Seeing the Big Picture
Anticipate policy, sector and political context. Frame decisions in terms of ministerial and departmental priorities, not just team delivery.
Civil Service G7 behaviours: what panels expect at Grade 7
Grade 7 Civil Service interviews assess up to 5 behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. The behaviours are the same as at every grade — the bar is higher. Panels look for cross-team scope, senior influencing, and evidence of setting direction rather than delivering a single task.
How G7 answers differ from HEO/SEO
- Scope — pick examples that span multiple teams or a whole service, not a single project.
- Stakeholders — name SCS, other government departments, ALBs, or ministerial private office.
- Trade-offs — G7s are expected to hold conflicting priorities and explain how they balanced them.
- Outcome — quantify at organisational, not team, level (£M, thousands of users, policy impact).
The 9 behaviours at G7 level
Changing and Improving
Lead change across teams or a directorate. Build the evidence case, secure buy-in from senior stakeholders, and manage risk through the transition.
Making Effective Decisions
Weigh incomplete evidence, financial trade-offs and political sensitivity. Own the decision, explain your reasoning, and be accountable for outcomes.
Leadership
Set direction for multiple teams. Model Civil Service values under pressure and coach SEOs to deliver through their people.
Communicating and Influencing
Influence senior stakeholders (SCS, other departments, external bodies). Distil complex analysis into ministerial-ready messaging.
Working Together
Broker cross-Whitehall or cross-sector partnerships. Resolve conflict at senior levels and share credit.
Developing Self and Others
Build capability across your area. Actively grow successors and address underperformance early.
Managing a Quality Service
Own a service portfolio. Balance quality, cost and risk; hold delivery teams to published standards.
Delivering at Pace
Drive delivery across programmes with dependencies. Protect quality and wellbeing while meeting political deadlines.
Worked G7 STAR example — Leadership
Question
Tell us about a time you led a team through significant change.
- Situation
- Three delivery teams (28 staff) were merging into a single unit following a Spending Review settlement that cut headcount by 15%.
- Task
- As G7 I was asked to lead the merger, redesign the operating model, and keep delivery of two critical services running through the transition.
- Action
- I ran individual 1:1s with all 28 staff in the first fortnight, published a written operating-model paper for consultation, and stood up a joint SEO leadership group I coached weekly. I renegotiated one SLA with the policy sponsor to protect quality during the change.
- Result
- All redeployments landed by target date, staff-survey engagement rose 12 pts, and both services stayed within SLA every month of the transition. The operating model was reused by two other directorates.
Practise G7 answers with STAR scoring
Interviewr generates Civil Service questions tuned to your grade and scores STAR answers against the level descriptors panels actually use.