Vacancy -- Circular Economy Fund Manager

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

Climate Change and Rural Affairs Group
Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Division
HEO - £32,460 - £39,690
£32,460
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Fixed term
Two years. Fixed term appointment.
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:

This post relates to the delivery of key streams of the Circular Economy Fund – supporting Local Authority, Business, Public Sector and the third sector to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.  The fund directly supports delivery of the Programme for Government commitments on re-use, repair and recycling hubs as well as more generally supporting improvements in recycling and the wider transition to a circular economy as a crucial aspect of decarbonisation and one with significant economic opportunities for a greener and more prosperous Wales.

The Circular Economy Fund directly supports action in communities, businesses, and the public sector to keep resources in use and avoid waste, delivering significant and vital carbon savings.  It also supports applicants to become more resilient through improvements in resource efficiency, using more recycled material and to shorten and improve supply chain resilience.  The business strand of the fund has also seen the creation of new job opportunities as part of the move to a low carbon economy.

The Circular Economy Fund was created in 2019/20, initially as a fund to support businesses to become more resource efficient and convert their processes.  A second strand of the Circular Economy Fund made funding available for local authorities and other publicly funded bodies to drive further increases in recycling and resource efficiency. In Spring 2020, the scope of the Circular Economy Fund was expanded to directly support the post-Covid-19 response and help drive a green recovery in Wales. A third stream funded re-use and repair hubs to support a green recovery in our town centres.

Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Division has now been tasked with building on the above action to deliver on the Beyond Recycling strategy to accelerate our transition to a circular economy.  This requires the establishment of the infrastructure and processes needed to establish and mainstream re-use, repair and remanufacture within our economy and culture, in the same way we have done for recycling.  In parallel, it also brings the opportunity to derive far greater added-value from our world class recycling and the materials that we collect.

This post will manage the development, delivery and monitoring of the application, appraisal, claims and monitoring processes for the schemes delivered by Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Division. This includes ensuring that processes are developed and delivered in compliance with the relevant regulatory frameworks. The post holder will manage the forecasting and reporting requirements for the schemes.  They will also develop and deliver monitoring and evaluation processes for approved projects.

Key tasks:

  1. Further develop the design of circular economy funding based on lessons learned / evaluation from previous rounds.
  2. Lead communication work for rounds of funding.
  3. Deal with queries from applicants’ pre-awards of funding.
  4. Manage and process applications for funding.
  5. Carry out due diligence, eligibility appraisal and quality assurance checks of applications.
  6. Arrange panel meetings and collate panel member scores.
  7. Manage panel meeting outcomes for each application.
  8. Support / be supported by the post-award team, at times of peaks / troughs of workload.
  9. Update the rest of the Division on progress with the fund.
  10. Complete award letters for funding.
  11. Audit funding awarded.
  12. Arrange payments for allocated funding.
  13. Deal with queries from project managers on payment claims.
  14. Lead on development of case studies of funded projects.
  15. Promote the fund positively.
  16. Support other grant management across the Division.
  17. Liaise with other branches in the Welsh Government, external partnership groups and other outside organisations, attending meetings as required to represent the Division’s interests.
  18. Contribute to and draft responses to Ministerial and Freedom of Information requests and any other Divisional business needs as required.

Development opportunities:

The post offers the opportunity to work in a high profile operational delivery team supporting policy initiatives aimed at supporting businesses, the public sector and communities.

The post will lead on strengthening the development, co-ordination, delivery and monitoring of the scheme appraisal, approval, payment, monitoring and evaluation functions for the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Division in order to help effectively deliver Circular Economy schemes.

The post will have the opportunity to contribute to developing and implementing future schemes.

Closing Date:

26/06/2023, 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.

Desirable
Can read some basic words and phrases with understanding
Can hold a basic conversation in Welsh
Can understand parts of a basic conversation
Can write basic messages on everyday topics

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

Changing and Improving - Regularly review procedures or systems with teams to identify improvements and simplify processes and decision-making.

Leading and Communicating - Continually communicate with staff, helping to clarify goals and activities and the links between these and Departmental strategy.

Collaborating and Partnering - Establish relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes.

Delivering at Pace - Regularly monitor own and team’s work against milestones or targets and act promptly to keep work on track and maintain performance. 

Job Specific Criteria

  1. Experience of grant management within the public sector.
  2. Experience and sound understanding of financial management and budget monitoring systems.
  3. Experience of managing a team or teams in a high-pressured operational delivery environment.

Assessment Process

Applications will be sifted and successful applicants will be invited to attend an interview.

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.
Applications will be sifted and successful applicants will be invited to attend an interview.
Gail Merriman - ResourceEfficiencyAndCircularEconomy@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 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

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.