About the job

Job summary

This is an exciting time to join the newly created Smarter Regulation Directorate in the Department for Business and Trade. Our mission is to deliver the UK government’s smarter regulation programme which seeks to reduce burdens on businesses and promote innovation and growth. 

Our work underpins the government’s ambitions for regulatory reform. It’s ambitious, high-profile and of significant interest to the Secretary of State, Ministers, and senior officials across government. This work is being delivered across three pillars: 

• Stock: Reforming the existing stock of regulation to cut regulatory burdens and future-proof our approach. 
• Flow: Putting downward pressure on the flow of new regulation, through rigorous scrutiny and encouraging alternatives. 
• Regulatory Landscape: Ensuring a well-functioning landscape of regulators, that deliver the intended outcomes. 

This advert is for a number of roles across the breadth of the directorates work, with candidates invited to express a preference during the interview process.

Job description

The Smarter Regulation Directorate is seeking dynamic and enthusiastic individuals to drive work across all three pillars of the Directorates work. All roles offer significant policy and strategy experience, with exposure to Ministers and opportunities to work with a wide range of stakeholders, including at senior levels, across government, regulators and externally. 

We are specifically recruiting roles across three areas of work: regulatory reform policy, international coordination, and economic regulation. These will cover:  

• Regulatory Stock Policy Roles: in these roles you will coordinate and deliver work to reform the UK’s stock of regulation. This could include leading the coordination of the DBT Retained EU Law (REUL) reform programme, lead the policy for the development of secondary legislation, support the policy development of ambitious regulatory reform plans across key sectors, working with departments in delivering ambitious reforms, and manage Ministerial Correspondence and briefing. 
• International and Flow Roles: in these roles you will support work to reduce the flow of regulation on businesses. This could include delivering international engagements, leading policy advice on good regulatory practice for Free Trade Agreements,), or leading work to develop and implement policy for the UK’s better regulation framework. 
• Regulatory Landscape and Operation Roles: in these roles you will play a key role in designing the UK’s approach to the oversight of economic and non-economic regulators. This could include through supporting an in-depth review of the regulatory duties and appeals systems, supporting the development of a regulators bill to bring consistency and performance management, or supporting the delivery of the government response to the consultation on strengthening regulation in different sectors, including energy, water and telecoms sectors.

Person specification

Personal Attributes & Skills

• Can demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills and professionalism, showing genuine care for the team and other colleagues, creating an inclusive working environment and a clear commitment to civil service values and high standards.  
• Can demonstrate leadership skills in managing work through ambiguity, change, and periods of high demand and challenge. 
• Can work independently on complex issues, taking the initiative to make sense of and drive forward work in an area where the political landscape is evolving. 
• Ability to understand a wider government perspective on developments to ensure policy is relevant and ensure plans reflect wider strategic priorities. 

Essential Criteria 

• Excellent policy skills, with the ability to effectively compile, understand, analyse and present evidence, to arrive at options identifying clear pros, cons and recommendations. 
• Ability to quickly get to grips with a situation and problem-solve at pace. 
• Experience working collaboratively within and across teams and to build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders. 
• Strong written and oral communication skills. 

Desirable Criteria  

• Experience and understanding of regulators, key regulated sectors, and/or regulatory issues. 
• Experience of international engagement and working with international partners.  
• Experience of working on regulatory issues.  
• Understanding the political, economic and societal landscape and use good judgement to arrive at deliverable solutions. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,384, Department for Business and Trade contributes £10,634 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 and Experience.

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.

Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:    

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages. 
• A Personal Statement of up to 750 words, explaining your motivation for applying for this role and the extent to which you satisfy the essential and desirable requirements of the role.

It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date though this is subject to change.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted based on Personal Statements only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.   

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be offered a post at the grade below the one advertised.

There are 15 roles on offer: 

• Five roles on Regulatory Stock Policy.
• Two roles on International and Flow.
• Eight roles on Regulatory Landscape and Operation.

Drop-in session: 

Please note: We plan to two information sessions for all potential applicants to join, including time for Q&A. If you would be interested in joining one of these then please email sebastian.down2@businessandtrade.gov.uk and clare.bayley@businessandtrade.gov.uk.

Location and working arrangements 

This role is available in seven UK locations and can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered. 

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment: 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. 

Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at DBTrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.  

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Candidate Support

You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.  

Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department. 

Further Information:

• A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.   
• Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
• The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.  
• New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.  
• Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty. Any applicant who has details held on the IFD will be refused employment.   
• A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.  
• Terms and Conditions are attached.  Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
• Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Select as applicable from Disclosure and Barring Service, Disclosure Scotland and Access NI on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk 

For further information on the Access NI confidential checking service telephone: the Access NI Helpline on 0300 200 7888 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email accessni@ani.x.gsi.gov.uk 

Vetting:

These roles will all require Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance with the exception of the international trade policy role, which will require Security Clearance.  

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.   

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.