Vacancy -- Secondment to Deputy Chief Dental Officer - EB1 (G6) (2 years with potential extension)

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

Health and Social Services Group
Primary Care
Grade 6 - £67,100 - £76,990
Executive Band 1 - £61,090 - £71,475
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Secondment
2 years with the option to extend for another 2 years.
Pan Wales
'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.
TBC

Purpose of Post:

To support the Chief Dental Officer (CDO), ensuring the First Minister, Minister for Health and Social Services, Director General for Health and Social Services and the CDO receive appropriate, timely, high quality and professional advice in respect of the practice of dentistry and the promotion of good oral health.  

The role provides essential and regular support to the CDO, Deputy Director of Primary Care, Head of Dental Branch and the wider dental team. The CDO’s lead role in policy requires close support from the DCDO to facilitate delivery and to handle much of the day-to-day work of the dental agenda. The DCDO supports the CDO in professional matters and in the delivery of the vision for dental services and oral health in Wales. The work of the DCDO also has a direct impact on delivery of the organisations policies and priorities.

Key tasks:

The post holder is directly accountable to the Chief Dental Officer and fulfils the role of Deputy Chief Dental Officer.  

To support the Chief Dental Officer, dental branch and Welsh Government colleagues to deliver agreed objectives and to: 

  • ensure the provision of timely appropriate and high quality professional advice on dental services and oral health to Ministers and officials in the Welsh Government, other Government departments and to the NHS and other publicly funded bodies; 
  • support the Minister, senior officials, the dental profession, and external stakeholders, to shape and deliver policy objectives within available resources to improve the clinical and cost effectiveness and availability of NHS dental and oral health promotion services in Wales; 
  • work with a wide range of external stakeholders to ensure advice on improving oral health and enhancing the availability and quality of dental services in Wales is up to date and evidence based; 
  • provide strong and effective leadership, representing Welsh Government and Wales interests in dentistry and oral health improvement to the dental profession and other stakeholders in the U.K; and 
  • deliver the Programme for Government and other strategies including the Oral health and dental services response to A Healthier Wales.

Job Specific Tasks: 

The on-going work of the Primary Care Division and Dental Branch in its contribution to the provision of safe and effective dental and oral health services for the public in Wales: 

Advice (proactive and reactive): 

  • to the First Minister, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Director General Health and Social Services, Chief Dental Officer, other Groups and Divisions of the Welsh      Government;
  • through attendance at and co-operation with the statutory Welsh Dental Committee and regular meetings of the Consultants in Dental Public Health of Public Health Wales, officials in other UK health departments, NHS England, BDA and General Dental Council (GDC);
  • through participation in inter and intra-departmental working, in joint teams with the National Health Service, where necessary in a leadership role; and
  • to the profession in Wales via written and electronic communications. 

Policy development: 

  • developing policy, legislation and standards which promote good oral health by working closely with policy directorates across Welsh Government, particularly by managing dental policy, in agreeing standards for the provision and delivery of dental care. 

Monitoring: 

  • the oral health of Wales on the basis of the epidemiology and against agreed targets;
  • dental service provision of Local Health Boards (LHBs) by the study of performance data, including outcome  measures; and
  • scrutinising LHB, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Healthcare Education and Improvement Wales responsibilities relating to the development of quality assurance and      improvement processes. 

Negotiation: 

  • with other UK health departments to secure the interests of the First Minister and the Minister for Health and Social Services; and
  • with the profession, via extant negotiating forums for general dental services and Community Dental Services, on matters relating to terms of service and operational issues. 

Liaison: 

  • nationally and within the UK with statutory and academic bodies and learned societies, with professional representative organisations, including those responsible for Dental Care Professionals;
  • with the Chief Dental Officers and their deputies for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland;
  • with the GDC, by attendance at Council meetings;
  • with Public Health Wales;
  • with service managers of LHBs;
  • with NHS Business Services Authority; and
  • patient representative organisations and, where appropriate, the media. 

Securing training, staffing and research:

  • securing and growing sufficient and effective undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education and training opportunities for the dental team in Wales;
  • attendance at Cardiff University Dental School bilateral liaison meetings;
  • by encouraging research and clinical audit and by the advancement of clinically effective provision within the primary care setting;
  • by advocating appropriate workforce arrangements for Wales by promoting participation in, or leading, workforce studies in Wales, including arrangements for expanding effective skill mix.

Management: 

  • inputting into the management of the workload of the Dental Branch; and
  • maintain the highest professional standards within Welsh Government by meeting the continuing professional development requirements of relevant faculties of the Medical Royal Colleges and the General Dental Council.

Development opportunities:

The post has considerable development opportunities in both management and in the areas of policy development, implementation and delivery.

 

The post-holder will have the ability to develop strong interpersonal skills, working with a wide range of contacts in the NHS, the dental profession, Welsh Government, other Government departments and devolved administrations. They will gain first-hand experience of policy development including helping to formulate secondary legislation and the drafting of policy documents and guidance.

 

The Deputy Chief Dental Officer represents Welsh Government and is responsible for making decisions regarding specific areas of work. With a view to future career development the post offers successful applicants the opportunity to gain experience and mentorship that will help prepare a clinician for a lead policy role. By the very nature of the job, on occasion the post holder will deputise for the Chief Dental Officer providing an opportunity for someone who may have ambitions to apply for a Chief Dental Officer post in the future.

Closing Date:

10/09/2019, 16:00

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

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

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

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.

Not necessary to undertake the duties of this 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:

  1. Seeing the big picture - Bring together views and perspectives of stakeholders to gain a wider picture of the landscape surrounding activities and policies
  2. Leading and Communicating - Confidently engage with stakeholders and colleagues at all levels to generate commitment to goals
  3. Collaborating and Partnering - Actively build and maintain a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on objectives and shared interests
  4. Collaborating and Partnering- Actively involve partners to deliver a business outcome through collaboration that achieves better results for citizens

Job Specific Criteria:

  1. Hold full registration with the General Dental Council (GDC) and have a total of at least 5 years experience working as a registered (or equivalent) dental practitioner;
  2. Experience of working on strategic dental and/or oral health issues and involvement and experience at national, as well as local level, in dental professional organisations, associations or societies.
  3. A wide experience and understanding of dentistry and oral health, of the organisation and governance of the profession and of the relationship of dentistry with other parts of the healthcare system particularly the NHS.

Assessment Process

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.
Collette Bridgman - 03000255543 - colette.bridgman@gov.wales

How to apply

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)

Grievance and Complaints

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.

This vacancy is closed to applications.