Vacancy -- Prosiect 2050: Head of Language Planning

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

Education and Public Services
Welsh Language Division
Grade 7 - £53,440 - £63,900
£50,870
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Fixed term
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:

  • Lead on language behavioural design and increasing the use of Welsh by individuals and communities vis-à-vis the Welsh Language Strategy Cymraeg 2050: A Million Welsh Speakers.
  • Manage a formal programme to ensure a full response from the Welsh Government and its partners to The effects of COVID-19 on Welsh language community groups: survey results and its recommendations.
  • Work jointly with other Welsh Government departments and in partnership with other organisations to help them implement the spirit of Cymraeg 2050 in their policy activity.

Key tasks:

  • You will lead, manage and develop a team in Prosiect 2050, Welsh Language Division, to increase the interpersonal use of the Welsh language in the wider Wales.
  • You will develop our work on the Welsh language in the private sector. You will do this, for example by:

- leading and developing the Helo Blod service, our service that helps businesses to use the Welsh language more
- seek opportunities to develop social, community and economic initiatives to support the Cymraeg 2050—and implement those opportunities
- develop our work in procurement (e.g. learning lessons from our scheme to help procure software that provides good UX for Welsh-speaking users)
- work with our colleagues in Business Wales and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we use all our potential opportunities to take forward the Welsh language policy agenda

  • It will be your job to manage a programme of cross-departmental and cross-governmental work to respond to the recommendations of the report The effects of COVID-19 on Welsh language community groups: survey results. One of the key recommendations of this work is to increase community development and empowerment in our work.
  • You will be the 'owner' of our Grants Scheme to Promote and Facilitate the Welsh Language and you’ll ensure that those grants fit in with Cymraeg 2050.
  • You will lead on our work with children and young people, so that those children are confident Welsh speakers of the future—from whatever linguistic background they come. You will do this, for example, by ensuring that the recommendations of a recent report into the Welsh Language Charter and its associated programmes are implemented and through contact with colleagues in Government, the education sector and beyond.
  • You will ensure that recognised behaviour change techniques are embedded in all our work, so that we can know that our interventions are working. And if they don't work, you'll help us learn from that and adapt what we do.
  • You will be the policy owner of our work in Music and will be responsible for its future development.
  • You will be a point of contact between Prosiect 2050 and our colleagues in our Communications and Marketing department to:

- Ensure that a full marketing/communications programme is created in conjunction with Prosiect 2050
- Ensure that stakeholders are aware of our current work and the outcomes of our previous work
- Ensure a consistent narrative and verbal strategy in all our work

  • You will work with the Director General and the Directors on behalf of Ministers to identify priorities and to develop strategies and action plans that support the achievement and evaluation of key policies, report consistently on the progress of those by using linguistic 'outcome' indicators, rather than simply listing work done.
  • You will provide professional advice to external stakeholders and key partner organisations on increasing the use of Welsh.
  • You will manage all budgets for the above work and ensure that money is spent appropriately. You will report regularly on expenditure against those budgets.

Development opportunities:

The opportunity to work in a fast-track environment across policy portfolios.

Closing Date:

09/07/2021, 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.

Essential
Full understanding of all work related material
Fluent
Can understand all work-related conversations
Can prepare written material for all work-related matters

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

  • Anticipate economic, social, political, environmental and technological developments to ensure that activities are relevant and appropriately targeted.

Changing and Improving

  • Effectively capture, utilise and share customer insight and views from a diverse range of stakeholders to ensure better policy and delivery.

Leading and communicating

  • Confidently engage with stakeholders and colleagues at all levels to generate commitment to goals.

Collaborating and Partnering

  • Actively involve partners to deliver a business outcome through collaboration that achieves better results for citizens.

Job Specific Criteria:

  1. Experience of working with communities and gaining their respect/trust.
  2. Experience of grant systems, either as a grant maker or grant recipient, and of testing the outcomes of those grants.
  3. Stakeholder engagement at all levels, up to, for example, Board/Chief Executive or Ministerial level.

Assessment Process

We’ll invite those candidates who pass the initial sift stage to a formal interview. During the interview, they’ll give a 5 minute presentation.

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.

This is a two-year appointment—open to those who want to apply for a fixed-term contract or secondment from their current employer.

We will undertake a review of work needs and funding arrangements within the two years to see whether the appointment should be made permanent, subject to appropriate approvals and funding at the time.

Jeremy Evas - jeremy.evas@gov.wales - 03000 25625057

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.