The Civil Service Commission – which regulates recruitment into the civil service – is seeking four new independent commissioners to help ensure that government appointments are made fairly, openly and on merit.
The watchdog is especially keen to find commissioners with experience of local government or an interest and expertise in Wales.
Established in 1855 to ensure civil servants were appointed on merit in open competitions, the commission has been an executive non-departmental public body independent of government and the civil service since 2010.
As part of that role, commissioners – who are paid a daily rate of £400 – chair recruitment competitions for senior-level appointments, audit wider recruitment campaigns and adjudicate on complaints in relation to recruitment and breaches of the civil service code. They also work with departments to raise awareness of the civil service code and promote civil service values.
In a video message published alongside the job details, first civil service commissioner Gisela Stuart said the commission would particularly like to appoint someone with special interest and expertise in Wales.
This, according to details in the job applicant pack, is so that the commission can “better reflect and support the government’s levelling up agenda and diversity in the civil service.”
Stuart’s video message also noted that, “if you have a local authority background and understand that area well from the inside you may be someone who can add to the entire expertise and skills of the Civil Service Commission team.”
Giving more details in the applicant pack, Stuart said potential commissioners should be “motivated by the importance of preserving the highest standards of conduct in public life” as well as being “strongly committed to the principle of appointment on merit to the civil service” and helping to get the best people into top civil service jobs.
Finally she said applicants should be “interested in what makes good regulation and how a regulator can act as a spur to improving practice and influencing change” in government.
The closing date for applications is 11 September, and more details can be found here.