Senior Policy Adviser
National Infrastructure Commission
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 14th July 2024
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About the job
Job summary
The National Infrastructure Commission was established in 2015 to provide government with impartial, expert advice on major long-term infrastructure challenges. The Commission advises government on all sectors of economic infrastructure (energy, transport, water and wastewater, waste, flood risk management and digital communications), as well as on cross-cutting issues, including planning, regulation and financing/funding.
The Commission’s objectives are to:
- support sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK
- improve competitiveness
- improve quality of life
- support climate resilience and the transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050
In fulfilling our purpose and objectives, we:
- set a long-term agenda – identifying the UK’s major economic infrastructure needs, and the pathways to address them
- develop fresh approaches and ideas – basing our independent policy recommendations on rigorous analysis
- focus on driving change – building consensus on our policy recommendations, and monitoring government progress on their delivery
The Commission is an Executive Agency of HM Treasury. It is chaired by Sir John Armitt, with nine other Commissioners currently in post. The Commission is governed by a Charter and Framework Document.
The Commission’s core tasks are:
- Producing a National Infrastructure Assessment once every five years, setting out the Commission’s assessment of long-term infrastructure needs with recommendations to government on how to meet them. We recently published the second National Infrastructure Assessment.
- Carrying out in-depth studies – commissioned by the Chancellor - into the UK’s most pressing infrastructure challenges and making recommendations to government. Recent studies have covered planning reform, surface water flooding, rail infrastructure for the North and Midlands and greenhouse gas removal technologies.
- Monitoring government’s progress in delivering infrastructure policy recommended by the NIC. We published our latest annual assessment in May 2024.
The Commission is based in London and Leeds.
The NIC Secretariat supports Commissioners in developing policy recommendations to government and monitoring government’s progress in implementing those recommendations. The Secretariat is led by our Chief Executive, supported by a Senior Management Team, comprising the Chief Economist, two Directors of Policy and Chief Operating Officer.
Job description
The successful candidate will join the policy team leading on workstreams within and across the core sectors of economic infrastructure: energy, transport, waste, water, flood risk management or digital communications.
The Commission is now working on a number of projects after publishing the second national infrastructure assessment. This role will initially be based in the environment team but will be key in developing work across the secretariat as we continue to develop these as well as respond to any changing priorities after the election.
In this role you will coordinate evidence based policy making and recommendations but also evaluate and track progress by government and industry in implementing the Commission’s existing recommendations.
You will develop and execute a strategic approach to policy development, working closely with other policy and analytical colleagues to provide joined up, high-quality analysis and advice to the Commission. You will have in depth experience of being able to drive forward work using appropriate project management to deliver high quality products.
You will also be expected to establish strong working relationships and collaborate across the organisation, alongside the willingness to build-up expertise on infrastructure issues. You will work with other policy advisers and analysts in a range of government departments, external stakeholders within academia and industry, and develop international links where appropriate.
You will be an effective communicator, confident in handling challenging stakeholders at different levels of seniority and able to effectively represent the Commission to a variety of audiences.
The role requires an analytical and inquisitive mind and someone that is not afraid to change how things are done. The successful person will run robust and broad-ranging policy development programmes and deliver high quality and evidence-based advice to the Commission. The Commission is looking for someone who enjoys getting into the detail but knows how to distil this down into succinct advice and is comfortable with analysing both quantitative and qualitative information.
The successful candidate will be expected to:
1.Conduct research that identifies, scopes and supports delivery of policy projects that are aligned to the Commission’s objectives and builds the Commission’s reputation.
2.Analyse and summarise numerical and potentially complex data that will support the Commission’s understanding work across various sectors.
3.Provide rigorous assessment of the large volumes of information on various policy topics and have an eye for what is important to the Commission and what is not.
4.Project manage the delivery of your own work and the work of others on the team and/or external consultants. This will include making use of project management tools such as milestone plans, risk registers and engagement plans.
5.Build and manage relationships with stakeholders so that the Commission keeps on top of the policy landscape, and use these relationships to shape and drive forward the Commission’s priorities.
6.Communicate clearly to a range of audiences including presenting your work to Commissioners and seeking opportunities to share the Commission’s work with external audiences at industry meetings and conferences.
7.Produce high-quality written material that succinctly summarises the detailed research conducted. Audiences for such material will include the senior management team, Commissioners and our external stakeholders.
Person specification
Behaviours
You will be asked to complete a 250 word statements of suitability setting out how you meet the following behaviours:
1.Communicating and influencing: You communicate in a clear, confident, and enthusiastic fashion, explaining complex issues in a way that is easy to understand. You consider the impact of the language you use, and continually monitor the effectiveness of your own and your team’s communications, taking action to improve them where needed.
2.Delivering at pace: You ensure everyone understands what you need from them, providing honest, motivating messages about priorities, objectives and expectations. You maintain your performance in challenging circumstances and support others to do the same.
3.Seeing the Big Picture: You ensure that your work reflects your organisation’s strategic priorities and take the initiative to influence future approaches. You can seek and represent the views of a range of stakeholders to understand and communicate issues.
Experience and technical skills
You will be asked to complete a 250 word statement of suitability setting out how you meet the following criteria:
1.Strategic policy-making skills – ability to identify policy problems and objectives, develop practical solutions based robustly on complex technical evidence and analysis, and respond to the broader political and strategic context.
The lead criterion is: Communicating and influencing
If we receive a large number of applications, applications will be assessed against this criterion alone first. They will then be assessed against the other criteria if they have met the minimum score on the lead criteria.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Strategic policy-making skills
Benefits
- 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant)
- Flexible working patterns, as described
- Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions. Find out more about Civil Service pensions
- Access to a retail discounts and cashback benefits site
- A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity (e.g. women in the Treasury, ethnic minority network, LGBT* network, faith and belief network)
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Applications
To apply for this post, please submit the following through the Civil Service Jobs portal no later than 23:55 14 July 2024.
1.A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. Please note: the CV will not be scored and will be used for information only and to support conversations at interview.
Behaviours
You will be asked to complete a 250 word statements of suitability setting out how you meet the following behaviours:
1.Communicating and influencing
2.Delivering at pace
3.Seeing the Big Picture
Technical skill
You will be asked to complete a 250 word statement of suitability setting out how you meet the following criteria:
1.Strategic policy-making skills – ability to identify policy problems and objectives, develop practical solutions based robustly on complex technical evidence and analysis, and respond to the broader political and strategic context.
Shortlist – week commencing 15 July 2024
The panel will assess all applications to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the Person Specification section of this pack. Failure to address any or all of these will affect your application.
Interviews – week commencing 29 July 2024
Prior to your interview, we will contact about a written assessment, numerical exercise or presentation we would like you to complete as part of the interview assessment. This assessment will be used to test your technical skills in policy development.
During the interview process you will be assessed on all the criteria set out in the Person Specification section. You will also be assessed on Strengths.
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.
Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Counter Terrorist Check (CTC).
To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. In exceptional circumstances, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis once the advert closing date has passed.
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 : Margaret Read
- Email : margaret.read@nic.gov.uk
- Telephone : 07785246735
Recruitment team
- Email : hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk
Further information
