Senior Policy Adviser
Welsh Revenue Authority
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 6th October 2024
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About the job
Job summary
We’re responsible for Land Transaction Tax and Landfill Disposals Tax. Our work raises revenue to support public services, like the NHS and schools, in communities across Wales. But that’s not all, we're also involved with and support future tax design for Wales.
Join a place with purpose
You’ll join a team of 80+ talented people from across 14 different professions. Our culture is best described as innovative, collaborative and kind. By working together, we’ll deliver a fair tax system for Wales.
You’ll be working with…
Our people come from a wide range of backgrounds and experience. From Operations, Policy, Digital and Data, HR, Communications to Finance – there’s a place for you in our friendly team.
You’ll be our greatest asset
When you join us, you’ll be part of a fair and inclusive team where you can thrive, be rewarded and heard.
We’ve consistently featured in the top 3 for people engagement in the Civil Service People Survey. Inclusion and fairness are our most strongest scoring areas – see our latest People Survey results.
And we’re recognised for our innovation as a digital ‘cloud-based’ organisation that supports hybrid and flexible working that enables a great work-life balance.
More about working for us, our roles and our Corporate Plan 2022 - 2025 .
Job description
Reporting directly to the Head of Strategy & Policy, the Senior Policy Adviser will play a key leadership role in developing the devolved tax policy agenda, at an exciting time for the WRA as it moves from its start-up years to becoming a more mature organisation, growing and taking on new areas of work.
The Strategy and Policy team is responsible for WRA corporate strategy, policy development, and guidance on service delivery and the application of devolved taxes. It also provides advice and support on complex tax risks, and works in partnership with the Welsh Treasury on the strategic and administrative design of the system of devolved taxes in Wales. Policy developed by the team supports the efficient, fair and effective delivery of our services for taxpayers and their agents, and also establishes lawful and proportionate compliance, litigation and enforcement strategies based on WRA’s civil and criminal enforcement powers. The team is broadly organised between developing policy for existing devolved taxes, and future focussed tax design and strategy, although flexibility and cross-team working is strongly encouraged to build capability across the whole team.
You will provide leadership and guidance for colleagues responsible for policy development on the WRA’s existing taxes. You will encourage and role model collaboration to develop and implement policy smoothly into operations, while also developing policy partnerships and working with stakeholders on future developments to devolved taxes.
You will be a great team player, possess good analytical skills and enjoy working with others to find innovative solutions to complex problems. You will also need to develop a detailed understanding of the devolved tax landscape in Wales, working closely with partners across government to shape the design of devolved taxes so the policy intent and service delivery are effectively aligned.
You will also lead overall policy input to service teams designing and implementing the WRA’s core services, ensuring the end-to-end customer journey is seamlessly aligned with the both the needs of the taxpayer and the bespoke requirements of each tax.
To be successful in the role, you will need to enjoy engaging with a diverse network of stakeholders, tracking and influencing developments in devolved taxation and wider policy areas. You will need to be able to communicate both high-level strategy and detailed technical matters clearly and simply to a range of audiences.
The work of the Strategy & Policy team varies according to emerging issues and trends, delivery of WRA priorities and wider Welsh Government strategy for devolved taxes in Wales. We are looking for an individual who can work flexibly and collaboratively to resolve uncertainty, and to develop solutions to challenging issues. An immediate focus will be coordinating WRA support to Welsh Government in exploring and implementing policy changes to Land Transaction Tax such as freeports relief and multiple dwellings relief, and giving thought to the development of the powers of WRA through the Tax Collection and Management Act.
You will be an ambassador for the WRA externally, representing the organisation, our purpose, and the ‘Welsh way of doing tax’.
“This is an opportunity to join a small team with a wide reach. As the WRA is still a young organisation there is a genuine opportunity to influence and shape our direction across a range of policy areas. You will work collaboratively with all of our teams, and the breadth and variety of the role is exciting: you can provide advice on the application of tax legislation one day and support wider Welsh Government with future tax design the next.” - Dave Matthews, Strategy & Capability Director |
Person specification
Leadership
- Be an inspirational and development-focused leader to policy team members (2 FTE: 1x SEO, 1x HEO) with responsibility for the WRA’s existing taxes, in a hybrid working environment, attracting and retaining diverse talent and supporting our high engagement, high performance
- Build policy capability and expertise across the team, encouraging a culture of innovation that is attuned to our emerging context.
Strategic policy development
- Lead the WRA’s work on policy development , working closely with colleagues from across the organisation and external stakeholders to review, update and shape the future of the tax.
- Provide WRA advice to and collaborate with Welsh Treasury colleagues on significant policy changes to devolved taxes, UK taxes or the wider UK legislative landscape.
- Lead WRA advice and collaboration on the development of specific tax policy projects as set out in the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government and tax policy work plan, including possible changes to devolved taxes.
- Develop evidence-based policy, using data, customer insight and analysis to identify and address issues early, resolving complexity to ensure that devolved taxes operate as intended.
- Develop operational strategies such as our approach to criminal enforcement and tax avoidance, to support the effective delivery of devolved taxes, working across the organisation to enable delivery of our corporate plan objectives.
- Lead on aspects of the work to update the WRA’s governance framework and supporting legislation, to ensure that our functions and governance structures continue to reflect our wider purpose and objectives.
- Support colleagues in the wider team with the design and implementation of effective policy in respect of new taxes such as the visitor levy.
Operational policy development
- Provide high quality and timely advice on the practical application of tax legislation to resolve uncertainty and ensure that decisions are made and communicated in a way that is sound, clear and lawful.
- Identify and address issues arising from implementation of tax policy, leading on changes to our existing approach where necessary.
- Lead on the development and evaluation of WRA operational policies – notably the use of powers under the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016.
- Enhance and embed our approach to evidence-based impact assessments and policy evaluation, building capability across the team to review and refine policy decisions.
Tax integrity
- Be responsible for ensuring tax policy is implemented through our end-to-end services and operational tax decision-making in a way that is consistent with the intentions of the legislation and the expectations of Ministers.
- Lead overall policy input for our existing taxes into the evolving design and implementation of the WRA’s three main services (registration, calculating liability and payment).
- Develop capability among service teams to ensure service design meets the needs of both current and future tax policy.
- Act as lead WRA Review Officer, overseeing our approach to managing reviews of WRA decisions where challenged by taxpayers, supporting colleagues across the department to develop tax and technical capability in this area.
- Support the Head of Strategy & Policy to scope out and develop our customer insight capability, enabling us both to enhance strategy/policy development and wider service design.
Relationship building
- Develop strategic partnerships, as well as explore and influence new working models with organisations such as Welsh Treasury, Local Authorities, HMRC, VOA, HM Land Registry, Revenue Scotland and others. You will also build strong relationships with external stakeholders including representative bodies and the tax profession.
Languages
Welsh language skills Welsh skills are desirable
Reading 0 = No skills
Spoken 0 = No skills
Understanding 0 = No skills
Written 0 = No skills
Welsh desirable means that having Welsh language skills would be useful in this role, but it is not an assessment criteria so it won’t put you at any disadvantage during recruitment if you aren’t a Welsh speaker. We support all staff to learn or improve their Welsh language skills once they join us.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Leadership
- Making Effective Decisions
Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits when you join the WRA, such as:
- 31 days annual leave + 2 privilege days
- flexible working
- a generous employer contribution Civil Service pension scheme
- Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loans
- learning opportunities including funded Welsh language courses
- dedicated wellbeing time offered weekly
- a highly engaged and collaborative culture – see our People Survey results
Find out more about the benefits of working for us
Things you need to know
Selection process details
We recruit using success profiles. Our success profiles guidance will help you in completing your application.
In brief, this approach means:
- we look for evidence of what you have done and what you can do. This means we look for the behaviours, strengths and ability needed to do the job
- where necessary or relevant, we also consider experience and technical knowledge
- this approach starts at application stage and continues throughout the recruitment process
- we may only look for some things at certain stages. We’ll always be clear what we’re looking for and when
You should highlight evidence from the table below during the recruitment process. You may also wish to refer to the main tasks mentioned above.
Whilst the use of Generative AI (GenAI) isn’t prohibited, it must be used truthfully and your application must be factually accurate. It should be noted that presenting ideas and experience generated by artificial intelligence as your own, may be considered plagiarism.
Behaviours | ||
Criteria | Assessed in personal statement and CV | Assessed during interview or assessment |
Seeing the big picture Ensure plans and activities in your area of work reflect wider strategic priorities and communicate effectively with senior leaders to influence future strategies. Bring together views, perspectives and diverse needs of stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the issues surrounding policies and activities. | Yes | Yes |
Leadership Seek out shared interests beyond own area of responsibility, understanding the extent of the impact actions have on the organisation. Inspire and motivate teams to be fully engaged in their work and dedicated to their role. | Yes | Yes |
Making effective decisions Present reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence. Make decisions confidently even when details are unclear or if they prove to be unpopular. | Yes | Yes |
Strengths | ||
Criteria | Assessed in personal statement and CV | Assessed during interview or assessment |
Problem solver You take a positive approach to tackling problems and find ways to identify suitable solutions. | No | Yes |
Influencer You influence others, you articulate the rationale to gain their agreement. | No | Yes |
Learner You are inquisitive, you seek out new information and look for new ways to develop yourself. | No | Yes |
Experience and technical knowledge | ||
Criteria | Assessed in personal statement and CV | Assessed during interview or assessment |
An understanding of policy development and the ability to build expertise in tax legislation. | No | Yes |
Prior to completing your application you will need to complete a Civil Service Judgement test. Please note that the Civil Service Judgement Test has a minimum pass mark of 34th percentile that candidates need to reach before progressing. Candidates need to pass the Civil Service Judgement before being able to submit their CV and personal statement.
Candidate information session
We will be holding two virtual information session for candidates on 25 September at 6.00-6.30pm and 26 September 2024 at 12.00-12.30pm on Microsoft Teams. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about the role. If you would like to attend, register for the information session on
Business Wales Events Finder - Candidate Information Session - Senior Policy Adviser (business-events.org.uk) - Wednesday 25 September at 6pm
Business Wales Events Finder - Candidate Information Session - Senior Policy Adviser (business-events.org.uk) - Thursday 26 September at 12 noon
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : WRA Recruitment Team
- Email : Recruitment@wra.gov.wales
- Telephone : 03000254000
Recruitment team
- Email : Recruitment@wra.gov.wales
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in line with the recruitment principles, and you wish to complain, you should contact the Head of HR.
Email: hr@wra.gov.wales
If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.
