Policy Advisers

Note for FSA employees

You must seek approval from your substantive manager before applying for any non-permanent vacancy - please refer to the ‘Temporary internal appointments framework’ on the FSA intranet for more details. Please note that if applying for a temporary post within the FSA or elsewhere on promotion, successful appointment will not automatically result in a permanent promotion - you will revert to your current substantive grade at the end of the Fixed Term or Loan period (unless funding has been approved to make the post permanent).

You will work closely with colleagues across the FSA and with external partners including devolved administrations, other government departments, local authorities, industry and consumer stakeholders. Depending on the role, you may support policy development, delivery and implementation, contribute to incident response activity, help maintain or reform legislation, and draft briefings or discussion papers for senior managers, the FSA Board and Ministers. All of our posts require flexibility to respond to emerging priorities and business needs.

If you’re excited by meaningful work, professional development and the chance to contribute to the FSA’s mission, we’d love to receive your application.

Senior Policy Manager roles (SEO)

This campaign is to recruit to Policy roles at HEO level. We are also running a campaign to recruit to SEO roles (closing date for applications 6 September 2026 (23:55). Please follow this link to the advert Senior Policy Managers - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK.

Working pattern guidance

Applicants who wish to work compressed hours are welcome to apply - however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this before accepting an offer of employment.

If applying as a job share partnership you should both complete separate application forms on Civil Service Jobs but should make it clear that you are applying as job sharers. Further details on job sharing can be found here JSF – What is the recruitment process for job sharers?, Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Please read before applying

The majority of the posts are temporary Fixed Term/Loan appointments of varying durations, available due to limited funding for project work. There may be the possibility, but no guarantee, of extension or permanency. Posts will be offered in strict merit order as they become available.

Candidates that are already established Civil Servants will come to the FSA on a Loan basis and must have permission from their Home Department for the Loan prior to applying for this job.

There is a slim possibility that some roles may be permanent from the outset.

Successful candidates must be able to commence employment within 6 weeks of conditional verbal offer.

Note for FSA employees

You must seek approval from your substantive manager before applying for any non-permanent vacancy - please refer to the ‘Temporary internal appointments framework’ on the FSA intranet for more details. Please note that if applying for a temporary post within the FSA or elsewhere on promotion, successful appointment will not automatically result in a permanent promotion - you will revert to your current substantive grade at the end of the Fixed Term or Loan period (unless funding has been approved to make the post permanent).

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Alongside your salary of £34,955, Food Standards Agency contributes £10,126 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience.

Full details of the selection process can be found in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Ability: You will be asked to complete an online Civil Service Judgement Test and, if successful, will continue with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Experience

Essential criteria

Lead criteria: Experience of analysing and using a range of credible information sources, to identify and assess options or potential to reach sound conclusions and the ability to communicate these clearly to inform decision making.

• Experience of building and maintaining positive relationships and working collaboratively with a range of colleagues and other stakeholders.
• Experience of communicating verbally and in writing to a range of audiences including senior colleagues, consumers and industry stakeholders using different communication methods and tools including experience of drafting briefings or reports.
• Experience of prioritising and managing workloads to deliver quality outputs to agreed timelines.

An initial sift will take place on the Lead Criteria.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours.

Experience

• Experience of analysing and using a range of credible information sources, to identify and assess options or potential to reach sound conclusions and the ability to communicate these clearly to inform decision making.
• Experience of communicating verbally and in writing to a range of audiences including senior colleagues, consumers and industry stakeholders using different communication methods and tools including experience of drafting briefings or reports.

Behaviours

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace