Senior Policy Advisor – Digital Trade & Telecoms

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford

About the job

Job summary

The Department for Business and Trade is the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export around the world and support economic growth in the UK. The Digital Trade and Telecoms team is at the cutting edge of the department’s international trade agenda. As the global economy increasingly shifts towards digital, goods, services and information (including data) are moving between countries more frequently, and easily, than ever before. Firms selling goods or providing services digitally have taken local and national markets to a global scale. 

The team’s vision is for the UK to be a global leader in digital trade, with a network of international agreements that drive investment, productivity and economic growth across the country. We deliver that vision through: 

Negotiating and implementing modern digital and telecoms provisions in Free Trade Agreements and Digital Trade Agreements that support UK businesses and consumers. 

Working with forward-leaning partners at the World Trade Organization. 

Promoting digital trade and telecoms through multilateral fora, including the G7, G20, OECD, and UN bodies. 

Pioneering innovative solutions to digital trade and telecoms through UK thought leadership, engaging with business and wider communities. 

We are recruiting Senior Policy Advisors to join our team and help advance the UK’s digital trade and telecoms interests domestically and internationally. 

The postholders will work closely with a network of contacts across the department, across Whitehall and in industry, to drive this agenda forward. It will involve strong stakeholder engagement skills, including, on occasion, engaging with Ministers. The postholders will have the opportunity to develop the core skills of a government policy professional, including drafting briefings and developing policy. This is a fast-moving area and the postholders will be expected to flex their work to deliver against departmental priorities. 

Whilst knowledge of trade policy or domestic or international digital and telecoms policy would be beneficial, the team places a high value on learning and development with considerable training opportunities made available to the successful candidate. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to further their experience as a policy professional and/or develop expertise in digital and telecoms international trade policy. 

We are a friendly, supportive, and inclusive group, committed to generating a positive team culture. We are committed to maintaining a diverse, inclusive team and achieving the Civil Service’s ambition to be an inclusive employer.

Job description

We are recruiting to a number of posts in the Digital Trade and Telecoms team.

The roles involve a mixture of technical policy development and broad strategic thinking. The successful candidates will lead policy development of areas within digital trade and telecoms. You will also support areas of ongoing trade negotiations on digital trade and telecoms. The postholders will work with a network of colleagues and stakeholders across the department, Whitehall and in industry. The roles are stretching and require the postholders to be comfortable with technical detail and have the ability to develop robust and persuasive arguments. 

You will be expected to work flexibly, across teams and tasks, as business priorities evolve. 

Your work may include: 

• Leading policy development on priority digital trade and telecoms policy areas, developing an expertise and driving forward innovative policy solutions, and working with domestic and international stakeholders;
• Undertaking negotiation preparation. This could include scoping of negotiation partners’ positions, developing briefs for negotiation rounds, working with lawyers on legal text and devising strategies. You may also be required to represent UK digital and telecoms interests in negotiations with international partners;
• Managing a complex and diverse stakeholder network, including businesses and government departments, taking account of their views in policy development;
• Advising and briefing senior officials and ministers on policy issues related to digital trade and telecoms policy;
• Providing analysis and input for reviews and amendments to UK trade agreements;
• Providing policy support for resolving market access barriers faced by UK businesses;
• Supporting the department’s involvement in cross-Whitehall forums.

You may be required to travel internationally to fulfil your role. 

Person specification

Essential criteria

We are looking for candidates with: 

• Ability to work collaboratively in and across teams, building and maintaining long-lasting working relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, sometimes in challenging circumstances;
• Ability to persuade and influence others. Confident, and clear written and spoken communication skills;
• Strong analytical skills that drive evidence-based decision making. Experience of analysing information from a range of sources and making recommendations;
• Ability to work under pressure, balance competing priorities and deliver to tight deadlines.

Desirable criteria

We would particularly like to hear from you if you also have any of the following: 

• Experience of, or interest in, trade or digital and telecoms policy;
• An interest in the digital technology and telecoms industries;
• Experience of policy development;
• Experience of working in an international context or international trade negotiations;
• Experience of working with or within government departments;
• Experience of working with legal text.

Personal Attributes and Skills

• Ability to pick up and understand new topics and material quickly.
• Comfortable working flexibly and independently, responding positively to new work and other changes as they arise.
• Team player, willing to support colleagues across the team to deliver our work.

The Digital Trade and Telecoms Team is a collaborative, friendly and diverse team and we particularly welcome applications from diverse groups. 

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,384, Department for Business and Trade contributes £10,633 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Jack Dainty
• Email : Jack.Dainty@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dbtrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email at Resourcing@trade.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Civil Service Commission Complaints

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