Vacancy -- Disabled People's Employment Champion x1

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, Social Justice and Welsh Language Group
Social Partnership, Employability & Fair Work Directorate
SEO - £41,700 - £49,370
A starting salary between £41,700 and £45,970 will be offered to the successful candidate based on their skills, knowledge and experience and performance at interview. This range is not negotiable..
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Permanent
Pan Wales, Other location
We are operating a hybrid approach to working, which offers a location-flexible arrangement that allows you to combine home and office-based working. This aims to provide a balance to support you to work more flexibly in the right place and time, in a way that works for the organisation and for you. Your working arrangements will be discussed and agreed with your line manager when you join.
'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:

Through its Employability and Skills Plan the Welsh Government has committed to working with partners to increase the number of disabled people in work. A number of barriers are currently preventing disabled people from entering, staying in and progressing in work, from inflexible working practices to lack of awareness or understanding of accessible working practices by employers. Disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed when compared to non-disabled people and this needs to change to support growth within the Welsh economy.

This Disabled People’s Employment Champion will join a wider network of partners, who, through their roles, will advocate for the employment of disabled people, promoting the Social Model of Disability. Dedicated support for SMEs will be available via the Business Wales service and the post-holder(s) will need to work hand-in-hand with the service to ensure the businesses they engage with are aware of the support available.

The post-holder will work actively with employers across Wales to increase awareness of the availability of talent and skills provided by disabled people, to help adapt their recruitment practices for their workforce, and to show them how to effectively access the support which is available to help disabled people into work. They will provide independent, balanced advice, offering expertise, helping employers attract disabled applicants, remove barriers in the workplace and enable disabled employees to realise their potential and use their talents to deliver business benefits.

The post-holder will also support Welsh Government to become an exemplar in terms of recruitment practices for Disabled People and be called upon to use their lived experience to enrich Welsh Government policy and programme developments particularly in relation to Employability and Skills.

The post-holder will require an understanding of the barriers disabled people face applying for and during employment, together with knowledge and experience of equality legislation.  

The post-holder will be required to meet with partners and employers and some travel may be required. 

Key tasks:

  • Raise awareness with employers about the benefits of employing disabled people, and those with limiting health conditions; seeking out and facilitating collaborative opportunities to improve employment levels for disabled people.
  • Liaise with relevant Welsh Government policy officials to share good practice and lessons learnt on Disabled People’s employment matters.
  • Work cross-departmentally to embedding the Social Model of Disability and participate in the assessment of Integrated Impact Assessments, Business Cases and awards.
  • Use lived experience to enrich Welsh Government policy and programme developments and also provide advice on corporate developments such as website content.
  • Promote the recruitment and retention of disabled people in line with the Social Model of Disability;
  • Promote ways of removing barriers which place disabled people at a disadvantage in recruitment and in the workplace.
  • Help and support employers with ‘disclosure’ as part of business recruitment and ensure they adopt an inclusive approach in their recruitment processes, and develop new innovative practices through disseminating best practice from exemplar employers.
  • Help employers to access employment support for those disabled people who have successfully found employment, or where there is the potential for new jobs, and increase understanding of the support that is available to both the employee and the employer, using local specialist knowledge (e.g. cost of adaptations to the workplace, liaison with specialists to secure DWP’s Access to Work funding).
  • Work with cross-sector partners and connect with existing services, e.g. DWP Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers, Remploy, Elite etc. to maximise their impact.
  • Share information with stakeholders and employers with experience of recruiting disabled people to promote inclusive opportunities and ensure connectivity with the Welsh Government’s programmes.

Development opportunities:

The work provides opportunities for working with senior business leaders across Wales.

The role will strengthen the successful candidate’s skills and experience in the areas of leading and communicating.

The post-holder will provide leadership to business and inspire them to change. They will have an opportunity to guide and assist businesses to be creative and proactive in delivering results.

Closing Date:

28/04/2023, 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.

Essential
Can read most work-related material
Can hold most work-related conversations
Can understand most work-related conversations
Can prepare most written work in Welsh

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. Changing and Improving: Actively encourage ideas from a wide range of sources and stakeholders and use these to inform own thinking.
  2. Leading and Communicating: Recognise, respect and reward the contribution and achievements of others, valuing difference.
  3. Collaborating and Partnering: Actively seek input from a diverse range of people.
  4. Managing a Quality Service: Develop proposals to improve the quality of service with involvement from a diverse range of staff, stakeholders or delivery partners.

Job Specific Criteria 

Due to the nature of the role, the post holder must have:

  1. Experience of the barriers disabled people face in recruitment and employment and knowledge and experience of equality legislation.
  2. An ability to develop and maintain constructive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
  3. An ability to demonstrate a practical understanding of the social model of disability.

Assessment Process

  • Sift stage: Written application considered against the outlined Competencies and Job Specific Criteria.
  • Interview Stage: If you pass the sift, you will be invited to an interview based on the job specifics and competencies outlined on the advertisement.

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.
  • Please find a link to the Welsh Government privacy notice: Welsh Government privacy notice | GOV.WALES
  • There are five Disabled People’s Employment Champion Posts available and there are two job adverts running concurrently which cover these five posts. These job adverts are identical except for the specified Welsh language requirements. This job advert is for the post which requires Welsh language skills on commencement to fulfil the work satisfactorily. The Welsh language skills required are detailed within this job advert and a person without these necessary language skill levels will not be considered for this post. Welsh language skills are not essential for the remaining four posts, though they would assist in fulfilling the duties of the post. These posts can be applied for via the separate job advert; Disabled People's Employment Champion x4 - Welsh Government (tal.net). Candidates are encouraged to apply through both job adverts where they have the required Welsh language ability. For candidates eligible to apply for both adverts, there will only be one interview if successful at sift stage.
  • For an accessible version of this job advert please click here. 
Samantha Huckle - spefw@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.