About the job

Job summary

The Social Impact Investment Team within the Civil Society and Youth directorate is looking for a Senior Policy Adviser to join an exciting and innovative team working at the forefront of impact investment policy.

Social impact investing considers impact on people and the planet alongside financial returns. It is a vital source of investment for social enterprises and other businesses which are addressing social and environmental challenges. The UK is recognised as a world leader for social impact investing, with the UK Government playing a critical role in catalysing and supporting the growth of the UK social impact investing market. 

The Social Impact investment team leads on this policy area across Government and has three key objectives: (1) facilitating access to investment finance for charities and social enterprises; (2) encouraging more mainstream (institutional) investors to engage with social impact investment; and (3) working across government to identify where social impact investment can address key policy priorities. We are looking for a candidate to deliver a programme of work to support these objectives. 

See the Candidate Information Pack attached at the bottom of the webpage for further information.

Job description

Responsibilities will likely include: 

• Providing strategic leadership for social investment policy development, applying judgement and communication to develop and complete large projects within set budgets and timelines. Including leading the development of spending review proposals and drafting business cases. 
• Lead on managing strong, effective relationships in and out of government, including with leading social impact investment organisations, such as Big Society Capital, and Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, amongst many others. 
• Delivering the flagship partnership with the Impact Investing Institute, the market builder and thought leader for impact investing in the UK, with the aim of directing millions of pounds of private funding towards social and environmental goals. 
• Supporting cross-government engagement to ensure social impact investment policy plans meet wider government priorities, and can support government to achieve its objectives. 
• Act as a lead source of expertise on this policy area to Senior Officials and Ministers, as well as leading on drafting timely responses to cross-government commissions, writing briefings and submissions for ministers on wide-ranging topic areas.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential requirements:

• Making Effective Decisions: Excellent policy judgement, able to take account of wider strategic priorities and bring together diverse perspectives. Previous policy experience, including policy design and delivery, is essential. 
• Working Together: A collaborative approach, able to work with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, build strong interpersonal relationships and show genuine care for colleagues.
• Communicating and Influencing: a confident, persuasive communicator with the ability to set out complex ideas with clarity, and be able to convey these through excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Delivering at Pace: The ability to work at pace on a number of complex issues, prioritising effectively and delivering timely, quality outcomes. You may also be asked to pick up new work with little warning so being able to work flexibly while maintaining high standards and team morale is essential. 

Desirable skills:

• Previous experience working in financial services, and in particular within social impact investment.
• Previous experience of working in/with the civil society sector, with some knowledge of charity and/or social enterprise policy.
• Understanding of policies related to investment and the social sector.
• Experience of working in partnership with public bodies and senior private sector leaders.
• Experience of programme delivery and grant management; managing suppliers and monitoring the delivery of outcomes by recipients of government funding.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Aimee Hardy, and will take place on:

Thursday 16th May, 11:00-12:00 

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this form and you will be sent an invitation. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,839, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £13,456 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.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 PM Monday 27th May via the CS Jobs portal:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed.

For the shortlist, we will assess your experience and select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the ‘Application and Interview Guidance’ document attached to the job advert.

For further information on how you will be tested at interview, including which Behaviours from the Civil Service Success Profiles will be used, please see the attached Candidate Information Pack at the bottom of the webpage.

Interviews will take place remotely via Google Meet video call. 

For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.

Further Information

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only., Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk  

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Information for Applicants’ document.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. 

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service 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. 

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 had their employment continued. Any applicant’s 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.

Reasonable Adjustment

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, please:

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. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or a verbal test rather than a written one. 

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

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.

Feedback

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.