Deputy Director Equality, Poverty and Children’s Evidence and Support

Purpose of post:

The Deputy Director Equality, Poverty and Children’s Evidence and Support Division is a key role in delivering the Welsh Government’s ambitious agenda to maximise fairness for all and eliminate inequality at every level of society. The role focuses on important policy areas which can make a difference to people and communities in Wales.

This is a significant leadership role within the analysis function, leading a team of around 45 people, and working with stakeholders across academia, the public and third sectors in Wales, with counterparts in other UK Governments.

A key part of the role will be working with diverse communities in Wales, involving and engaging with people and taking an intersectional approach to research.

The role covers the following main areas:

• Equality, Race and Disability Evidence Units – Equality Evidence Unit, Race Disparity Evidence Unit and Disability Disparity Evidence Unit. The Evidence Units’ aims to improve the availability, quality, granularity and accessibility of equalities evidence enabling decision makers to develop better informed policies and measure their impact. This will drive us towards better outcomes for people with protected and associated characteristics and contribute to a more equal Wales.
• Provision of analytical support for a number of key policy areas, which involves understanding the evidence needs and developing and delivering and evidence plan to meet these. Current areas of responsibility are:
• Equalities and Human Rights
• Tackling poverty and supporting families
• Community cohesion
• Early years
• The policy areas for analytical support could change as a result of the New Senedd in 2026
• Finance management for Communities and Social Justice Directorate

Key tasks:

The key tasks for this role will include but not limited to a combination of the following duties and responsibilities:

• Lead a multi-discipline team of around 45 people which works flexibly across a broad spread of responsibilities and provides opportunities for everyone to contribute and be recognised for their contribution and ensure the team have appropriate professional support and development.
• Provide analytical leadership to teams working on Communities and Social Justice and Upholding the requirements of the Code of Practice for Statistics, the Government Social Research Code and Government Economic Service Technical Framework and be accountable to the Chief Statistician, Chief Economist and Chief Social Research Officer on matters related to their profession.
• Build trust with stakeholders and, in particular, with members of external groups and accountability structures who will be relying on the team to produce evidence to support their work including the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan External Accountability Group; the LGBTQ+ Expert Panel, Disability Rights Taskforce and Child Poverty Strategy working group.
• As a member of the Analysis Function be part of the wider Welsh Government analytical profession leadership team as a member of the Strategic Evidence Board working closely with the Chief Statistician, Chief Economist and Chief Social Research Officer.
• Lead the Communities and Social Justice Directorate’s finance function and ensure effective arrangements are in place to manage a significant programme budget of approximately £150m with direct responsibility for a budget of £2m.
• Ensure that people’s lived experience is systematically built into analytical work across the areas of responsibility and share learning on lived experience evidence across government and the public sector more widely.

Office Requirements:

Welsh Government have a hybrid working model based on being in your contracted office when there is a business requirement or when it suits your individual preference. Our staff are able to work from alternative locations, including from home when there is no requirement to be in their contracted office. The advertised roles are being advertised on that basis and not on a remote basis.

Closing dates:

20/06/2025, 16:00