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

About the 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.

About the Team

The Trade & Emerging Markets team (TEM) leads the development of HM Treasury’s policy on financial services with non-EU jurisdictions and promotes and protects the UK's reputation as an international financial centre. Within the team, The Emerging Markets Unit is responsible for developing our policy towards some of the most dynamic regions of the world. We partner with key emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil, but also growing emerging markets across ASEAN, Latin America and the Middle East. We also have responsibility for the department’s Islamic Finance agenda. The UK is one of the largest and most sophisticated financial services markets in the world and it is an exciting and interesting time to be working in the unit. This post is head of a branch within the unit that leads on UK’s financial services engagement with mainland China, Hong Kong and ASEAN countries.

This is a senior and high-profile role in the group, with new and pressing issues emerging every day! We will need an individual with strong leadership and policy delivery skills. This role offers an excellent insight into the relationship with China but is also an exciting opportunity to engage with ASEAN countries. Our approach to competitiveness is more vital than ever now that the UK has left the EU. In this team we utilise a network of contacts across Whitehall, industry and in-country to take the agenda forward creatively and strategically.

About the Job

The post-holder will have the following responsibilities:

1. Own the UK’s policy towards China on financial services, including through developing and delivering a package of strategic initiatives, drive ongoing bilateral partnership where it is line with UK values and security interests;
2. Develop the team’s policy towards ASEAN, working alongside the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the City of London Corporation, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to identify priority areas for UK financial services exports and to promote the UK as a centre for international finance; and
3. Enable a branch of direct line reports to flourish.

This role will require occasional travel to the region.

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 24th May at 14:00: Join the meeting now  

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 Rhys Gordon-Jones (rhys.gordon-jones@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. Seeing the Big Picture: An ability to make the links between different areas, taking account of the wider political context to set a longer-term strategy.
2. Communicating and Influencing: Strong influencing skills, in particular building relationships with a variety of partners including seniors to deliver successful outcomes
3. Delivering at Pace: An ability to work flexibly and autonomously to prioritise competing tasks, including balancing short- and long-term priorities, as well as through effective management of own and others’ workloads.
4. Experience: Strong experience and detailed understanding of international or financial services issues, with the ability to pick up complex concepts quickly, develop these into policy recommendations and communicate these in simple language to a non-technical audience.

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.

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: 2nd June 2024

Shortlisting: w/c 3rd June 2024

Interviews: w/c 17th June 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. 

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 the past 10 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 Developed Vetting (DV).  

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 developed vetting (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.