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.  

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

Financial Services Group

The Financial Services Group advises the government on how to promote a stable and efficient financial services sector, to deliver excellent outcomes for consumers and business, enhance the UK’s position as a global hub for financial services and support economic growth across the country.

The financial services sector is important to the UK economy – providing significant numbers of jobs and making a large contribution to the UK’s economic output. It also provides essential services to individuals – for example, helping them to purchase goods with ease, buy their first home, and plan for their retirement. During the COVID pandemic, it played a critical role in supporting individuals and businesses – for example, in providing payment holidays for individuals and businesses affected by the pandemic and working with the government to deliver Bounce Back Loans.

We ensure that financial services businesses such as banks, investment firms, financial advisors and insurers are well-regulated. Ensuring firms treat customers fairly, customers have access to a range of financial services as a result of competition in the market, and there are appropriate remedies in place when things go wrong.

We work on a significant international agenda which includes promoting openness and trading links between the UK and countries all around the world, including through Free Trade Agreements and other international dialogues and negotiations. To do this we work closely with colleagues in offices overseas from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office and the Department for International Trade.

Working with stakeholders is key in Financial Services – for example, we work closely with the independent regulators to help them fulfil their roles, consult consumer groups on issues affecting them, and work with the sector on wider issues like the net-zero agenda. 

The Green Finance Unit

The Green Finance Unit is an impactful and friendly team. We lead on policy and regulation for green finance, working closely with other government departments and the financial regulators.

Ensuring the UK’s finance sector can respond to the global transition to a resilient, nature-positive, net zero economy is at the core of what we do. This includes supporting the financial sector to unlock the investment needed to address climate change and biodiversity loss, empowering people to understand the environmental impact of their financial choices, and ensuring that the rapidly growing market for sustainable finance is well-regulated.

Green and Prudential Team

The Green Finance unit sits in the wider Green and Prudential (GAP). We are a friendly team with a multifaceted and high-profile remit, responsible for policy on green finance and prudential banking regulation.

About the Job

This exciting and stretching SEO role in the Green Finance Unit provides an exciting opportunity to shape the Government’s green finance agenda.

Green finance is one of the fastest growing trends in global finance. You will work collaboratively with colleagues across Government and the financial regulators to create innovative policies that will harness the financial sector to help drive the UK’s transition to a more sustainable economy. This includes:

1. Designing and implementing policies to ‘green’ the financial system. This includes developing policy to position the UK’s financial services sector to capture sustainability-related opportunities; ensuring the sector manages climate and environment-related risks; and supporting the mobilisation of necessary private finance needed to deliver transition to a resilient, net zero and nature-positive economy.
2. Leading engagement with financial regulators (including the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority) and departments across Whitehall (including Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Department for Business and Trade and DEFRA) to ensure that the Government’s approach to green finance policy and regulation is effective, proportionate, and coordinated. This includes autonomous project management, often between departments, and steering the agreement of positions across departments and regulators.
3. Working closely with Treasury legal advisers to explore legal implications across a range of policy options in order to deliver clear recommendations to seniors.
4. Delivering clear, high-quality advice for ministers and senior officials on complex financial services policy, with a particular emphasis on providing a compelling narrative on how policies fit with broader Government climate and environment policy and deliver on government objectives (such as growth).
5. Engaging with experts from industry, academia and NGOs to test policy ideas and identify emerging trends.
6. Promoting the UK’s approach to sustainable finance regulation both domestically and internationally, through preparing Ministers and seniors to engage with leading industry figures, at international forums, and with Parliament.

Candidate Drop-In Session – Microsoft Teams 
 
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 link below to join the call at the right time.  

Monday 17th June at 13:00-13:25: Join the meeting now

The current line manager is currently on paternity leave, returning 1 July, but if you would like to speak to the hiring manager or current post holder informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact: 

Hiring manager: Kim Wilkinson (kim.wilkinson@hmtreasury.gov.uk)

Post holder: Joanna Luck (Joanna.luck@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. Ability to build relationships and work effectively with partners, including senior staff across government and external stakeholders. (Working Together)
2. Ability to understand and analyse policy detail, identifying key issues and how they fit into overall government objectives to make policy recommendations. (Making Effective Decisions)
3. Ability to align work contribute to wider organisational priorities while remaining alert to emerging issues that might impact your work area. (Seeing the Big Picture)
4. Experience in climate and environmental policy and/or financial services knowledge. (Experience) 

The lead criterion is: Ability to build relationships and work effectively with partners, including senior staff across government and external stakeholders. (Working together) 

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 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.   

Wednesday 19th June @ 12:30: Join the meeting now

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,500, HM Treasury contributes £11,060 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: 30th June 2024 

Shortlisting: w/c 1st July

Interviews: w/c 15th July

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.

Location-Based Reserve Lists 

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a post immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be approached for roles in merit order according to the first preferred location stated on your application form. 

Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer. We would still encourage you to apply for other HM Treasury opportunities that you are interested in. If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or you are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances. 

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 Security Check (SC).  

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. 

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 security 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.