About the job

Job summary

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.  

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

Public Services Group

The Public Services Group is at the heart of the Treasury’s work to secure strong and sustainable public finances. We manage public spending of more than £250 billion across key public services and departments, including health, education, the police, 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 and provide value for money for the taxpayer.

Our roles offer a range of opportunities to work with senior leaders in other government departments, as well as helping to ensure the effective delivery of public services that so many people rely on.

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 Social Care Team

We are responsible for Treasury’s oversight of over £170 billion of annual government spending in health and adult social care – accounting for almost a quarter of all public spending! We work collaboratively with the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) and its Arm’s Length Bodies, 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.

Given the importance of health and social care to the Government, MPs and the public, this is a high-profile team that offers demanding work. We are constantly in the thick of it and at the core of key Treasury spending decisions and issues. The team comprises people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including from both within and outside government. We are friendly, buzzy and completely committed to diversity, inclusion and personal development. 

About the Job

We are recruiting for a Senior Policy Adviser to join the Health Resilience and Growth branch of the Health and Social Care Team. The branch is responsible for oversight of policy and spend relating to the life sciences sector, including health R&D, medicines, vaccines, as well as the UK Health Security Agency, health resilience and pandemic preparedness, and HM Treasury’s involvement in the COVID-19 public inquiry.

The life sciences sector is among the most valuable and strategically important in the UK economy, and critical to the country’s health, wealth, and resilience. It is one of this government’s priority growth sectors. The post-holder will be responsible for leading HM Treasury’s work on life sciences, including health R&D and medicines spending. The role has leadership responsibilities across HMT and more widely across government to deliver a strategy for life sciences which balances HMT’s economic and fiscal objectives:

1. Leading on life sciences strategy for HM Treasury: working closely with teams which own levers which significantly impact the sector, such as R&D tax policy or manufacturing, as well as partners across and outside of government to assess options to strengthen and grow the sector, balancing core objectives to support economic growth, deliver better patient outcomes and protect public finances, and provide high-quality advice to Ministers which distils complex issues into clear recommendations.
2. Forging strong and collaborative relationships with stakeholders across government with an interest in the sector, such as the Office for Life Sciences, the Department for Business and Trade, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, as well as external experts, to have a strong understanding of key dynamics within life sciences, health R&D and medicines.
3. Leading on Health R&D for HM Treasury: setting the budgets for Health R&D at spending reviews, alongside the central R&D team, advising Ministers on the value-for-money of Health R&D programmes, understanding and trading-off priorities for this budget including supporting patient outcomes, the efficiency and productivity of the NHS and the attractiveness of the UK for life sciences companies to grow their businesses.
4. Providing ongoing spending control for health R&D and medicines policy: this includes scrutinising business cases, advising ministers on spending decisions and working with central HMT strategy and spending teams to manage risks to the spending forecast.
5. Leading the Health and Social Care’s Growth branch, including providing outstanding line management to one Senior Executive Officer (SEO). This means providing direction and support, ensuring the team has the capability and knowledge needed to deliver high-quality, evidence-based advice. You will regularly reprioritise to ensure the branch are balancing urgent pressures with strategic longer-term work to deliver high-quality outputs in line with the government’s priorities.
6. Alongside the team’s other Range Es (Grade 7s) and Range E2s (Grade 6s), acting as part of the Health and Social Care team’s leadership: you will be expected to actively contribute to creating a positive, inclusive and development-focussed team. This includes supporting team-wide objectives and role-modelling HMT and team values. You will also be expected to get involved in making the Public Services group, and the wider Treasury, a great place to work.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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. 

5pm on Tuesday 14th May:

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 328 239 265 513

Passcode: rj2CqW

12:30 on Wednesday 15th May:

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 321 365 853 396

Passcode: XKrvBn

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 Soryah.Haggarty@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 evaluate complex and unfamiliar information, balancing trade-offs, to decide a course of action, and communicate a recommendation in an accessible way to senior decision makers [Making Effective Decisions]
2. The ability to develop strong working relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, across different levels of seniority and other organisations, which remain constructive under stress [Working Together]
3. The ability to lead a high performing team to deliver high quality work across short and long term objectives, in the face of a dynamic and changing work environment [Delivery at Pace]
4. Experience of working in life sciences in either public or private sector, and/or an understanding of the life sciences sector and interest in life sciences [Experience]

The lead criterion is: Making Effective Decisions

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. 

Wednesday 15th May at 12:45pm: Click here to join the meeting

Your Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed on the below criteria: 

• Experience
• Strengths
• Behaviours:
  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Working Together
  • Delivering at Pace
  • Seeing the Big Picture

Interview Task/Presentation

Prior to your interview, we will contact you about a task/presentation that the interview panel would like you to complete as part of the assessment. The exact details will be communicated to you nearer the time. 

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.

At the interview stage, applicants for this post will be assessed against the criteria set out in the job description which may include Technical Skills, Experiences and Behaviours – however the panel will ask you about different aspects of these at the interview.  

  

Strength based interview questions 

  

The interview panel will ask you questions about what you enjoy doing and what you do well and often to assess your strengths. When looking at your strengths, we want to find out whether you and the organisation and job are a good fit. 

 

Exercise at interview

 

At the interview stage, a short exercise may be undertaken. Further information will be shared with candidates upon being invited to the interview stage.  

More details regarding assessment at interview can be provided upon request at any time during the application or interview process.  

Recruitment Timeline 

Closing date: 19th May 2024

Shortlisting: w/c 20th May

Interviews:  w/c 3rd June

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 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  Security Check (SC)

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 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.