Position Specification HM Revenue & Customs Chief People Officer

Private and Confidential

Welcome Note

HMRC is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in

government. We are becoming a smaller, more customer-centric

and more professional organisation, based in fewer locations. And

we are under unprecedented public scrutiny: it seems that everyone

is interested in tax these days.

We need to rapidly transform how, where and when we work: using data to improve

compliance; shifting from traditional telephone and post services to digital services that our

customers want to use, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and consolidating into 13

modern Regional Centres and four Specialist Sites, with people provided with the IT and

skills they need as HMRC becomes one of the most digitally-advanced tax administrations in

the world.

Central to that transformation is our people agenda. The changes we’re making to where

we’re located and how we work will have a big impact on our people, and our CPO will need

to understand and manage that impact. As we transform, we also need to make sure we’re

recruiting the right people, as well as spotting and developing internal talent across a wide

range of professions.

We need an expert who can represent and champion our people agenda amongst our

Executive Committee as we take decisions to shape the future of our organisation. All the

while, you’ll need to be effective in delivering the ‘business as usual’ elements of HR, no small

task in an organisation the size of HMRC.

Our CPO also has an important role across government. As one of the most senior HR

practitioners in the Civil Service, the CPO acts as a leader in the profession – nurturing

talent, providing thought leadership and advising senior stakeholders at the centre of

government.

This role is one of the most challenging and exciting HR roles in the Civil Service. We have a

stretching agenda to deliver, and we need an exceptional leader to help us do so. HMRC is an

important, complex organisation, that I’m very proud to be part of. I’d like you to be part of it

too.

Jon Thompson

Chief Executive, HMRC

Background to HMRC

HMRC is the UK's tax, payments and customs authority, and has a vital purpose: collecting

the money that pays for the UK’s public services and helping families and individuals with

targeted financial support. It does this by being impartial and increasingly effective and

efficient in its administration. HMRC helps the honest majority to get their tax right and

makes it hard for the dishonest minority to cheat the system.

It’s almost a decade since HMRC was created, but its history didn’t begin in 2005. HMRC

was built on the proud achievements of its forerunner institutions, HM Customs and Excise

and the Inland Revenue. In fact, its tradition of public duty and achievement stretches back

more than a thousand years, to the first Anglo-Saxon tax on land ownership our forebears

collected in 1012.

Today, as the country has moved from economic difficulties and austerity to recovery, HMRC

is bringing in more revenue than ever before whilst also making major efficiencies - £1.4

billion in savings over five years.

How HMRC serves the UK:

Record compliance revenues: at £26.6 billion, which is nearly £6 billion more

than in 2012-13.

Making it harder for people to hide money overseas through ground-

breaking international tax agreements: it is estimated that the tax-sharing

agreement with the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey will bring in £1 billion over five

years.

Reducing debt to the Exchequer: from £22.5 billion in March 2010 to £17 billion

today. The level of error and fraud in the tax credits system has also reduced to 7% of

entitlements – the lowest it’s ever been.

Criminal prosecutions: HMRC investigations led to the prosecution of 915

individuals last year, predominately for tax-related crimes, helping to secure a

collective total of 378 years in custodial sentences.

Tackling avoidance schemes: Stamp Duty Land Tax avoidance schemes have been

virtually eliminated and the number of new avoidance schemes registered with

HMRC’s disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regime (DOTAS) has reduced from 116 in

2009-10 to 59 last year.

HMRC at a glance

£517.7bn

revenue £1.3bn

Reinvestment in digital transformation

5m

business customers

45m

individual customers

75%

government transactions

of all

15%

Net reduction in

baseline costs by

2020

Transformation in HMRC - ‘Building our Future’

In order to meet its strategic objectives – to maximize revenues; to improve customer

experience; and to reduce costs – HMRC has embarked on a major transformation

programme, changing the way it does things to make it easier for compliant customers and

harder for non-compliant customers. These reforms will deliver the biggest transformation

of the tax system in a generation, making it more effective, efficient and easier for our

customers. All of this is to be delivered at lower costs, whilst meeting revenue and customer

service targets. The ‘Building our Future’ programme sets out how the organisation will

transform over the coming years and what HMRC will be like in 2020 and beyond.

Some of the areas that are changing are described below.

People Transformation

HMRC’s people are at the heart of the transformation as the organisation moves towards its

vision for 2020. It will mean new ways of working for its people - with fewer people, working

in more highly skilled roles, in fewer locations, working across business lines to bring

services together for customers in one place. Whilst the organisation has three key priorities,

it has also set itself a fourth priority – to include, involve and invest in its people, building

the organisation’s future together.

Estates Transformation

HMRC is rationalising its current estates footprint - moving from an organisation with over

150 offices currently to 13 new Regional Centres and 4 Specialist Sites. This means teams

will be able to work closer together in a smaller number of large, modern, adaptable Regional

Centres. This approach will ensure HRMC people will have more opportunities to build their

careers and skills. HMRC is also updating its IT and infrastructure to ensure the best

working environment possible.

Digital Transformation

HMRC is one of the leaders of Government’s digital journey and has invested £1.3 billion to

transform the organisation into one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the

world (“digital by default”) - fundamentally transforming the way people and businesses are

able to manage their tax affairs, offering them first-class online, real-time services accessible

anytime, anywhere – just as with banking and shopping.

More information about ‘Building Our Future’ is available online at:

Building Our Future: transforming how HMRC serves the UK - Gov.Uk

HR in HMRC

It’s an incredibly exciting time to be an HR professional in HMRC. The HR team are vital in

helping ensure the organisation has the right people with the right skills to deliver fantastic

results across the whole country. As well as being core to developing and delivering

HMRC’s future vision, the HR team supports delivery today, ensuring staff engagement

continues to be at the fore and supporting managers and staff through challenging times.

HR Policy and Operations – Joe Dugdale

Policy and Operations is responsible for: all HR policy across HMRC,

providing casework support, managing HR transactions and leading the

Department’s employee relations advice to the business.

Workforce Management Programme (WMP) – Ravi Chand

WMP is responsible for delivering HMRC’s workforce plan. The long-term

aim is to reduce HMRC’s workforce as the Department becomes more

digital and reduces manual processing roles. As HMRC makes this

transition, it will need to recruit thousands of staff over the next few years,

whilst also managing staff turnover and the move from a dispersed estate

into 13 large Regional Centres. WMP will deliver this through internal and

external recruitment, exit schemes, redeployment and cross-government working, ensuring

that the transition to Regional Centres is as smooth as possible.

Organisation Design and Development (OD&D) – Rebekah Ayres

OD&D delivers an expert design service to HMRC as the Department

considers its future preferred operating model. In addition to the design

service, the OD&D directorate leads on HMRC’s Engagement and Culture,

Diversity and Inclusion, Talent and Learning and Skills.

Civil Service HR

The Civil Service HR Function is led by the Chief People Officer, Rupert McNeil. It leads and

co-ordinates HR and people activities across the workforce of over 400,000 Civil Servants.

It also has a broad remit ensuring the Civil Service continues to build and develop as a

confident, professional and expert organisation that delivers the commitments of the

governments of the day and provides excellent service to citizens.

Since 2010, and the launch of the Civil Service Reform in 2012, civil servants have helped

transform the way government operates, improving the quality and efficiency of services at a

time of challenging public finances. In order to continue this, Civil Service HR has a role to

play in developing leaders who are confident, empowering and inspiring, who are able to lead

departments and functions through to 2020 and beyond.

The central teams within Civil Service HR also have responsibility for a number of central

workforce activities and policy areas, as well as the provision of learning and leadership

development, recruitment of top talent and the management of corporate talent

programmes.

Whilst playing an integral leadership role in HMRC, the HMRC CPO will be also be a valued

member of the Civil Service’s HR leadership team.

Civil Service Leadership Statement The Civil Service Leadership Statement explicitly sets out the three key characteristics that

are expected from all leaders across the Civil Service:

Inspiring – about our work and its future

Confident – in our engagement with others

Empowering – to allow our teams to deliver

Civil Service Leadership Statement - GOV.UK

Civil Service Code All Civil Servants are subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Code that details the Civil

Service values (honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity), standards of behaviour and

rights and responsibilities. For further information please visit The Civil Service code -

GOV.UK

Biographies

Jon Thomson

Jon was appointed Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of HM

Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in April 2016, after more than three

years as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence. Prior to

joining the Civil Service in 2004, Jon had a mixed public/ private

sector career working for Norfolk County Council, Eagle Star and

then Ernst & Young where he managed public services consultancy

and audit services for the South West.

Rupert McNeil

Rupert McNeil was appointed Chief People Officer at the Cabinet

Office in January 2016. He joined the Civil Service from Lloyds

Banking Group, where he was Group HR Director. Rupert began his

career at the Confederation of British Industry before becoming a

partner in Deloitte and Arthur Anderson. Since then he has worked

for Barclays Bank PLC and Aviva.

Further information

HMRC website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs

HMRC Single Departmental Plan

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-single-departmental-plan-2015-to-

2020/single-departmental-plan-2015-to-2020

Building our Future – Transforming the way HMRC serves the UK

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/450017/B

oF_-_Transforming_the_way_HMRC_serves_the_UK_-_2015.pdf

The Role

Salary: £140,000 per annum

The Chief People Officer in HMRC is a key strategic leadership role in one of the biggest

Departments in central government. HMRC is at the vanguard of Civil Service reform,

driving unprecedented transformation at an accelerated pace.

The CPO is responsible for the people agenda across HMRC. This role is pivotal to delivering

the large-scale workforce planning, leadership and skills elements of HMRC’s transformation

and will be a critical driver of HMRC’s “Building Our Future” programme.

With a budget of almost £90million a year, the CPO leads HMRC’s 900 FTE strong HR

community in delivering HMRC’s transformation agenda. The CPO reports directly to the

Chief Executive, is a member of HMRC’s Executive Committee and has line management

responsibility for three Directors and four Deputy Directors.

The CPO also has overall accountability for HR strategy, HR operations across HMRC’s lines

of business and HR Shared Services.

Key responsibilities include:

Delivering HMRC’s people priorities, as set out in the HMRC and HR business plans

Raising leadership and management capability across HMRC

Resourcing a professional, operational organisation with a complex workforce

forecast

Delivering a flexible, accountable and modern HR Operating Model

Delivering a specialist organisation design service

Governance and delivery of HMRC’s learning and talent activities including the

delivery of a modern learning offer to HMRC’s people

Overseeing the delivery of HR services

Driving the engagement of HMRC’s people and delivering improved engagement

across the organisation.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will be an outstanding strategic leader capable of balancing both

strategic and operational HR priorities and acting as an advocate for change.

Candidates will also need to demonstrate their capability and potential against the following

criteria:

Extensive experience of providing visible leadership within a large, complex

operational organisation, with a proven ability to develop a motivated, engaged and

high-performing workforce

A clear record of success in delivering significant performance and cultural

transformation within a large organisation

Political sensitivity and understanding, with a proven ability to secure the confidence

of senior internal and external stakeholders, Board-level colleagues and chief

executives

The ability to build highly effective, influential and collaborative relationships across

Government or industry, with external organisations and individuals

The resilience to work under sustained pressure and scrutiny, and lead effectively

through ambiguity

Strong analytical ability, with the ability quickly to distil large amounts of information

from a variety of sources into sound recommendations

The Selection and Recruitment Process

Application Instructions

By email (preferred): Responses@RussellReynolds.com

Or, by post: Russell Reynolds Associates

c/o Jennifer Wong

1606-020L

Almack House

28 King Street

London SW1Y 6QW

Closing date for applications is Monday 25 July 2016

All applications must include the following:

The reference number 1606-020L in the subject line.

A short covering letter of not more than two A4 sized pages explaining why this

appointment interests you and how you meet the criteria as detailed in the candidate

profile.

A current CV with educational and professional qualifications and full employment history,

giving details where applicable of budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant

achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for absence within the last two years.

Names of at least two professional referees who may be contacted at short list stage, i.e.

before final interview.

Confirmation from you that you are happy for Russell Reynolds Associates or its client to

undertake any necessary background checks, including career, credit and qualifications, or

similar at the appropriate stage in the process. No checks will be undertaken without your

prior knowledge.

Notification of any dates you are unable to accommodate within the indicative timetable

set out in the previous section.

Your mobile number – and any other useful contact telephone numbers – together with

your preferred e-mail address which will be used for all correspondence between us.

Monitoring Forms for completion at Annex 1, including a Guaranteed Interview Scheme if

applicable – see details in Annex 2.

Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles

Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open

competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Commission has two primary functions:

Providing assurance that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the

basis of fair and open competition. For the most senior posts in the Civil Service, the

Commission discharges its responsibilities directly by overseeing the recruitment process

and by a Commissioner chairing the selection panel.

Hearing and determining appeals made by civil servants under the Civil Service Code which

sets out the Civil Service values – Impartiality, Objectivity, Integrity and Honesty - and

forms part of the relationship between civil servants and their employer.

More detailed information can be found at on the Civil Service Commission website:

http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk.

Overview of the process

Short listing of candidates will be undertaken by assessing the information provided in your

CV and covering letter against the criteria as set out in the candidate profile. Shortlisted

candidates may be asked to undergo a series of tests before sitting a final panel interview. The

assessment process may also involve other forms of assessment, including a requirement for

candidates to meet with key stakeholders, to support the panel’s decision making. Full details

of the selection and assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates once

the sift has been completed.

Shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to speak to the Chief Executive, Jon

Thompson, prior to the final selection panel interview to learn more about the role and the

organisation. There may also be the opportunity to speak to other members of the HR Senior

Leadership Team on an informal basis to find out more about what working in HR in HMRC

is like.

The selection panel will consist of:

Angela Sarkis, Civil Service Commissioner (Panel Chair)

Jon Thompson, Chief Executive HMRC

Rupert McNeil, Civil Service Chief People Officer, Cabinet Office

Clare Moriarty, Permanent Secretary, Defra

The final selection panel will be held at 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ.

Indicative Timetable

Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change.

Closing date for applications: Monday 25 July 2016

Final short listing: From w/c 29 August 2016

Panel interviews: From w/c 12 September 2016

Contact Details

For further information about the role, please call Russell Reynolds Associates on:

+44 (0) 20 7343 3637.

Diversity and Equality

HMRC has a strong commitment to diversity and equality of opportunity. HMRC is

committed to appointing diverse, talented and high-performing individuals and welcomes

applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual

orientation, religion or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from

women and BME candidates in particular are encouraged. Annex 1 includes Monitoring

Forms for completion.

Nationality

To be eligible for employment you must be a national from the following countries:

The United Kingdom

The Republic of Ireland

The Commonwealth*

A European Economic Area (EEA) Member State

Switzerland

Turkey

Certain family members of EEA, Switzerland and Turkish nationals are also eligible to apply

regardless of their nationality.

(*Commonwealth citizens not yet in the UK, who have no right of abode in the UK and who do

not have leave to enter the UK are ineligible to apply.)

For further information on whether you are eligible to apply, please visit Gov.UK.

Security Clearance

Before the appointment of the successful candidate can be confirmed, the Department will

undertake background security checks. As part of this, we will need to confirm your identity,

employment history over the past three years (or course details if you were in education),

nationality and immigration status, and criminal record (unspent convictions only).

The successful candidate must hold or be willing to obtain security clearance to Security Check

(SC) clearance level before taking up post.

Conflicts of Interest

Candidates must note the requirement to declare any interests they may have that might cause

questions to be raised about their approach to the business of the Department. They are

required to declare any relevant business interests, shareholdings, positions of authority,

retainers, consultancy arrangements or other connections with commercial, public or

voluntary bodies, both for themselves and for their spouses/partners.

The successful candidate will be required to give up any conflicting interests and his/her other

business and financial interests may be published.

If you believe you have a conflict of interest please contact Russell Reynolds Associates before

submitting your application.

Pre-Appointment enquiries

HMRC will carry out enquiries into the successful candidate’s nationality, health and other

matters before a formal offer of appointment is made. This will include checks into previous

tax compliance. Subject to satisfactory completion of all pre-appointment enquiries, the

successful candidate will be invited to take up the post as soon as possible.

Complaints

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of

fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment

Principles, which can be found at: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2015/04/RPApril2015.pdf

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment

Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact

Claudette.thomas@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk, HMRC HR in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact

the Civil Service Commission at:

http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/

Terms, Conditions and Benefits

Appointment Term: Permanent

Location: London or Midlands. If based in one of HMRC’s strategic locations in the Midlands the successful candidate will need to be able to spend a large proportion of each week in London.

Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

Working arrangements: This role is available for full-time, part-time or flexible working arrangements (including job share arrangements)

Salary range: This post is at Senior Civil Service Payband 3 level. The salary range is £106,000 - £208,100.

Being mindful of the scrutiny on public sector pay, external candidates should expect their salary on appointment to be £140,000 per annum. Salary and terms of appointment for an existing Civil Servant will be in line with the normal Civil Service pay rules.

Pay awards are made in line with current SCS performance related pay arrangements. In addition there will be the opportunity to earn performance related bonuses.

Pension: Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where:

the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension;

your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken;

your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire.

For more information, visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/pensions.

Leave Allowance: Full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days’ leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day for the Queen’s Birthday. The allowance is pro-rated for part-time staff.

With competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave we also recognise the importance of a good work-life balance and offer flexible working and a family friendly approach to work.

Training and Development: We are committed to investing in our staff and offer a range of work based training and qualifications, coaching and mentoring opportunities and a guaranteed five days of learning a year.

Other benefits: Childcare – the Department recognises that many staff balance working lives with the demands of family like and offers support with childcare and holiday play scheme costs by providing childcare vouchers for staff who meet the eligibility criteria.

Interest free season ticket and bicycle loans

Annex 1 - Diversity Monitoring Questionnaire

As part of its equal opportunities policy, everyone who is eligible to join HMRC whatever their

nationality, ethnic origin, age, religion, sex, gender, identity, marital status, disability, sexual

orientation or working hours, should receive equal treatment when applying for jobs. To find out

whether this policy is working and to take steps to ensure further progress is made towards achieving

our equal opportunities goals, we are therefore asking you to complete the following questionnaire.

Your answers will be treated confidentially and will not affect your job application in any way.

We thank you in advance for your co-operation

Part A: Gender

Male

Female

Part B: Age

Under 25 45-49

25-29 50-54

30-34 55-59

35-39 60-64

40-44 65+

Part C: National Identity

What do you consider your nationality to be?

British

English

Irish

Scottish

Welsh

Other (please specify if you wish)

Part D: Ethnic Background

What is your ethnic background?

Asian Mixed ethnic background

Bangladeshi

Indian

Pakistani

Other Asian background (specify below if

you wish)

Asian and White

Black African and White

Black Caribbean and White

Other mixed ethnic background (specify below

if you wish)

Black

White

African

Caribbean

Other Black background (specify below if

you wish)

Any White background (specify below if you

wish)

Chinese Other ethnic background

Any Chinese background (specify below if

you wish)

Any other ethnic background (specify below if

you wish)

Other information you wish to specify

Part E: Disability monitoring

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) defines a disabled person as someone with a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect of at least one year on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Do you consider yourself to be disabled as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act?

Yes

No

If you are selected for interview will you require any additional arrangements at interview? If so please

specify below:

Part F: Sexual orientation

Which of the following best describes how you think of yourself?

Bisexual

A gay man

A gay woman / lesbian

Heterosexual

Other (please specify)

Part G: Religion

What is your religion?

No Religion

Buddhist Jewish

Christian Muslim

Hindu Sikh

Any other religion (please specify)?

Please return the completed questionnaire together with your application form.

This form will not be disclosed to anyone involved in assessing your application.

Data Protection Act 1998

The information provided on this form will be used for monitoring purposes only.

Annex 2 - Guaranteed Interview Scheme We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. By ‘minimum criteria’ we mean that you must provide us with evidence in your application form which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of competence required for each competence, as well as meeting any of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential. HMRC is committed to the employment and career development of disabled people (the minimum criteria means the essential competences as set out in the advertisement for the post). To show this we use the Disability Symbol awarded by Jobcentreplus. What do we mean by disability? The Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and adverse long-term effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. How do I apply? If you want to apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme simply complete the declaration below and send it in with your application. We will try to provide access, equipment or other practical support to ensure that if you have a disability you can compete on equal terms with non-disabled people. DECLARATION I consider myself to have a disability as defined above and I would like to apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. I require the following special arrangements to be made for me to be able to attend an interview or assessment centre:

NAME

SIGNATURE*

DATE

* There is no need for a signature if you are submitting the form electronically Please return the completed form with your application

ANY FALSE DECLARATION OF DISABILITY TO OBTAIN AN INTERVIEW WILL SUBSEQUENTLY

INVALIDATE ANY OFFER OF A POST

OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL (on completion)

5

Annex 3 - Declaration Of Interests

Name:

Role:

Employment (to include any consultancy)

Directorships and partnerships: shareholdings, share options etc.

Trusteeships of charitable or voluntary sector bodies, public appointments etc. (paid

and unpaid)

OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL (on completion)

6

Positions held (whether remunerated or not) in outside bodies:

This covers positions (short of trusteeships) in charities and voluntary sector bodies,

professional bodies, trade or other associations, school governorships, trade unions and any

other body including other public appointments.

Relevant interests of close family members etc.

I confirm that the above declaration is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. If

you are appointed to a position within Government you must ensure that you notify your

employer of any changes to your interests.

This information is provided in confidence to the Cabinet Office and the recruiting

Department.

Signature………………………… Date………………….

Any other interests: anything you feel should be declared but is not covered by the above

categories.

Declaration of bankruptcy or insolvency: If you have ever been made bankrupt or insolvent

please report the details in the space below.