Vacancy -- Appointment of a Member - Ministerial Advisory Board (MAB)

Vacancy details

Ministerial Advisory Board (MAB)
Virtual via Teams
Unpaid, but Members are entitled to travel and other reasonable expenses within reasonable limits
6
year

Function of body

A Ministerial Advisory Board is being established to provide external expert advice on specific issues within the Minister for the Economy’s portfolio as well as offering a sounding board for future policy development.  Board members would be tasked with formulating advice and presenting it to the Economy Minister.  The Board’s work will be agreed in an annual programme but will have flexibility to manage its delivery.  Board members will also be asked to contribute individual pieces of expert advice in response to circumstances.

Role description

Board members will undertake the following duties:

  • Provide regular, creative and high-quality advice to the Minister for Economy to help improve economic well-being in Wales
  • Horizon-scan to highlight areas of future challenge and opportunity, using individual and collective expertise to raise awareness of issues that will help shape the Board’s work programme.
  • Respond to requests from the Minister and senior officials for policy advice and to test proposals as appropriate.
  • Proactively identify best practice and learning from other nations and regions in the UK and internationally; and demonstrate how such examples might be used to inform thinking in Wales.
  • Identify specific issues which would benefit from short, sharp reviews undertaken by bespoke task and finish groups or additional expertise that the Board may need to co-opt from time to time depending on its work programme.

Role and responsibilities of Chair/deputy Chair :

As well as being Chair of the board, they will be expected to act as the leading representative and to take the chair at board meetings. With regard to the latter this will involve: the determination of the order of the agenda; ensuring that the board receives accurate, timely and clear information; keeping track of the contribution of individual members and ensuring that they are all involved in discussions and decision-making. At all meetings the Chair should direct discussions towards the emergence of a consensus view and sum up discussions so that everyone understands what has been agreed. The deputy will stand-in only if the Chair is unavailable. The Chair and Deputy Chair will also be asked to attend the Social Partnership Group to provide feedback on the decisions and advice provided by MAB members.

Welsh language skills

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.
Desirable
Can read simple material on everyday topics with understanding
Can write simple work-related correspondence
Can understand basic conversations about everyday topics
Can hold simple work-related conversations

Person specification

Board members :

  • Be inclusive, listen to the views of other members and adhere to any accessibility adjustments which have been put in place.
  • Be respectful of other members and ensure your interventions in discussions are respectful of others.
  • Provide challenge and encourage others to contribute to the discussion.
  • Bring your own skills and experience as an individual (with your personal life experience)
  • Consult others to inform your contributions to discussions, while respecting the sensitivity and potentially confidential nature of the matters being considered.

Chair/deputy Chair :

  • Be an inclusive leader, setting the tone of the meetings and ensuring that everyone, regardless of their grade, is treated as equal members.
  • Ensure that members treat each other with respect.
  • Ensure that all members are given the opportunity to participate to give their views and have the opportunity to reflect on the views of others.
  • Understand the different ways people like to contribute at meetings and ensure that agreed reasonable adjustments are in place and maintained so that they can contribute in the most effective way.
  • Ensure that the Board reaches conclusions in its discussions on papers, even if this means capturing a diversity of opinions if it is not possible to reach consensus.

Interview dates

15 December 2021
31 December 2021

Closing date

29/11/2021, 16:00

Additional information

For further information regarding the selection process, please contact:

Public Appointments Team / Public Bodies Unit

Email: publicappointments@gov.wales

For further information regarding the role of Ministerial Advisory Board - Economy and the role of members please contact economicpolicy@gov.wales         

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact publicappointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments

How to apply

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity 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.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on  PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments

This vacancy is closed to applications.