Policy Adviser - Public Services

About HM Treasury

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives across the country, the Treasury is the department for you! We sit at the centre of everything that the Government does and have provided advice on economic policy and decisions that affect the public finances throughout the country’s history. A Treasury career continues to offer an exciting opportunity to be part of the decision making that affects the whole of the UK.

Working at the heart of government, we collaborate with other departments to ensure public money is spent well and to drive strong and sustainable economic growth. Our work ranges from protecting customers through to the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, supporting people across the country through the COVID 19 furlough scheme and Plan for Jobs as well as helping first time buyers buy their first home.

HM Treasury is proud of a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to fairness and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all. We know that having a range of experiences, ways of working and thinking makes us a stronger organisation, better at developing policy that is reflective of the communities we serve. We embrace different views and experiences and value the fresh perspective that people from a variety of circumstances bring to the work we do. We welcome applications from candidates who have not previously worked for the Civil Service, mid- and late-career changers with transferrable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, gender, age ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.

About the Group

The Public Services Group is at the heart of the Treasury’s work to secure strong and sustainable public finances. We manage public spending of more than £250 billion across key public services and departments, including health, education, the police, the criminal justice system, local government, housing, defence and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

We do this by working with other government departments, ministers, and other Treasury teams to ensure that spending plans support high quality public services and provide value for money for the taxpayer.

Our roles offer a range of opportunities to work with senior leaders in other government departments, as well as helping to ensure the effective delivery of public services that so many people rely on.

About the Team

The Devolution Team is a friendly team of around 20 people, with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. We are currently based in London, Darlington and Scotland. The team is responsible for the Treasury’s strategic approach to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, sitting across the Treasury’s finance and economic ministry functions. We work closely with colleagues in the devolved administrations, across Whitehall, and the whole department to:

• Manage the funding arrangements for the devolved administrations and Territorial Offices;
• Promote Treasury’s interests within the UK Government’s constitutional and Union policy;
• Advise on economic and fiscal policy interventions by the UK Government in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;
• Increase Treasury’s devolution capability.

Key Accountabilities

This is an exciting role in a high-profile and fast-paced policy area. The role will require the ability to develop and influence policy development across the full range of Treasury business, including at the fiscal events.

This role would suit someone who is able to navigate complex political and technical issues, influencing across Treasury, Whitehall and the devolved administrations.

The exact scope of the role is subject to change depending on work pressures, but key responsibilities are expected to include leading on:

• Spending Reviews and in-year spending control for the Territorial Offices (the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and the Northern Ireland Office), working closely with finance and policy teams at the Territorial Offices, as well as HMT teams.
• Assessing the funding implications of policy developed by the Territorial Offices, working closely with policy and finance teams at the Territorial Offices, as well as Cabinet Office and HMT teams.
• Overseeing and monitoring the delivery of Northern Ireland Funding Packages, working closely with the Northern Ireland Office.
• Influencing work across Whitehall and the Treasury on Union policy, to ensure that the government delivers for people across the UK.
• Preparing correspondence, PQs and briefing on lead policy areas.

Required Skills, Experience and Behaviours

The below criteria will be assessed in your application form:

The lead criterion is:

• Developing clear and compelling messages and delivering them effectively to get agreement to change from a wide range of partners, using evidence to challenge, negotiate and resolve differences. (Communicating and Influencing).

If we receive large volumes of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criterion only.

We will assess the below further criteria in your application form;

• Analysing and assessing evidence and data to develop policy recommendations (Making Effective Decisions).
• Ability to deliver top quality output within pre-set and often tight deadlines as well as developing and implementing longer-term strategies. (Delivering at pace).

Candidate Guidance on Completing your Application Form

Where will we assess criteria across your application form:

• Behaviours – these will be assessed individually with a 250-word statement per behaviour. The application form will indicate which behaviour is being assessed each time you provide a statement, and we are ideally looking for an example using the below STAR method to demonstrate this behaviour in line with the full criteria stated.

All elements of the success profiles will be linked to a defined criterion that demonstrates the behaviour, experience or technical skills. It is beneficial to ensure your answer focuses on the full criteria, and not just the related success profile, to give you the best chance or providing the evidence the panel wants to assess.

In your statements, it is best to focus on one example in each section to allow you to provide enough detail in your answer and use all the words you have been allocated. Examples from a range of roles across your application will demonstrate that you have the skills, experience and behaviours we are looking for. We would also advise you to use examples that best meet the criteria, even if it is a few years old.

How to Structure your Answer

Please use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) approach when writing your application answers.

• Situation – Describe the situation you found yourself in and what happened.
• Task – The Hiring Manager will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation that you found yourself in.
• Action – What actions did you take and how did you do it. Make sure to use “I”, not “we” to explain how your actions lead to a result.
• Result – Use facts and statistics to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.

Notes to Candidates

• Please refer to the candidate FAQ document which is a link on the job advert – this will provide you with guidance on completing the application form. Please contact hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk if you have any issue accessing this document
• At HM Treasury, to maximise diversity and inclusion within our workforce, we operate a fair, open and anonymous recruitment process. This means that the sift panel will only be able to assess you on the written evidence supplied in your application answers. They will not have access to personal information.
• You may be asked to provide some CV details during your application; however these will NOT be assessed during the process, but will be used to support discussions at interview – please ensure you put all information you would like to be scored against in your behaviour, experience and technical skill statements
• You will be assessed on your skills, experience and behaviours through the online application form. When completing your application form, please outline how you meet the requirements as detailed in the ‘Essential Criteria ‘section of this job description. This will give you the best chance to provide the evidence that the panel wants to assess. More guidance can be found here – completing you application
• If we receive a large number of applications, applications will be assessed initially against the lead criterion alone. You will then be assessed against the other criteria if you have met the minimum score on the first criterion.
• Find out more about how the Civil Service assesses candidates and uses Success Profiles (opens in a new window) to test skills, experience and behaviours in applications and interviews.
• Applications are not reviewed until the closing date has passed. You will be notified of the outcome of your application as soon as the recruitment panel has reviewed all the applications.

Recruitment Led Candidate Guidance Session – Microsoft Teams

We will be running an overview of Success Profiles and the STAR approach; top tips for the application and interview process and an opportunity to ask general questions around our recruitment practices. If you would like to join us, then use the link below to join the call at the right time.

Wednesday 19th April 12:30 – 13:15 Click here to join the meeting

Hiring Manager Led Candidate Drop-In Session – Microsoft Teams

We will be running a candidate drop-in session for this role to give you greater insight about the role as well as the chance to learn more about HM Treasury and the recruitment process. If you would like to join us, then use the link below to join the call at the right time.

Friday 28th April 12:00 - 12:30 Click here to join the meeting

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

• 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King's birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant)
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 27%
• Onsite restaurant and coffee bar. The London office also offers a gym, showers and prayer room
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving
• Access to a retail discounts and cashback site
• A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity (e.g. women in the Treasury, ethnic minority network, LGBT* network, faith and belief network)

Flexible Working Arrangements

HM Treasury views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including; working from home, compressed hours and job sharing. Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month, providing you work enough hours to meet business need.

We also offer a generous parental and adoption leave package.

At HM Treasury we have an incredibly broad remit; our work touches every citizen of the country. So, it’s important our employees come from the widest possible range of backgrounds, bringing us the widest possible range of perspectives and ways of thinking. We are committed to ensuring that all staff are able to realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

HM Treasury offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your workplace location, and from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

Job contact :

Name :
Sarah White
Email :
sarah.white@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Recruitment team :

Email :
hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk