Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Senior Policy Advisor and Strategist
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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
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.
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.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please use your personal statement (in no more than 750 words) explaining how you meet the essential criteria for this role. Using examples from your experience, demonstrate your ability to develop policy or strategy, analyse evidence, communicate complex information, build effective stakeholder relationships, and deliver outcomes in a complex environment.
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.
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
The interview will consist of behaviour questions.
Further Information
Reasonable Adjustment
We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
Nationality Requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and
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