Overview
Head of Secure Patents Academy – Newport
About the job
Job summary
Please note: Applicants should review all aspects of this advert to ensure a thorough understanding. If reviewing via a screen reader, please note that the Job summary, Job description, Person specification, Benefits and Things you need to know sections have been emphasised
Head of Secure Patents Academy
This is a new, exciting and varied role with responsibility for technical training and capability management across Secure Patents, developing our people for a high-performing future. The role holder will establish and manage a ‘Secure Patents Academy’ to service Secure Patents (including the Private Applicant Unit and the Secure Examination Support team) i.e. circa 550+ staff with differing training/development needs.
The training/development currently includes: structured technical/legal training; informal technical training; core skills training; management training; Civil Service wide training; and specific/bespoke training for internal systems/processes.
The purpose of the role is to assess current training/development to ensure effectiveness, inclusivity, and efficiency whilst also considering scalability and sustainability for a growing directorate. As Head of the Academy, the role holder will set the Academy direction. They will be expected to design and deliver training/development programmes (to include both existing and new materials) for multiple roles; provide help, guidance, and support to our technical/non-technical people; support and develop our leaders & managers; create/establish career pathways that value breadth and depth of experience; and mature our professions. The role holder will share our commitment to strengthen our talent pipelines, improve workforce agility and adaptability and support our technical/non-technical specialists to lead and manage their teams.
Reporting to one of the Heads of Patents, the role holder will provide matrix management to trainers/programme managers to deliver a diverse training portfolio. We need someone who can see and influence the bigger picture, ensure that informed decisions are made and know when and how to engage in the detail; and who can work closely with colleagues in our central Talent and Learning team, and our Secure Patents and Secure Examination Support teams; sharing knowledge and best practice across the organisation.
This role requires commercial awareness, great stakeholder skills, and a real people focus on personal development.
Job description
Main duties consist of but are not limited to:
- To establish and manage the Secure Patents Academy, providing matrix management to trainers/training programme managers
- Strategic leadership for Secure Patents capabilities and competencies
- Development and ownership of strategies relating to technical learning and development and their implementation
- Ensuring continuous improvement and evolution of the existing Secure Patents talent management schemes
- Responsibility for the Secure personal development budget ensuring best value across a wide range of training and development activities
- Developing management information tools/solutions for training and development activities to monitor and evaluate technical learning and development, talent management and succession planning
- Part of the Secure Patents leadership team, contributing to decisions around current and future organisational make-up
- Work closely with corporate talent and learning teams to align delivery and approaches
- Work with HR colleagues to inform strategic workforce planning activities.
Working Style
This role will be carried out in-line with IPO Hybrid working arrangements where staff are currently expected to spend at least 20% of their time working onsite from one of our offices. This role is based in our Newport Office.
The requirement for attendance at an office location can vary by role so we would encourage candidates to discuss working arrangements with the recruiting manager to agree a reasonable balance between working from home and the office.
Person specification
Essential criteria
- Strong leadership and management expertise with experience of leading technical/specialist teams
- Experience of working in a training and/or development area, identifying opportunities for staff to develop their skills and abilities in line with organisational needs
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Strong strategic mindset and ability to ‘see the big picture’
- Understanding and experience of proactive risk management
- Driven and self-motivated and demonstrates a proactive approach to overcome challenges
- Can build and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders at all levels of an organisation
How to apply
Click the ‘Apply now’ button and complete the application form by providing the following:
CV
- Upload an anonymised copy of your current CV.
- Make sure it clearly shows how you meet the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification .
500-word Personal Statement
- Use this to explain why you’re suitable for the role.
- Structure your statement around the essential criteria in the Person Specification.
- Make sure to provide clear examples to show how you meet each requirement.
AI Usage
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
For further information on the sift and interview stages of this recruitment campaign, please head to our ‘Things you need to know’ section below.
Please visit our Civil Service Careers page – IPO – Recruitment Support , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)
If you require job-specific information, please contact Peter Mason or Joanne Pullen.
E-mail Peter.Mason@ipo.gov.uk or Joanne.Pullen@ipo.gov.uk
Telephone: 01633 814704 or 01633 814053
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Developing Self and Others
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £64,079, Intellectual Property Office contributes £18,563 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- A flexible working scheme with excellent development opportunities
- 25 days annual leave moving to 30 days in annual increments (1 day per year) over 5 years of reckonable service. You will also get 8 days public leave and 1 day privilege leave
- Family friendly policies that support modern working families and individuals with caring responsibilities
- A variety of support functions; Staff Counselling Service, Peer to Peer Support Group
- Eligibility for special and office-wide bonus payments
- The opportunity to form part of our many inclusive network groups, find out more by looking at Intellectual Property Office (IPO) (diversityjobsgroup.com)
- A range of wellbeing initiatives; Onsite Gym (Newport office), Eye Care Scheme, Volunteering Programme, Cycling facilities
- Free car parking is available on site at our Newport office
- On-site shop, restaurant and coffee shop at our Newport office
For more information about what’s on offer at the Intellectual Property Office please review our IPO benefit pack attached to the bottom of this advert.
Please note that benefits may be subject to change.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
Additional details on security and vetting
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check and if successful you must also hold, or be willing to obtain, a higher Security Clearance .
For meaningful checks to be carried out individuals will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, depending on the level of clearance, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. For this role the successful individual will need to have consistently lived in the UK for a minimum 5 years in order to meet the relevant security clearance.
Further information on the vetting process can be found at National security vetting: clearance levels – GOV.UK
If you have questions regarding this or are unsure if you meet the eligibility criteria, please contact Recruitment@ipo.gov.uk
The assessment process will comprise of the following:
Stage 1- Sift
An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist. This will be based on the evidence provided for the following Success Profile elements:
Experience
Your CV and your 500-word personal statement will be used to assess your suitability for the role.
Stage 2- Interviews
If invited to interview Behaviours and Strengths based questioning will be used.
Specific information regarding the Success Profile elements that will be assessed at interview will be contained within the interview invitation.
Interviews for this role will be carried out in person at our Newport Office.
Reserve List
This recruitment campaign will keep a reserve list for 12 months. If you meet the requirements for this role but aren’t offered after passing the interview, you’ll be placed on the reserve list. If a suitable position opens up during this time, we will reach out to individuals in merit order.
Applicants to note:IMPORTANT: CVs sent direct to the IPO will not be accepted.
This post is being advertised to Internal, Across Government and External candidates at the same time.
Incomplete and/or late submissions will not be accepted or considered. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
We do not routinely reimburse travel expenses for candidates, however if participating in the selection process would cause you undue financial hardship or if it restricts your ability to participate, please contact the recruitment team for more information.
In line with Government guidance, successfully appointed candidates will need to provide documents for our Right to Work checks. Information on this will be sent within the invite to interview text.
If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, then please let the recruitment team know via; recruitment@ipo.gov.uk .
For more information on the IPO’s terms and conditions, please review the attached IPO Modernised Terms and Conditions document attached at the bottom of this advert.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window) .
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .
