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Deputy Head

Job details
Posting date: 05 March 2026
Salary: £62,203 to £67,987 per year
Additional salary information: National Pay: £62,203 - £72,686 London Pay: £67,987 - £80,556
Hours: Full time
Closing date: 22 March 2026
Location: SW1A 2BQ
Company: Government Recruitment Service
Job type: Temporary
Job reference: 451609/2

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Summary

The Policy Unit is a relatively new team, set up to directly support the Secretary of State by identifying and incubating new ideas to help deliver her vision to support growth and good jobs across the nation, enable richer lives with choices and opportunities for all, and build a more cohesive country where people are in charge of their own destinies.

It works across the full range of DCMS policy, working closely with external experts and internal policy teams to consider ways to do things differently, and work closely with Special Advisers and Private Office to ensure its work is delivering for the Secretary of State.

The team is outward facing, building a network of people with experience of delivery in communities across the country. It will also work collaboratively with external organisations to help tackle policy challenges and co-design solutions.

We really encourage applications from those interested in doing it on a secondment basis.

We are looking for a Deputy Head to lead a small, agile team which has been set up to support the DCMS Secretary of State to support her priorities, and to come up with new and innovative solutions to problems. This is an exciting opportunity to work in senior leadership at the heart of DCMS.

The post holder will lead teams working on a variety of high-profile projects, and will be expected to flex between incubating short term policy ideas, providing a challenge function to existing policy work, and driving forward specific Secretary of State priorities.

Responsibilities are likely to include leading teams to deliver:

  • Short term idea generation: rapidly developing and incubating new ideas, including from the Secretary of State and external stakeholders.
  • Medium term policy projects: starting from first principles to develop new policy proposals, including cross-cutting issues, and areas where additional capacity is required.
  • Providing a challenge function to upcoming policy announcements, to ensure alignment with the Secretary of State’s ambition.

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