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

Public Services 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. 

Health and Care Spending Team

We are responsible for Treasury’s oversight of over £190 billion of government spending in health and adult social care – accounting for over a quarter of all day-to-day public spending! We work collaboratively with the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) and its Arm’s Length Bodies  (including the NHS), No10 and the Cabinet Office, and external partners including NHS leaders and Local Authorities. Not only do we set budgets and monitor performance, we also look to deliver real value to the public and drive forward a long-term vision to make health and care services productive and sustainable into the future.

Policy Advisor - NHS Pay and Pensions

This role is an exciting and challenging post with significant exposure to seniors and special advisors across Whitehall, along with HMT ministers. The role sits within the NHS workforce and patient safety team, reporting to the Head of NHS Strategy, Policy and Delivery.

This is a stretching portfolio with significant senior stakeholder engagement, as well as the opportunity to brief and advise Ministers on a range of high-profile and complex policy issues. It is a cross-cutting and dynamic role that offers the opportunity to gain exposure to policy issues across HM Treasury, develop an understanding of how we manage public spending and collaborate with teams across HM Treasury and other Government departments. NHS pay costs over £70 billion annually, making up around 45% of NHS budgets. Alongside this, we work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care in considering NHS workforce needs.

You will play an integral role in the team responsible for setting the Treasury’s overall approach and strategy for NHS pay, including leading the pay round process. You would be joining the team at an incredibly interesting time, given ongoing industrial action and the wider economic context. You will also be responsible for NHS workforce approvals, including pay cases, severance cases and Mains and Supplementary Estimates for pensions, and measures at fiscal events.

You don't need to be a policy professional or have any specific qualifications to succeed in the role, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds. We are looking for a candidate who is confident in handling data, working with Microsoft Excel and who is able to draw evidenced conclusions from the data that we work with. The successful candidate will also be able to bring enthusiasm and motivation to the role, helping to build a positive team dynamic.

Key accountabilities for the role will likely focus on matters relating to NHS workforce funding but will be tailored to the experience and interests of the successful applicant and needs of the team. These accountabilities could include:

1. Ensuring the Treasury strategy for NHS aligns with the broader public sector pay strategy. This involves leading the input to NHS pay rounds, which set pay for the 1.4m NHS workers, forging strong relationships with colleagues in the Treasury, DHSC and No10. You will lead on all health aspects of the evidence to the pay review bodies, providing advice to Ministers and feeding into the broader strategy and advice. You will also be responsible for monitoring and advising on the response to industrial action and working with DHSC and No10 to mitigate its impact on the NHS. As part of this, you will have ownership for the estimations for pay and industrial action costs in changing circumstances.
2. Support on NHS pension policy – you will work closely with DHSC and others across Government, including the Government Actuary’s Department, and feed into broader Treasury public sector pension strategy. You will analyse data and develop expertise on the impact of pension changes on the NHS workforce – including on recruitment and retention - to provide evidence-based briefing and advice when needed.
3. Work flexibly on other priority policy areas as needed – there is scope to lead on other priority NHS policy issues and opportunities within both the branch and broader team.

Candidate Drop-In Session 
 
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 appropriate link below to join the call at the right time. 

14:30 Friday 19 July – teams link

11:30 Tuesday 23 July – teams link

If you would like to find out more informally prior to the closing date for applications, please contact the recruiting line manager Ellie Snooks (ellie.snooks@hmtreasury.gov.uk).

Person specification

Required Skills, Experience and Behaviours: 

The below criteria will be assessed in your application form. 

1. Making Effective Decisions: Ability to draw out key messages from complex information and make recommendations to others.
2. Communicating and Influencing: Ability to understand technical concepts and communicate complex information to non-expert audiences.
3. Delivering at Pace: Ability to manage competing priorities and meet immediate deadlines while progressing longer-term pieces of work.

The lead criteria is: Making Effective Decisions: Ability to draw out key messages from complex information and make recommendations to others.

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; 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. 

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,710, HM Treasury contributes £8,561 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, Experience and Technical skills.

Recruitment Timeline 

• Closing date: 28/07/2024
• Shortlisting: w/c 29/07/2024
• Interviews: w/c 05/08/2024

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.

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.