Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Senior Policy Advisor and Strategist
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Bristol, London, Manchester
Job Summary
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.
Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:
- joining up public sector services
- harnessing the power of AI for the public good
- strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
- elevating leadership and investing in talent
- funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
- committing to transparency and driving accountability
We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.
We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.
The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.
Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.
Please note
Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.
Job Description
The Accessibility and Digital Inclusion team sits within the Service Transformation Unit in the Government Digital Service (GDS). The Service Transformation Unit works across government to improve priority public services by bringing together policy, service design, technology and delivery expertise to support end-to-end service transformation. Within this, the Accessibility and Digital Inclusion team leads work to improve accessibility compliance, digital inclusion and inclusive service design across government.
We are a multidisciplinary team working to support central government in building digital services that everyone can use with confidence, including disabled people, older people, people with lower digital skills, people with limited English, and others who face barriers to accessing digital government services. Our work spans policy, service design, research, accessibility and engagement, helping government better understand, measure and embed inclusion across public services.
The team leads work across a number of areas, including:
- Accessibility compliance and standards
- Digital inclusion policy and strategy
- Inclusive service design
- Cross-government communities of practice
- Development of tools and frameworks that help services assess and improve the accessibility and usability of digital public sector services
- Advice and support for ministers, senior leaders and digital delivery teams across government
As a Senior Policy Advisor and Strategist, you will play a key role in shaping the future of accessibility and digital inclusion across government services. You will help develop the team's policy positions and strategic direction, ensuring accessibility and inclusion considerations are embedded within government digital transformation activity. Working in a complex and evolving policy environment, you will bring together evidence, user research, stakeholder perspectives and government priorities to identify emerging challenges, influence decision-making and translate insights into practical policy recommendations that support delivery.
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As part of a multidisciplinary team, you will work closely with a range of digital professionals including product managers, service designers, user researchers, accessibility specialists, delivery managers and engagement managers. This role offers a unique opportunity to combine policy and strategic thinking with service delivery, ensuring that accessibility and inclusion are embedded in the design, development and transformation of public services. You will help bring policy considerations into delivery discussions and translate evidence, user needs and government priorities into practical interventions that improve outcomes for users across government.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about improving public services and wants to influence how accessibility and inclusion are understood, prioritised and embedded across government.
Person specification
Develop and maintain policy positions relating to accessibility and inclusive public services. Monitor government priorities, legislation, standards and external developments to identify implications for the team’s work. Produce high-quality policy advice, briefings, submissions and responses to Parliamentary Questions and correspondence, for senior civil servants and ministers. Analyse and translate complex evidence, user research, and system-level insights into clear recommendations for policy and delivery teams. Build and maintain effective relationships with policy, digital delivery and operational colleagues across government. Represent the team in cross-government working groups, communities and stakeholder forums. Support strategic planning and prioritisation across the Accessibility and Digital Inclusion portfolio. Ensure that the team's work reflects relevant legal, governance, accessibility and inclusion considerations. Contribute to the development of guidance, frameworks and interventions that improve the accessibility and inclusivity of digital public service design.
As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.
Essential Criteria
- Experience developing policy, strategy, guidance or recommendations, either in the public sector or similar environment.
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret evidence, identify patterns and draw clear conclusions.
- Experience producing clear, concise written products for a range of audiences, including senior stakeholders.
- Ability to translate complex information into practical recommendations and actions.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills and experience building productive relationships across organisational boundaries.
- Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and deliver at pace.
- Excellent judgement and the ability to identify risks, dependencies and opportunities.
- Strong communication and influencing skills, including presenting complex issues clearly and confidently.
- An understanding of accessibility, inclusion, service transformation or digital government, or the ability to quickly develop expertise in these areas.
Desirable Criteria
- Knowledge of accessibility legislation, standards or policy.
- Experience working on digital, technology, service transformation or inclusion-related programmes.
- Experience supporting ministerial business, parliamentary activity or senior governance forums.
- Understanding of user-centred design.
- Experience working across multiple organisations or departments to deliver shared objectives.
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Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £44,620, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £12,926 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).
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
- A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
- Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts
Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
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 and Experience.
After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.
Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 12th October 2026. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.
Online Test Maintenance
You will be directed to the Talogy - True Talent – Scheduled Maintenance Window Webpage for online tests during an outage.
If you are in the middle of a test when the maintenance begins, your progress will be paused. You will be able to resume your test from where you left off via your application centre once the downtime has ended. Please note that you will not be able to launch any new tests while the system is offline.
Applications will be sifted on CV and Personal Statement.
In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement only.
The interview will consist of behaviour questions.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Further Information
Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the
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