Senior Civil Servants (SCS) comprise the four highest leadership levels across government.
They form the executive leadership team within each department. SCS are responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service delivers the best services for the public.
As the MHCLG’s senior leaders, our SCS are also visible role models for the Civil Service leadership behaviours. These can be found in the Civil Service Leadership Statement.
Your application
We advertise all SCS roles on Civil Service Jobs. Candidates submit applications through BeApplied. When applying for SCS roles in MHCLG you will typically be asked to provide a CV and statement of suitability.
Your CV and statement will be reviewed by the Hiring Panel. Candidates who best meet the role’s essential criteria will be invited for interview.
CV
Please include key responsibilities, achievements and relevant qualifications. Ensure you provide reasons for any gaps within the last two years. You’ll need to include two referees.
Statement of Suitability
Your statement of suitability explains how your skills, qualities and experience make you suitable for the role. You should directly address the essential criteria provided in the job advert.
The Selection Process
Staff Engagement Groups
At MHCLG we hold Staff Engagement Groups as an integral part of the recruitment process for Senior Civil Servants. These sessions help the panel gain insight into your leadership style. demonstrating how you might engage with your team should you be successful.
During your Staff Engagement Group you’ll meet with some MHCLG staff members to facilitate a discussion around a set topic. The purpose of the session is to assess your engagement and communication skills. It is not about testing your subject knowledge or expertise for a particular role. Feedback from the session is considered alongside your final interview.
Interview
The selection process concludes with a panel interview. The questions are centred around the role’s essential criteria.
During the interview you may be asked to take part in a technical exercise or to prepare a short presentation. Details of this will be in the job advert and in correspondence from the SCS Recruitment team.
Prior to your interview, you may be invited to a meeting with a Minister or the Secretary of State, and/or other senior stakeholders. This is not a formal part of the selection process. It’s an informal chance for you to find out more about the role and the organisation.
Preparing for your interview
Your interview will focus on the role’s Essential Criteria. We recommend keeping a copy of the job advert or candidate pack handy, as this will help you reflect on your experience and examples. If you’re unsure about the Essential Criteria, please contact scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk.
Below is a sample of topics you might be asked about. This is not exhaustive but is designed to give you a sense of how panels explore the Essential Criteria during interviews.
Leadership
- Leading a team through ambiguity
- Creating and driving an inclusive, high performing culture
- Significant leadership challenges you have faced in your career
Stakeholder Management / Influencing
- Establishing credibility with stakeholders
- Who you see as the main partners for the role
- Turning around a dysfunctional relationship or sceptical stakeholder
Delivery
- When you have brought structure to a complex starting point
- Creative approaches to long-term delivery
- Building capability within a team / organisation
Resilience / Managing Priorities
- Ensuring risk is managed effectively
- Balancing multiple competing priorities
- Knowing when to draw the line on what is achievable and communicating this appropriately
Strategy
- Using political or economic context to inform a strategy
- Spotting and resolving / de-escalating emerging issues
- Your experience of influencing policy direction
Communication
- Communicating difficult, unpleasant or complex information
- Ensuring senior stakeholders understand risks and issues in a complex area
- Approaching relationships with Ministers / senior stakeholders
What you need to know before applying:
All MHCLG colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.
In addition to the BPSS, Senior Civil Service appointments must also hold Security Check (SC) clearance, which can take up to eight weeks.
Some roles may also require Developed Vetting clearance. Each job advert will state the level of security required. The nature and level of the security checks will vary depending on the level of clearance.
All offers of employment are conditional on successful completion of BPSS and National Security Vetting. To read more about all the vetting levels please read the Security Vetting Guidance.
If you have any questions about security clearance requirements please contact the HR Shared Service Centre at HRsharedservices@communities.gov.uk.
Before starting your application, it’s very important to check you’re eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. The Civil Service Nationality Rules detail who is eligible to apply.
As part of your application, you’ll be asked to confirm you have read the information in the links below:
Civil Service Nationality Rules
Countries in the EU and EEA
UK Visas and Immigration
If you’re unsure if you meet the nationality requirements for this role please contact MHCLG’s HR Service Centre at HRSharedServices@communities.gov.uk.
To be eligible for a role in MHCLG (and the wider Civil Service), you will need to prove your right to work in the UK.
If you’re a British or Irish citizen, you can prove your right to work in the UK with:
- a British passport
- an Irish passport or passport card
If you’re not a British or Irish citizen, you can prove your right to work with:
- a share code – you can get a share code online
- your eligible immigration documents
However, you must also be eligible under the Civil Service Nationality requirements.
Artificial intelligence (AI) software such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini are powerful tools that can create and review text in ways that mimic what people can do.
These tools can help you enhance your application and prepare for the process but it is essential you use them appropriately. They must not be used to provide misleading or false information at any stage of the application journey.
Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Do not use AI to:
- Provide an AI tool with sensitive information about your organisation such as figures or personal details
- Inflate or invent your skills and experiences
- Create generic responses and copy these into your application
- Complete assessments that evaluate personality and abilities such as situational judgement and numerical tests
- Create answers for questions you are asked during a live or pre-recorded interview
- Create answers for situation-based questions
As part of our pre-employment checks, we will use your CV to verify your job history, with your consent implied by submitting it.
Unless stated otherwise, your CV won’t be used in the assessment but will be shared with the interview panel.
Our recruitment system is designed to minimise bias; therefore, hiring managers will not see your name or full application at once, and responses are anonymised, randomised, and reviewed in parts by multiple assessors to reduce ordering and fatigue effects.
Please also read all below sections before applying for MHCLG:
Civil Service Code
The Civil Service Code (‘the Code’), issued by the Minister for the Civil Service (the Prime Minister), is the ethical code of conduct for civil servants. It outlines the core values of the Civil Service – integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality – and describes the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants against each of these four values.
Recruitment Principles
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
Sponsorships
MHCLG do not sponsor visas so applicants will need to have a visa that is valid for the duration of their employment with MHCLG which doesn’t require us to sponsor or support.
Salary and Grade
The salary and grade will be confirmed at the top of each MHCLG job advert.
Existing Civil Servants
For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.
If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for the grade. Please also note that, if successful, any existing specialist allowances you currently receive will not automatically transfer or be retained upon moving to this role. Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.
Conflict of Interest
Candidates must note the requirement to declare any interests that might cause questions to be raised about their approach to the business of the Department.
Before applying for a job, please read the Outside Interests guidance. If you believe that you may have a conflict of interest, please contact SCS.recruitment@communities.gov.uk before submitting your application.
Location and Flexible Working
During the application process you will be asked to express a location preference, from the advertised locations. Any offer made will be based on that specific location. Please note that, as your normal work location, costs cannot be claimed for travel to and from your base office location.
At present, a minimum of 60% of your working time will be spent in your contractual office location. Requirements to attend other office locations or off-site meetings will count towards this. There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly, including some home working, depending on business need and individual circumstances. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis, if you are successful for the role.
Fixed Term Contracts
The type of contract will be shown in the job advert that you are applying for. If the job advert states that the role will be fixed term the job advert will confirm the length of the appointment. Please read the below information on which will apply to you:
For MHCLG employees – You will retain your existing contract.
For external candidates – You will be offered a fixed term appointment with a possibility of permanency.
For existing civil servants – You will be offered a loan opportunity. Before applying for the role, you will need to seek approval from your parent department to take up a loan appointment should you be successful.
For Secondments – You will be offered a secondment opportunity. Before applying for the role, you will need to seek approval from your employer to take up a secondment opportunity should you be successful.
Internal Fraud Register
The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned.
The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, Civil Servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the Civil Service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited data set back to MHCLG as a participating government organisations.
MHCLG then carry out the pre-employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented..
For more information – please see the internal fraud register page.
Appeals and Complaints
If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application you should speak to the SCS recruitment team at SCS.recruitment@communities.gov.uk
Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:
- a procedural irregularity;
- an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy; or
- exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day
It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the team at SCS.recruitment@communities.gov.uk. If the team is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by Email to: info@csc.gov.uk
Near Miss Offers
Near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for a campaign applied to.
Explore MHCLG’s Benefits
At MHCLG, we value our staff and offer a wide range of benefits to employees who work here, ranging from discounts at major stores to health and wellbeing support.