We want you to succeed in your application to work for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. We have therefore put the following information together to provide you with important guidance that will help you when submitting your application to us. The Combined Authority follows a strict shortlisting process and to ensure your application is progressed to the next stage of the recruitment process, we strongly urge you to read this guidance.
If you have any technical difficulties when trying to submit your application, please contact us. Please note emails are picked up Monday–Friday 8am–6pm (excluding Bank Holidays). We will respond to you as soon as we can during these times. If you are having technical difficulties outside of office hours and you are unable to submit your application prior to a vacancy deadline, please contact us at recruitment@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.
Regardless of the role you’re applying for, preparation is key. Use our website to find out as much as you can about what we do. All applications are made via the online recruitment portal, unless stated otherwise. If you have a reasonable adjustment request in terms of applying via the online portal, please contact HR at recruitment@westyorks-ca.gov.uk as soon as possible.
The Combined Authority is passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better outcomes. We welcome applications irrespective of people's age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability. To find out more about inclusivity at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, please visit our dedicated inclusivity webpage.
Under the Disability Confident Scheme, applicants with a disability are guaranteed an interview, subject to the minimum criteria being met.
Whilst agile working is an option for most staff, there is an expectation that employees who work in an agile way spend a proportion of their working week at their office base, which for the majority of staff will be Wellington House in Leeds City Centre. The days and hours the postholder will be expected to be on site, will be discussed during interview.
Candidates will be notified of invitation to interview by email and interviews will be carried out either by phone, video or face to face. If you have any difficulty with the type of interview you are invited to, please inform the recruiting manager at your earliest convenience to enable them to consider an alternative solution.
Please note that whilst it is our policy to recruit at SP1 for all appointments, which is the salary stated on the job advert, each role includes career salary progression, with incremental increases applicable in most cases on an annual basis.
All new employees to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority are supported to demonstrate satisfactory performance within a 9-month period of their employment, in line with the Combined Authority’s Probation Policy and Procedure.
Candidate information will be retained by the Combined Authority for six months unless you make a request for this to be deleted.
The Application Form has 8 steps. The following sections will provide further guidance on what can be expected at each step.
This section is where you will input your personal details. It is really important to us that, wherever possible, we gather the personal data information for our applicants so that we have a true understanding of the diversity of those wanting to work for us. We do however understand that some applicants may wish to select ‘prefer not to say’ and we also respect that. We ask that you do not leave the personal details sections blank, and if you prefer not to provide your protected characteristics, please select ‘prefer not to say’ from the drop-down menu. If you would like to know more about how we use your personal data, please review the Combined Authority’s Privacy Notice for Applicants.
This section will cover the job requisition you are applying for, where you saw the vacancy advertised, the disability confident scheme opt-in and employment preferences.
The Combined Authority is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this scheme, please make sure to opt in within this section. For further information regarding this government scheme, please visit the Gov.UK website.
To prevent loss of data, we advise that you complete the content of the supporting statement offline and copy and paste your responses into the separate fields once completed.
The Supporting Statement has six separate fields reflecting areas under the ‘Person’ section of the Role Profile. This includes ‘Knowledge’ (2500 character limit), ‘People’ (2500 character limit), ‘Technical’ (3000 character limit), ‘Impact & Influence’ (1500 character limit), ‘Financial’ (1500 character limit), and ‘Any other relevant information’ (1000 character limit).
Please note that you can use the ‘Complete Later’ option to save your progress, but only after completing all six fields within the supporting statement. If you select ‘Complete Later’ midway through a field, your information in that section will not be saved, and unfortunately, there is no warning of this before exiting.
To avoid losing any content, be sure to complete all six fields before choosing 'Complete Later'. Once saved, you can revisit and revise any of the information you have entered into these fields.
Whilst we do not refer to essential and desirable criteria within the Role Profile, please note that the minimum criteria will be set out in the Advert under the ‘About You’ section of the advert. We strongly recommend that you read the section on ‘Understanding the Role Profile’. It is advisable to provide real examples from your skills, knowledge and experience wherever possible. You may have gaps in knowledge and experience that are listed within the Role Profile; however, you may feel that you have similar knowledge and experience that is transferable to the role. Please make this clear within this section to enable the Recruiting Manager to assess your transferable skills.
Please provide details of your current and previous roles, including job titles, employment dates, and main responsibilities for each position. When entering your current role, the end date field should be left blank.
Use the +Add button to include your qualifications in this section. You can either search for a listed qualification using the ‘lookup’ function or manually enter the details.
We also recommend including any professional memberships you hold in this section.
Whilst voluntary experience isn’t mandatory to be considered for the post, if you have any relevant voluntary experience that you feel supports your application please add it to this section.
Use the +Add button to add your referees to this section. Recruiting Managers will not see these details during the shortlisting process and HR will only contact your named referees once an offer of employment is made and accepted by the candidate.
Please tick the box to confirm that your application is true and accurate in order to submit.
Once you have completed the above steps, you will be able to select the ‘Finish’ button and submit your application to us.
We advise that you review the information you have provided before submitting your application, to ensure that you have included enough information to demonstrate your suitability for the role. When you are confident the application is ready to be sent, please click on ‘submit’.
Following the application being submitted you will receive an auto-generated email from noreply@westyorks-ca.gov.uk asking you to verify your email address. Please check your junk/spam folders for this email. If you do not verify your email address your application will not be submitted.
We recommend avoiding using a business email address, as some company systems block messages from the ‘noreply’ email address we use to verify your application. If you do not receive a confirmation email after submitting your application, please contact the recruitment team by emailing recruitment@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.
If you experience any difficulties with your application form, please email recruitment@westyorks-ca.gov.uk and the team will assist. If the closing date is imminent, please ensure you contact the team before the closing date passes.
If you commence your application and are unable to complete it straight away, providing you have moved past step 1, under the ‘More’ menu there is an option to ‘Complete Later’. Once this option is selected a link will be generated to the email address provided at Step 1. Please be aware this link will expire after 7 days. If you believe it will take you longer than 7 days to complete your application, ensure that you access your application form within 6 days of the link being sent and follow the steps above to ‘Complete Later’. This will generate a new link which will expire after a further 7 days. If you do not submit your application or generate a new link before the link expires, your application will be lost and a new application will need to be started to enable you to apply for the role.
Please ensure to save the progress you have made on your application, by clicking ‘Next’.
Once you've submitted your first application to the Combined Authority, you will receive an email confirming receipt. Please check your junk or spam folder if it doesn't appear in your inbox. This email will include a link to create a password and set up your account.
Creating an account will allow you to:
Setting up an account is optional but strongly recommended for ease of use in future applications.
If you have created an account to track your application, the status will appear as ‘Under Consideration’ if you are shortlisted. If you are not shortlisted, the status will update to ‘Unsuccessful’, and you will receive an automated email confirming this.
If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, the Recruiting Manager will contact you via email shortly after the closing date with details of the next stage of the recruitment process. Please ensure your contact details on the application form are accurate.
Please note, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted directly by the Recruiting Manager. If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has not been successful on this occasion. We regret that we are unable to provide feedback to applicants who are not shortlisted.
The role profile is made up of different sections and these are outlined below:
Organisational Context: Provides information on the vision of the organisation, as well as the local structure of the vacant post.
Job Overview: Summarises the tasks of the role
Critical Success Factors – Outlines the main tasks, outputs, and outcomes the postholder is expected to deliver. This is further broken down into the following areas:
The Person Acts as the Person Specification and outlines the knowledge, skills, and experience required for the postholder to effectively perform the duties of the role.
As you review the ‘Critical Success Factors’ and ‘The Person’ sections of the Role Profile, consider where your own skills, knowledge, and experience align with these areas. Think about specific examples you can draw on and include in your application to demonstrate how you meet the requirements. Some tasks in this section are marked with a (©) symbol—these are core elements, meaning they are common to roles of a similar level and type. For example, both a Finance Business Partner and a HR Business Partner may share core elements due to being at the same seniority level.
Other tasks are marked with a black bullet point (•)—these are role-specific elements that apply only to the particular role you are applying for. These sections are especially important, as they reflect the specific responsibilities and expectations of the position. When reviewing the criteria, please prioritise and reference these role-specific elements over those marked as core functions, as they provide a more direct view of your suitability for the role.
Continuing the example above, although HR and Finance Business Partner posts may share core elements, their role-specific duties would differ and be identified by these bullet points. You may find that you have experience in some, but not all, of the elements listed. In your application, focus on the skills and experience you do have that demonstrate your ability to meet the criteria for the role and use any transferable experience where necessary.
Although the skills listed under the ‘About You’ section of the advert represent the minimum criteria required to be considered for shortlisting (unless otherwise stated), if the role attracts a high number of applications, the Recruiting Manager may also refer to additional skills outlined in the Role Profile as desirable criteria during the shortlisting process.
We therefore encourage all applicants to provide as much relevant detail as possible in your supporting statement, highlighting the full range of their skills, including any transferable skills that may strengthen your application. If you have not been in paid employment before, you can include examples from your education, voluntary work, or personal interests that demonstrate relevant skills, knowledge, or experience.
Whilst a Role Profile may specify a particular qualification, it may also state that equivalent knowledge or experience is acceptable for some posts. In such cases, the postholder does not need the exact qualification, provided they can demonstrate comparable experience or hold an equivalent qualification. We recognise that many individuals gain the necessary skills and knowledge through work experience rather than formal education.
Please note:This flexibility does not apply to specialist roles that require a formal qualification to perform the duties - such as Lawyers or Accountants. When completing your supporting statement, please clearly explain how you meet the role requirements, whether through qualifications, relevant experience, or both.
All appointments are subject to satisfactory references. You will be asked to provide the names and email addresses of two referees that cover the previous three years. At least one referee should be your current or most recent employer. If you have not previously been employed you may select someone you know, for example a tutor from any recent education provider, or a character reference from a professional person you may know personally. However, referees should not be members of your family or friends.
If a role is subject to Vetting, this will be clearly stated in the job advert and job description. Where vetting is required, it will form part of the pre-employment checks, and the successful candidate must pass the vetting process to commence employment.
The West Yorkshire Police Vetting Unit will conduct background checks covering either a 3 or 5 year period. Applicants should be aware that it is not possible to make meaningful vetting enquiries in many jurisdictions outside the UK.
As a result, vetting clearance cannot be granted if the applicant has not been resident in the UK for the required minimum period, or if comparable checks cannot be made in the jurisdictions where they have lived. The relevant periods are three years for NPPV1&2 and five years for NPPV3. Further information related to Vetting can be found on our Vetting Guidance for applicants document.
Engaging in canvassing - either directly or indirectly - on behalf of an Elected Member or Senior Officer of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority may disqualify you from appointment to any role classified as Politically Restricted. You are required to declare any personal or professional relationship, no matter how remote, with any Elected Member or employee of the Combined Authority. The Role Profile will indicate whether the position is designated as Politically Restricted.
If you are politically active, please ensure this is disclosed in your application.
Criminal Records will be checked where relevant, in accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Thank you for your interest in working with West Yorkshire Combined Authority. If you have any questions or need further clarification regarding this guidance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Email: recruitment@westyorks-ca.gov.uk
Telephone: 0113 348 1515
