsh Language Requirements
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.
Social Partnership
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.
Competencies / Job Specific Criteria
Competencies;
Seeing the Big Picture
- Be alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact or benefit own and team’s work.
Making Effective Decisions
- Recognise patterns and trends in a wide range of evidence/data and draw key conclusions, outlining costs, benefits, risks and potential responses.
Collaborating and Partnering
- Establish relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes.
Leading and Communicating
- Communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner with all stakeholders and stand ground when needed.
Job Specific Criteria;
1. Application of Knowledge and Expertise: Apply relevant experience and understanding, including technical knowledge as appropriate in a specific field, system, way of working or environment to inform key decisions and processes in operational management and to drive best practice.
2. Commercial Awareness: Develop, evaluate and negotiate commercial proposals in line with departmental and portfolio strategy, incorporating wider market knowledge. Support the ongoing management of commercial contracts, along with procurement of services or products in line with relevant business frameworks.
3. Strategic Planning: Understand and use key business drivers to develop and implement real estate/portfolio strategy, service strategy or workplace strategy to support business objectives.
Assessment Process
A two stage sift process will be conducted for candidates.
Sift Stage 1
The evidence you provide in your application for the job specific questions will be assessed by a recruitment panel. If you are successful at this stage, your application will progress to Sift Stage 2.
Sift Stage 2
A recruitment panel will assess the remaining four competencies you have evidenced in your application. If you are successful at this stage, you will be invited to attend an Online Interview using Microsoft Teams. The interview will include a briefing exercise.
Interview and presentation
A briefing task will be emailed to you the day before the interview. At the start of the interview you will be asked to give a 10 minute presentation outlining your analysis and recommendations from the scenario provided. No power point or other visual aids will be allowed. This will be followed by a panel interview which will ask questions covering the competencies and job specifics set out in the job adverts.
Other Information
- 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.
How to apply
All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system. If you have an impairment 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 an impairment 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)
Grievance and Complaints
This vacancy is closed to applications.