Policy Adviser - Public Service Pensions - Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

Salary: National: £34,820 - £40,000. If the successful candidate is a current Civil Servant joining on level transfer, HM Treasury will honour their current substantive salary if higher.

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: This post is available on a full time, part time or job share basis, and flexible working hours can be accommodated.

Location: Darlington (Feethams House)

Do you want a role that sits at the heart of Public Spending leading policy and building positive relations with multiple stakeholders? Then this could be the role for you!

About the Team

The Workforce Pay and Pensions (WPP) team sits at the heart of Public Spending group, working closely with teams across Whitehall to set, deliver and maintain Government’s overarching policy positions on public sector pay and pensions. The team is also responsible for leadership of the implementation of the McCloud remedy. WPP is of crucial importance to managing public spending and delivering high quality public services. Spending in this area is one of the largest areas of public expenditure, around £182bn a year. The team’s remit therefore covers around one in every four pounds the Government spends. There is a strong emphasis on handling and engagement as our work attracts significant media and parliamentary interest. The team includes policy officials and analysts, and we work very closely with department specific spending teams in Public Services group.

You will also need to build positive relationships with senior officials in other departments, lawyers and actuaries as well as the Trade Union Congress.

The key responsibilities of the post-holder will be:

• Establish yourself as a centre of expertise in a complex and technical policy area, building an understanding of the public service pensions system and how it interacts with public spending, fiscal flows and wider public sector remuneration policy.
• Develop strategic advice on public service pensions policy, clearly communicating the risks and trade-offs of policy issues to senior managers and Ministers.
• Engage across Whitehall and devolved administrations to build and maintain strong relationships with a network of departmental pension leads.
• Support the government’s defence of legal cases in a highly litigious policy area, by providing your expertise to workforce departments and working closely with the Government Legal Department.
• Lead WPP’s relationship with Cabinet Office, a key stakeholder, on ongoing pensions issues and work with them to develop long-term policy solutions to public service pension administration issues.
• Lead policy on pension schemes in the wider public sector by working across Whitehall and with Treasury spending teams to ensure appropriate pensions provision is put in place where, for example, new public bodies are established or existing bodies are merged.

About You

We are looking for people who have the ability to look at complicated information, weigh up different options and clearly explain your recommendation. People who can build good relationships with colleagues from different teams and use these connections to drive goals forward as well as being able to think through issues in a wider policy context, anticipating interactions and understanding wider precedents and impacts.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave packages
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 28%
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity

For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link.