About the job

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.  

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.  

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you! 

Job description

About the Group:

Enterprise and Growth Unit

The Enterprise and Growth Unit (EGU) promotes sustainable economic growth and higher productivity for the UK. We provide analysis and advice on enterprise, innovation, private sector investment and a cost-effective transition to a low-carbon economy. The Enterprise and Growth Unit has a varied and exciting agenda and we work closely with a wide variety of other teams across the Treasury.  

We also work alongside other departments and government organisations to ensure that we are thinking creatively, spending wisely, and acting boldly to deliver these goals. These organisations are:

• the Department for Business and Trade,
• the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero,
• the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs,
• the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,
• the Department for Transport,
• the Department for Culture, Media & Sport,
• the Competition and Markets Authority,
• HM Land Registry, and
• UK Export Finance

About the Team

Economic Security and Resilience  

The Economic Security and Resilience (ES&R) Team in EGU covers high-profile and rapidly evolving policy areas. We are a friendly, collaborative, and high performing team, comprised of around 17 people.

ES&R works to enable resilient and secure economic growth in an evolving geopolitical environment by:

• Ensuring that resilience and security risks are embedded in the development of economic and growth policy within HM Treasury.
• Championing prosperity and growth in the development of economic security and resilience policy across Government, by ensuring proportionality and consideration of economic impacts. 
• Creating the environment that enables businesses and the public sector to respond to economic-based threats to national security and reduce supply chain vulnerabilities.

About the role

Economic Security and Resilience has risen rapidly up the global policy agenda, in the face of economic and geopolitical threats and shocks. HM Treasury (HMT) works with other government departments to respond. The post holder will be at the heart of this effort: delivering impactful, high-quality analysis that directly shapes policy across key priorities.

You will:

1. Use big picture economic understanding to tackle macro security and resilience trends, creatively shaping policy by helping to answer foundational questions at the intersection of prosperity and security:
   1. What can microeconomic theory tell us about the trade-offs between efficiency and resilience in UK supply chain resilience policy?"
   2. What is the economic impact of implementing tools and regulation that protect our national security and what framework should we apply to potential new policy interventions to assess this?
   3. What interventions should Government prioritise to ensure that sectors/firms which are important for the UK’s national security have the resources they need to scale and grow?
2. Develop in-depth knowledge of priority sectors, using this to support analytical assessment of their economic security and resilience implications. Key team focusses include:
   1. Emerging technologies – AI, Engineering Biology, Future Telecoms, Semiconductors and Quantum Technologies
   2. Critical goods – including healthcare, chemicals, critical minerals, and ICT goods.
3. Upskill HMT and wider government Economic Security colleagues in core economic concepts, helping them understand how these can be applied to deliver policy that meets security and growth goals.
4. Coordinate an overall analytical workplan for Economic Security and Resilience team, supporting the team’s senior leadership in setting objectives and milestones, working closely with analysts in Treasury and across Government to ensure coherence across workplans.
5. Further the team’s use of different qualitative and quantitative data sources and analytical approaches and upskill team members' ability to apply economic concepts to policy.
6. Collaborate closely as an analytical leader, with policy and analytical colleagues across HM Treasury; the wider government economic security and resilience community; and the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC).

You will do this through your:

• Knowledge and understanding of key economic debates, principles and techniques and ability to apply them innovatively to problems.
• Ability to lead, motivate and support delivery of high quality, creative analysis to inform policy.
• Strong communication skills including presenting analysis to non-analysts and using economic frameworks to support policy development.
• A track record of working closely and collaboratively with policy colleagues and managing stakeholders.

The post holder will be expected to have or be willing to undergo Developed Vetting (DV).

Candidate Drop-In Session 
 
The hiring manager 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 ask any questions you may have. If you would like to join us, then use the appropriate link below to join the call at the right time. 

18th July 2024 13:30-13:55 Join the meeting now

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact Chris.Payne@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Person specification

We are looking for the below skills, experience and behaviours and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application form. Please review the Candidate FAQ document that is attached to the advert for guidance on how to complete your application form.  

1. Seeing the Big Picture - Awareness of and ability to understand key economic debates, principles and techniques, and ability to apply them in creative and novel ways.
2. Working together – Ability to establish strong working relationships across organisational boundaries, especially where there are differences of opinion or perspective.
3. Making Effective Decisions: Ability to make informed analytical judgements amid uncertainty, drawing on a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence, especially where evidence is incomplete.

The lead criterion is: Seeing the Big Picture - Awareness of and ability to understand key economic debates, principles and techniques, and ability to apply them in creative and novel ways.

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

Candidate Guidance Support Session

We will be running an overview of Success Profiles and the STAR approach including top tips for the application and interview process and an opportunity to ask general questions around our recruitment practices. Please note that this session is not role specific, so we will be unable to answer specific questions about roles we are advertising. If you would like to join us, please use the link below to join the call at the right time.

Thursday 18th July at 12:30: Join the meeting now

Thursday 1st August at 12:30: Join the meeting now

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,960, HM Treasury contributes £14,299 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Recruitment Timeline 

• Closing date: 4th August 2024
• Shortlisting: w/c 5th August 2024
• Interviews: w/c 19 August 2024

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline. 

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile. 

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Eligibility Statement  

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information. 

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Developed Vetting (DV), however, candidates will join HM Treasury on Security Check (SC) clearance in the first instance. 

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants typically need to have lived in the UK for the past 10 years. In exceptional circumstances, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you.  Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.  

These short videos address common concerns and preconceptions which applicants may have about national security vetting.  If you have questions relating to security clearances, please contact HMTSecurityVetting@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.