About the job

Job summary

About HM Treasury

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.  

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 stronger and better at developing policy that reflects the needs of every community. We embrace different views and experiences and value the new 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.  

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 

The Public Services Group is at the heart of Treasury’s work to secure sustainable public finances and drive economic growth. We manage public spending of more than £250bn. across key public services and departments, including health, education, 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, help the economy to grow and provide value for money for the taxpayer.  

Our roles offer a range of opportunities to work with senior leaders in other government departments and on the frontline of public services and ensure the effective delivery of public services. 

The Group is committed to being an excellent place to work, with a relentless focus on good management, learning and development and continuous improvement in everything we do. 

About the Team

The Education and Skills team is a high profile, friendly and supportive team with oversight of a range of areas – ranging from children’s social care and childcare through to schools, further education, and higher education. 

Our core role as a spending team is to advise Treasury ministers on education spending proposals, help the Department for Education to live within their budget, and work with DfE and other parts of the Treasury to ensure that we have an education and skills system which meets the needs of the future economy. 

We are a team of 17 people who put a strong emphasis on an inclusive and open culture that makes use of everyone’s talents! We are especially proud of our track record in helping our team members to develop and make the most of the opportunities available whilst being in the team.

About the Job

Are you interested in education policy and analysis, and how it can be used to contribute towards economic growth? The Head of Economic Policy & Analysis is uniquely placed to lead on this agenda. We have an exciting role on offer that would suit someone with an economic and analytical background, strong strategic policy skills, and an ability to engage effectively across HM Treasury, DfE, and wider Whitehall. This is a key role that will sit centrally across both the pre-16 and post-16 education branches, and at a great time to join the spending arm of HM Treasury, with a Spending Review approaching.

Among other responsibilities, you would be expected to:

• Lead and design the Treasury’s economic strategy for education and skills spending
• Work confidently with policy-makers, using a fluency with economic evidence and data to ensure policy decisions are made on the basis of the best available information and analysis.
• Prepare and produce high quality advice and briefing to ministers
• Build excellent working relationships with external academics, and stakeholders in HMT, DfE and wider Whitehall to partner in and influence policy development.

The key responsibilities of the post-holder will be:

1. Leading on the Treasury’s economic strategy for education and skills. We want a strategic thinker who can combine economic and analytical skills with a thorough understanding of the policy sphere, and deliver for the Treasury to create an economic strategy for education policy at fiscal events and the upcoming Spending Review. Your work here will represent the Treasury’s broader economic interests in education and skills, and balance these alongside fiscal considerations in partnership with the wider spending team. This means developing the Treasury’s position on how to prioritise spending in the education space to achieve economic objectives – and in doing so preparing key strategic analytical products and creating new internal governance processes to build and represent how education and skills can contribute towards productivity growth, and other priorities. You will need to be confident working with economic evidence and data, and have an ability to translate your analysis into strategic and digestible insight which can be used to influence policy decisions on a wide range of issues.
2. Providing regular economic and analytical input into in-year spending decisions. This role is responsible for representing the economic case for DfE spending decisions in advice to Treasury Ministers. This means working in partnership with policy leads and wider teams internally (including teams within Economics Group, Enterprise and Growth Unit, Labour Markets, and across Public Services) to produce analysis to shape the Treasury’s economic position on key education policy decisions. You will add to this work by leading analysis of relevant educational and economic datasets, and iterating this in partnership with wider Treasury and DfE teams. You will also need to autonomously and proactively build and maintain strong relationships internally with relevant Treasury officials, and supplement this by owning relationships with economists and analysts from DfE and other Government Departments. Using this engagement, alongside increased input from external academics and think tanks, you will be expected to produce structured analytical insights and use these to share expertise which can be used to influence and inform spending decisions.
3. Leadership and management. You will be responsible for managing one range D (HEO) who will lead on analysis of relevant economic and operational data for your branch, and provide support for design of the overall economic strategy on education and skills. The postholder will also perform a key leadership role in representing the team’s position with the wider Treasury’s Analytical Community as the Spending Review approaches.

You will also have the opportunity to lead on key cross-cutting policy issues independently to support the wider team.

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 12th January at 14:30: Click here to join the meeting

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 Harry Leech (Harry.Leech@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. Producing strategic thinking that can balance economic, fiscal and policy considerations in order to influence seniors and Ministers. (Seeing the Big Picture)
2. Strong economic and analytical skills, with the ability to synthesise a wide range of evidence to inform decision-making (Making effective decisions)
3. Building and maintaining strong networks across Whitehall and externally, using formal and informal working relationships to gain access to information, and coordinating governance processes to help deliver joint objectives. (Working Together) 

The lead criterion is: Seeing the Big Picture.

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

Candidate Guidance Support 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.  

Monday 15th January at 17:30: Click here to join the meeting

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: 17th January

Shortlisting: 19th January

Interviews:  w/c 22nd Janaury

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.  

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.

Individuals appointed to the Treasury Group will be subject to National Security Vetting. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out applicants will normally need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. A lack of UK residency in itself is not always a bar to security clearance but the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis using all information that can be obtained following a successful application.

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. 

For many roles, security clearance is also required. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements of the role before they can be appointed. The level of security clearance required for this role is Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) 

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 counter-terrorist check (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.