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.  

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

Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions

We work to build a tax and welfare system that supports the government’s goals of fiscal sustainability, economic growth, and fairness. We look after high-profile areas including personal taxes, labour markets, welfare, tax administration, pensions, tax avoidance, and savings. We also coordinate spending controls for HM Revenue & Customs, Department for Work and Pensions. The Group is responsible for over £400bn in tax receipts and £300bn in welfare spending, impacting the lives of millions of citizens across the UK. 

Our work means that we are often at the centre of ministers’ decision making, and we play a significant part in the Budget and the Spending Review. We work closely with HMRC, DWP and Number 10, and with a wide variety of external stakeholders.

PTWP is a friendly, diverse, and inclusive Group, with a wide range of backgrounds and specialisms. We have an active ‘Wellbeing Plan’ focussed on learning and belonging.

About the Team

The Labour Markets and Distributional Analysis (LMDA) team is a friendly team of outstanding analysts and policy makers. We seek to bring together an understanding of households’ living standards and position in the labour market, with key labour market policies, such as DWP’s unemployment regime and tax-free childcare. 

Our part of the team; the Equalities & Living Standards Analysis (ELSA) branch is made up of six analysts. We support policy development across HMT by leading on both poverty, cost-of-living and general living standards-related analysis as well as equalities and disparities analysis. Both roles seek to improve our understanding of policy impacts on different groups in society. 

We work jointly with the Distributional Analysis branch, which is made up of around ten analysts, who advise Ministers on how tax and spending decisions impact on households. We also work closely with Macroeconomic Coordination & Strategy in Economics Group on the Cost of Living, and with the Equalities Policy Branch in Public Spending Group on equalities analysis.

The post holder would have the privilege of contributing to the Darlington office expansion, working closely with members of the team also based in Darlington, including the Senior Living Standards Analyst and Director of the wider Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions group.

About the Role

We analyse how economic shocks and public policy affect living standards, and whether any changes to these are felt evenly across different groups in society.  

We also work across HMT to track and proactively support the department in responding to Cost-of-Living issues, working closely with policy teams, private offices and the parliamentary branch. 

Our work provides an attractive blend of high-profile cross-cutting policy thinking and detailed analytical challenge and would perfectly suit an analyst looking to stretch both their analytical capability and policy skills, whilst working close to the centre of government. 

The post holder will work on the Living Standards and Poverty analysis side of the Equalities & Living Standards Analysis (ELSA) branch. However, there will be many opportunities for flexible working with the Equalities and Disparities Analysis side of the branch, as well as with our partner Distributional Analysis branch. 

This role is ideally suited to an analyst who is interested in using their analytical skills to dynamically shape narrative and strategy.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Building the evidence base on living standards: you will work to provide ministers with the best possible evidence on living standards
• Developing the Living Standards narrative: working with the Senior Analyst, you will lead HMT Living Standards briefing, communicating evidence on living standards to relevant teams in the department. This will include feeding in the Living Standards narrative analysis and narrative to fiscal events as required. 
• Influencing policy: you will lead ad-hoc analytical projects on different areas of policy, ensuring that advice on living standards, distributional impacts and equalities considerations are fed into policy development. 
• Coordinating across the Treasury: you will ensure policy work relevant to Living Standards across the department is joined up, contributing to the regular internal Living Standards Board. 
• Develop understanding: you will attend relevant forums and external events to keep up to date on topical policy issues and the latest evidence. 
• Supporting the department: you will lead on relevant debates, Freedom of Information requests, correspondence and Parliamentary Questions relating to living standards to answer the public questions on the topic. 
• Building strong relationships: you will build positive relationships across Treasury, other departments and beyond. This will help ensure our evidence and analysis is up-to-date and relevant to policy development. 

A working knowledge of SAS, R, similar software is helpful but not essential. However, a willingness to build these skills will be expected once in post.

Candidate Drop-In Sessions 
 
We will be running candidate drop-in sessions 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. 

Tuesday 5 March 17:00 – 18:00: Click here to join the meeting

Wednesday 13 March 18:00 – 19:00: 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 James Allen (james.allen@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.

Required Qualifications:

1. Numerate degree - e.g. Economics, Statistics, Mathematics etc.
2. Membership, or eligibility for membership, of the badged analytical professions (GES, GSS, GORS, GSR) or analytical professions covered by the Government Analysis Function. For more information on eligibility requirements, please refer to the Government Analysis Function website.

Required behaviours and skills:

1. Communicating and Influencing – Ability to communicate complex analysis powerfully to senior, non-technical customers who are interested in our work (e.g. Ministers, Special Advisors and senior civil servants).
2. Working Together - Ability to build effective partnerships and relationships with a variety of stakeholders to achieve tangible outcomes
3. Delivering at Pace - Ability to deliver products and projects on time and with initiative, whilst managing risks and balancing competing priorities.
4. Technical skill - This will follow your profession’s competency framework: 
   

   i.GORS: Achieving Impact with Analysis

   ii.GSR: Technical Skills

   iii.GSG: Data Analysis

   iv.GES: Analysis of Data

The lead criterion is Communicating and Influencing. 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 7th March 12:00: Click here to join the meeting

Tuesday 19th March 17:00: Click here to join the meeting

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: 31 March

Shortlisting: w/c 1 April

Interviews:  w/c 15 April

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. 

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.