Head of Briefing and Transition Hub

Summary

Sitting at the heart of Borders and Trade Group within the Strategy Directorate, this is a challenging and high-profile role which is pivotal in helping HMRC prepare for the end of the Transition Period and the longer-term transformation of border and customs arrangements after 1 January 2021.

The department is responsible for delivering a substantial EU Transition Portfolio which includes major changes to systems, infrastructure, business plans and resourcing.

The scale and complexity of the EU Exit Portfolio is significant, covering Customs, VAT, Excise, Direct tax and security of the border as well as a complex and varied set of external stakeholders. This means that the delivery model of the Portfolio and the level of information to handle is highly complex.

The Group consists of policy & negotiation, portfolio, and delivery directorates to support the Director Generals who have overall responsibility for EU transition and the future border strategy and operations for the department.

Job description

Borders and Trade Strategy Directorate helps set the direction for the wider Borders and Trade Group, acting as an enabler, co-ordinator and challenge function while promoting and defending HMRC interests across and outside government. You will work across the whole Borders and Trade group, providing a central co-ordinating hub that provides a link between business areas, the top of HMRC, Ministers and the centre of government.

You will have direct line management responsibility for 4 team leaders covering briefing, account management and knowledge management functions respectively and the wider team of c.25. You will be accountable for the deployment of the team resource to achieve delivery of the key responsibilities, and accountable for the use of delegated budgets for the team. You will also be an active member of the Strategy Directorate Senior Leadership Team, taking corporate responsibility for whole directorate issues.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills, political understanding and excellent judgment of key priorities and messaging, balancing needs of contributors and audiences. Developing and maintaining a class leading briefing, co-ordination and influencing hub is a central part of the role. Working closely with Departmental leads, BPDG, other parts of the Cabinet Office and OGDs to prepare, often at pace, papers and briefing for senior official and ministerial meetings – including XO, is at the centre of this role.#

Responsibilities

● Overall accountability for preparing briefings for Ministers, OGDs (Other Government Bodies), EXCOM and Directors on all EU Transition and related matters
● Leadership and developing capability of the Briefing Team
● Ensuring that HMRC provides a consistent message across various critical Whitehall groups, including the Exit Operations (XO) committee and any successor committees
● Ensuring the accuracy of information flow to the Portfolio Management Office through an Account Manager team whose role is to facilitate reporting, briefing, issue visibility and coordination through detailed knowledge of policy subject areas and operational delivery
● Ensuring that a robust Knowledge Management strategy is developed, and capability assurance is embedded within Borders and Trade Group, and that the directorate is contributing to the design and delivery of HMRC’s overarching knowledge management strategy
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