Head Of Academic Engagement Team

The Government Office for Science works at the heart of Government, ensuring policies and decisions are informed by the best scientific evidence and strategic long-term thinking. It's an exciting time to join the organisation; we have outstanding and high-profile positions providing you an opportunity to inform and influence policy-making and the systems for use of science and engineering across government. If you are highly motivated and looking for your next career challenge we want to hear from you.

Our mission is:

1. Science advice mechanisms that are efficient, effective, speak truth to power and are embedded irreversibly in Government systems.

2. Visible impact through both pro-active and demand-led science advice that is relevant, excellent, and delivered fit for purpose.

Further information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-office-for-science

We strongly believe diversity of experience, thought, perspectives, skills, and background makes us a more innovative, welcoming Department, thus making better decisions and better delivering our objectives. We are actively seeking applications from every part of the community and particularly welcome applications from candidates of any age, background, disability, or from an ethnic minority background and any other protected characteristics. This will help us move to a workforce that reflects the people we serve to deliver better policies.

We are a friendly, inclusive team and emphasise personal development. We will ensure individuals with disabilities are provided adjustments to participate in the job application and interview process. We support your wellbeing by putting flexible working at the heart of our offer.; if successful, you will be able to discuss working arrangements with your new manager.

We maintain an internal surge capability of staff who may be called at short notice to support an activation of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Training and support will be provided. This is an excellent opportunity to develop crisis management skills.

Please note that we are currently reviewing our terms and conditions and pay arrangements following Machinery of Government changes and as part of the outstanding August 2023 pay award. Please be aware that there may be changes to the terms and conditions and pay ranges listed in this advert aHead of you starting in post. Any changes would be implemented in early 2024.

This is a great opportunity to lead a dynamic and high performing team in the Government Office for Science (GOS), delivering innovative tools and projects to improve government access to evidence and promoting impactful exchanges with academia.
Building a more scientific civil service is one of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser’s (GCSA) top priorities and we are expanding the team to ensure further resources are dedicated to this work.
As Head of the Academic Engagement (AE) Team you will build on and expand an existing well-developed programme of work aimed at improving government’s Academic Engagement and access to quality evidence. You will become the expert and first port of call on everything to do with Academic Engagement in government.
You will be responsible for leading and prioritising your team across all existing and new strands of work to deliver real world differences in how scientific expertise can be used in government policy making and operational delivery.
Current work in the team includes:

• Coordinating work across government on Areas of Research Interest (ARIs). Using these important documents to promote collaborations with funders, academia and industry and identifying new ways to maximise the benefits from ARIs.
• Liaison with key external organisations, e.g. the National Academies, and knowledge brokers (such as UPEN, the Universities Policy Engagement Network), to promote closer working between academia and government. Spotting opportunities for joint working and bringing together interested colleagues across GOS.
• Wide-scale cross-government dissemination and training of a recently developed tool to help civil servants think about the best way to engage with academics for different needs (the Navigator Tool).
• Scoping and development of an “inverse” to the Navigator Tool (for academics to work out how best to interact with policy).

You will also have a key role in scoping and delivering a new high priority GCSA and GOS objective of increasing the movement of people between academia and government, with a focus on mid-career scientists. You will develop and deliver projects to support this goal and there will be significant scope for you to shape and influence the direction of this work. We expect this year will focus on piloting some activities and building an evidence base to understand motivations, barriers and opportunities in this area.
Connecting people is fundamental to this role. You will need to build and maintain relationships and your knowledge of the academic and government landscapes, to share experiences and spot opportunities to deliver positive outcomes.
You will enjoy thinking long term and strategically about how to effect change, solve problems and seek solutions to complex challenges. You will be comfortable working creatively and independently. You will need to develop a vision and long-term rolling plan for your team and develop new ways of working.
To deliver this ambitious and high-profile programme of work you will lead a team of 5 (3 SEOs, a fast streamer and a science intern).
The wider team has responsibility for supporting the networks of Chief Scientific Advisers and officials across government and leading on developing the science system across government. We encourage matrix working so you will have the opportunity to get involved with wider team activities and to participate in wider corporate or strategic activities to develop your own skills.

You will:

• Rapidly develop knowledge of the government Academic Engagement landscape within government and externally as well as a strong understanding of the science system in government.
• Build and develop relationships with all the key partners, including the Academies, knowledge brokers across universities, as well as colleagues across departments such as Chief Scientific Advisers, their deputies, and officials.
• Work with the team to develop a vision and long-term work programme and identify opportunities for new areas of work.
• Present issues and progress to senior people, both within and outside the civil service.
• Distil wide-ranging views into clear recommendations and actions and deliver on them.
• Lead on managing this programme of work effectively, prioritising across your team and thinking creatively.
• Lead and manage your team to support their development whilst also ensuring delivery of key work priorities.

Skills and experience

We would love to hear from you if you have:

• Strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to engage with a wide variety of people.
• Experience of balancing a range of priorities and work areas.
• Experience of working and influencing across teams both within and external to your organisation.
• Experience working within science, science policy or policy impact roles.
• Experience of line management.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing

We offer a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need (from September 2021, depending on how the public health guidance evolves).

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home-based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

Job contact :

Name :
Jo Foreman and Sarah Steiner (jobshare)
Email :
foreman.steiner@go-science.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email :
dsitresourcing.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk