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

The aim of the Business and International Tax (BIT) Group is to provide strategic oversight of business, environmental, transport, property, VAT, excise taxes and customs duties that together raise revenue of over £400 billion a year. The Group works closely with other government departments and is outwards facing towards key stakeholders, including business, industry, interest groups and international counterparts, and there are opportunities to be part of this engagement at all levels.  

The work of the Group is vital to fund essential public services, while working with other Treasury Groups to support the government’s wider agenda – including supporting business investment and economic growth, developing and negotiating new customs arrangements following the UK’s departure from the EU; and delivering “Net Zero” carbon emissions by 2050. The Group’s high-profile portfolio make it a highly dynamic, flexible and interesting place to work.   

About the Team

The VAT and Excise Team is a lively, flexible, friendly team at the heart of HM Treasury’s tax agenda. The team provides ministers with advice on VAT, insurance premium tax (IPT), alcohol duties, tobacco duties, gambling taxes and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. Together, these raise around £200 billion a year. The team leads significant numbers of measures in fiscal events and generates a large amount of Chancellor and external interest.

The team has three units:

Domestic VAT: This team covers all domestic VAT including rates, reliefs, the VAT threshold, VAT strategy and day to day work on the smooth operation of the tax.

Domestic Excise: This team covers alcohol and tobacco duties, gambling taxes and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy as well as the planned vaping duty.

International VAT and Excise: This team covers cross-border VAT and excise including Import VAT, duty free, tax-free shopping and some digital transactions as well as international engagement and strategy including with the EU and regarding Northern Ireland.

About the Job

As the Head of EU and Northern Ireland VAT and Excise, you will initially have the following responsibilities, which are subject to ministerial priorities and the needs of the wider team.

1. Oversee our relationship with the European Union (EU) as a trading partner. This includes upholding our obligations under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement as well as scoping new and potential policy interventions for their impact on UK-EU trade, as well as resolving legacy issues relating EU Exit.
2. Lead ongoing work relating to Northern Ireland and the implementation of the Windsor Framework. Following the announcement of the Framework last year, we have now moved into a phase of ongoing and dynamic negotiations across EU and UK priority policies to ensure that the principles in the framework are upheld and the UK (including Northern Ireland) can get the maximum benefit from new freedoms.
3. Develop and lead wider international strategy work including our alignment with the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and bilateral cooperation.
4. Oversee any emerging devolution matters including the announced plans for Scottish VAT assignment. You will also be responsible for overseeing any ad-hoc issues relating to the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.

You will manage one Senior Executive Officer and will be responsible for overseeing their work, wellbeing and development. You will also be expected to be active participant in the wider leadership and management of the team including taking on corporate work.

HM Treasury is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We therefore welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. You don’t need to be a policy professional or have any specific qualifications to apply. We are looking for people who have the right set of skills for the role, who demonstrate the values of our organisation, and who are motivated to come and work with us on a range of issues that are at the core of how we spend money and deliver public services.

This role would suit you if you have excellent relationship-building skills, and strong presentation and negotiation skills. You should be able to pitch and plan sensitive conversations, manage tricky dynamics and present smoothly to an external audience. You should also have excellent problem-solving skills, cutting through quickly to core issues and developing solutions to complex problems. In addition, you should have strong written and verbal communication skills to explain technical issues clearly, concisely, and persuasively to a range of audiences including drafting high-quality correspondence and media lines. The role will suit you if you have a preference for a delivery-focussed working style. You will also supervise and lead several separate workstreams and will need to effectively prioritise between these, keeping track of and driving forward work in several areas at once, and often by delegating or delivering through partners.

Previous experience of working in an international or EU-facing role or a tax role would be an advantage but is not a requirement.   

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 Jasmine Krishnamurthy-Spencer jasmine.krishnamurthy-spencer@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.  

You will be assessed on the following criteria:

1. Excellent relationship-building with internal and external partners, using both personal and policy skills to influence, negotiate and effectively deliver objectives through partnerships (Working Together).
2. Resilience and a strong sense of personal accountability in the face of challenges, taking proactive action to resolve issues and deliver competing priorities to tight deadlines. (Leadership).
3. Ability to cut through technical detail to draw out key trade-offs and make balanced recommendations that reflect wider priorities. Creativity in seeking information and evidence to support your decision-making and in dealing with complex problems (Making Effective Decisions).

The lead criterion is: Working Together

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,960, HM Treasury contributes £14,828 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: from 5th August 2024

Interviews: week commencing 19th 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 Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) 

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 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 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.