About the roles

Deputy Director roles

Locations

Deputy Director Northern England: Darlington or Salford

Deputy Director Northern Ireland: Belfast

These roles are at the heart of shaping and delivering an ambitious approach to supporting growth across the UK’s regions and nations. You will steer DBT’s priority to target our support for businesses in the highest growth potential areas, ensuring export, investment and wider growth objectives are integrated across the Department, aligned with geographical priorities set out in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy. You will be the senior lead in the Department for building productive, collaborative relationships with the Mayoral Combined Authorities, other local leaders and the Devolved Administrations. The roles offer the opportunity to be a visible representative of DBT’s approach to entrepreneurship and high-quality local support for growth.

Key areas of responsibility include:

Deputy Director, Northern England

• Lead the DBT North England team ensuring it has clear direction, effective delivery and high morale.
• Provide relevant insight to DBT colleagues on the North of England’s business environment and key opportunities and threats to sustainable growth within it, and use this to influence HMG, regional and local government policy in support of local growth.
• Promote local business growth opportunities relating to North of England exports, investment and domestic initiatives, both through direct links with key businesses in the locality and public advocacy to the wider business community on HMG policies and business support services.
• Build strong relations with the Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the region and other local growth partners, cooperating impactfully to deliver key growth opportunities and facilitating effective local engagement by DBT and OGD ministers and colleagues in the locality.
• Connect with DBT’s international network to ensure integration of DBT’s overall support for North of England exports and inward investment and enhance delivery of it.
• Be a strong corporate player, working closely and collaboratively with colleagues across LIG, wider DIME Group and DBT to ensure we deliver effectively and promote a positive and inclusive work environment.

Deputy Director, Northern Ireland

• Lead the DBT team in Northern Ireland ensuring it has clear direction, effective delivery and high morale.
• Provide relevant insight to DBT colleagues on Northern Ireland’s business environment and key opportunities and threats to sustainable growth within it, and use this to influence HMG & NI Executive policy in support of local growth.
• Promote local business growth opportunities relating to N Ireland exports, investment and domestic initiatives, both through direct links with key businesses in the locality and public advocacy to the wider business community on HMG policies and business support services.
• Build strong relations with the Northern Ireland Executive and other local growth partners, cooperating impactfully to deliver key growth opportunities and facilitating effective local engagement by DBT and OGD ministers and colleagues in the locality.
• Connect with DBT’s international network to ensure integration of DBT’s overall support for Northern Ireland exports and inward investment and enhance delivery of it.
• Be a strong corporate player, working closely and collaboratively with colleagues across LIG, wider DIME Group and DBT to ensure we deliver effectively and promote a positive and inclusive work environment.

Essential criteria:

• Top class leadership skills with a commitment to support, encourage and develop team members.
• Strong analytical & policy capability to understand drivers of local growth and develop and shape policies and practices to encourage them
• Good judgement and nous to navigate a complex stakeholder landscape with sometimes ambiguous or contested roles and priorities
• Powerful communication skills, with the ability to articulate, promote and defend our approach and delivery in a clear and compelling way both orally and in writing.
• Excellent ability to work in partnership with others, exemplifying and promoting collaborative behaviours which deliver required outcomes in a context of overlapping, interconnected and fluctuating responsibilities.
• Drive and proactivity to identify impactful actions to enhance our support for local growth, deliver at pace and overcome challenges.