Head of Governance and Assurance

UK Parliament

Working at the UK Parliament offers a unique and rewarding career at the heart of the UK’s democratic system.

With a wide range of roles available, our impartial colleagues enable the day to day running of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Joint Departments. Together, we make Parliament happen.

Staff Benefits

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:

• 30 days’ annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year).
• Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Access to training and development.
• Flexible working.
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.

Introduction

The role will sit within the Parliamentary Safety Team (PST) in the House of Commons Governance Office. The team is responsible for the provision of specialist advice, support and independent assurance that Parliament is managing safety sensibly, consistently, proportionately and effectively, and for the development and embedding of a positive safety culture across the wider Parliamentary community.

The Role

The role of the Head of Safety – Governance & Assurance (also known as Head of Governance and Assurance) is to lead the compliance, governance and assurance team members to develop and implement the Parliamentary Safety Management System (SMS), support the Deputy Director with the development and implementation of the bicameral safety strategy, and lead on the implementation of systems, policies and processes to ensure ongoing compliance to all relevant statutory and best practice requirements.

The Head of Safety – Governance & Assurance will also set safety compliance frameworks and develop a robust system for the monitoring and management of company safety performance and management information. The post-holder will produce regular assurance reports and statements to the Deputy Director and Director of Parliamentary Safety and will provide evidence to the Executive Teams of ongoing continual improvement.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Reviewing and developing the Parliamentary Safety Management System (SMS) and implementation of associated policies, procedures and frameworks.
• Development of a compliance management system and database to enable timely Management and Performance reporting to the HoC and HoL Clerks, Executive Teams and committee meetings.
• Development and implementation of an annual proactive audit and inspection schedule and development of central action tracker to enable trends and actions to be effectively tracked.
• Implementation of Safety Assurance and Governance frameworks and ownership of the annual and quarterly Assurance Review process.

Skills and Experience

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Qualifications:
  • A Level 6 qualification in Health and Safety e.g. NEBOSH Diploma, NVQ in Health & Safety or Bachelors Degree (mandatory)
  • Membership of a relevant technical body e.g. IOSH, IIRSM.
• Experience of:
  • Strategic health & safety at a senior management level.
  • Experience of developing and setting strategy, policies and procedures and safety performance reporting at a senior level
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with key customers, stakeholders and colleagues at all levels. The ability to challenge appropriately and robustly to ensure adherence to procedures.
• Ability to lead a team, building and maintaining strong collaborative partnerships to achieve organisational goals, whilst upholding the values of equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Strong written and oral communications skills with the ability to produce reports and have the ability to determine solutions and mitigate risks.

Next Steps and Additional Information

• CV & Supporting Statement
  – If you would like to apply for this role, please submit your CV and covering letter with a 500 word limit.

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.

We may close the vacancy prior to the closing date stated due to a high volume of applications.