Setting strategic direction at Grade 6 requires more than producing a plan. The Grade 6 and Grade 7 Civil Service interview guide can help you prepare the senior choices and leadership evidence now, before the panel tests how you moved people from uncertainty to a clear direction.
Question
“Tell me about a time you set a new strategic direction for a service or programme.”
What Is Being Looked For
The panel is looking for a clear reason the existing direction needed to change. Your answer should show how you used evidence, considered future constraints and created a direction that others could understand. Grade 6 evidence should include leadership across functions or organisational boundaries.
Use B-STAR to explain your belief about setting direction. The action should cover how you diagnosed the problem, developed options and involved the right people. Show where you made the final recommendation and how you handled disagreement or uncertainty.
Strategic direction must affect delivery. Explain how priorities, resource or governance changed after the decision. Avoid spending most of the answer on workshops or documents. The panel needs to hear your judgement and the consequences of the route you selected.
Prepare for a question about review. Senior direction should include measures or decision points that allow leaders to adjust when evidence changes. This shows that you set a path while remaining accountable for whether it worked.
Example Answer
I believe strategic direction should give people a clear basis for choosing what to do and what to stop doing. It must connect the long-term outcome with decisions teams can make now.
As Grade 6 lead for a national support programme, I inherited a delivery model built around equal provision in every region. Funding was reducing, demand was rising and outcome data showed that the need varied significantly. I was asked to recommend a sustainable direction for the next three years.
I analysed service use, cost and regional outcome data. I developed two delivery options and tested their assumptions with finance, policy and operational directors. The evidence supported a targeted model, but several regions were concerned about losing local provision. I met the affected leaders, listened to the risks and changed the proposal so a smaller universal offer remained alongside intensive support for the highest-need areas.
I presented the recommendation to the executive board with clear trade-offs and a phased implementation plan. I set outcome measures for reach, service quality and regional impact. After approval, I established a cross-directorate group with named accountability for each phase and stopped two lower-value activities that no longer supported the direction.
The board adopted the model for the next funding period. Resources moved toward the areas with the greatest need, and the first review showed improved take-up without a fall in service quality. The measures were retained for annual strategy reviews.
Use the Grade 6 and Grade 7 Civil Service interview guide before you finalise this example. A strong answer must show the choice you made and what changed, so prepare it now rather than discovering at interview that your evidence is mostly consultation.
