Lead Non-Executive Board Member – Department for Work and Pensions

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), including the Departmental Strategy, planning, and performance, reporting and governance requirements.

The Secretary of State is seeking to appoint a Lead Non-Executive Board Member (NEBM) to the Departmental Board. The Lead NEBM will support the Secretary of State and the Permanent Secretary by providing sound advice, challenge, and assurance. The Lead NEBM is also responsible for providing leadership of the department’s six NEBMs.

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the administration of the benefits system, providing support to:

• people of working age
• employers
• pensioners
• families and children; and
• disabled people.

DWP plays a vital role in delivering the UK government’s Missions for Growth and Opportunity. As the UK’s largest public services department, we support people to enter and thrive in employment, we steward the UK’s workplace pensions system and administer the State Pension, and we deliver social security to around 20 million people.

The Secretary of State has identified five goals that DWP will be focusing on. These are:

1. Enable people to get into work and to get on at work, ensuring employment opportunity for all.
2. Tackle child poverty and hardship, ensuring financial security for all.
3. Shape the pensions system to serve the interests of savers and pensioners, ensuring decent, secure retirement incomes for all.
4. Pursue a just, equal, and inclusive society, ensuring independence and control for all disabled people.
5. Deliver high quality efficient services, ensuring that people are treated with dignity and respect.

The Lead Non-Executive Board Member role is varied and covers a range of issues and agendas. No month will look the same but general activities include:

• Working closely with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Permanent Secretary to support strategic oversight of the department and advise on effective delivery of their priorities.
• Acting as a trusted sounding board to ministers and senior officials as appropriate, on apolitical considerations including operational delivery; fiscal management; risk appetite; talent/people; technology and management information. Providing mentorship as appropriate.
• Providing leadership and oversight of the department’s NEBM team, ensuring they are engaging on priorities effectively and providing support.
• Providing scrutiny, challenge, and advice about the operational implications of policy, delivery, and transformation proposals. This includes reviewing the department’s business plans and challenging progress.
• Undertaking deep dives to support and advise on certain topics including departmental risks, policy matters or material delivery challenges.
• Attending government-wide meetings for lead non-executives to share best practice and to ensure the department learns from the successes and failures of comparable organisations.

• Extensive senior leadership experience with the ability to set strategic vision and drive forward priorities of the organisation.
• Knowledgeable with a clear understanding of the work, priorities and challenges of the DWP and the context within which it operates.
• A strong track record of delivery on significant business activities or transformation, in particular relating to policy issues such as customer service, employment support, pensions, or supporting vulnerable customers. This experience could be within the private, public, or voluntary sectors, working within large and complex organisations.
• An ability to build strong and effective stakeholder relationships, including with Ministers and Senior Government officials and external stakeholders.
• Strong and effective communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to listen, accept challenge and constructively challenge others in discussions with clarity and respect.
• Demonstrates sound judgement through the ability to critically analyse a wide range of information to make clear and objective evidence-based recommendations to support the delivery of the organisation’s objectives.
• Collaborative with the ability to work closely with the executive board and other key stakeholders, providing support, constructive challenge, and assurance

• Excellent knowledge of government and public sector operations, reform, delivery, and finances.
• Experience of systems leadership and setting up big systems for success in complex environments (supporting the department’s mission delivery role).
• Previous non-executive board member experience on a public or private sector board.