Policy Adviser - Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Cbam)

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth!

About the Team

The Energy and Transport Tax (ETT) team is an encouraging and friendly team whose work is at the heart of balancing HMT’s fiscal, economic and environmental objectives. The team is responsible for taxes collectively raising around £50bn through transport, oil & gas, energy & carbon and environmental taxes, including developing novel and complex policies such as the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As a result, the team’s work covers a broad range of high-profile policy areas that get significant amounts of ministerial and public attention, particularly in light of the Government’s Net Zero agenda.

ETT is an outward-facing team whose work involves significant and varied partner engagement, both directly with businesses and with trade associations, business representative groups and environmental and tax policy collaborators. The team also works very closely with other Government departments, especially DESNZ, DfT, HMRC, Defra, and DBT, as well as with colleagues across HM Treasury, particularly those working on energy & transport spending, infrastructure policy and international policy.

About the Job

In this role, key responsibilities will include:

• Contribute to the design of UK CBAM policy and develop detailed policy proposals for the operation of the UK CBAM which was recently subject to consultation. This will require working together with colleagues across HMT Treasury and HMRC to understand a wide range of viewpoints. For example, this could include working on the development of the UK’s approach to emissions measurement within the UK CBAM.
• Lead on the assessment of complex technical policy areas working at speed to clearly set out the potential impacts of different options and how they fit with other government schemes. This could include assessing the interaction with the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This will involve working alongside economic analysts in the Trade Policy team. Collaborate closely with colleagues within other government departments.
• The post-holder will be encouraged to engage with key partners and build upon existing relationships with a range of partners across government. For example, this could include working closely with HMRC, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Environment Agency.
• Lead on project management to ensure timely delivery of the UK CBAM, working across HMT and HMRC
• Contribute to making the team and the wider BIT group a great place to work. About You

This is an exciting role for a motivated and detail focused candidate to work directly on crafting key elements of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a new and innovative tax on emissions embodied in imported goods. The successful candidate will need to quickly grasp complex issues in a fast-paced policy area and be comfortable working with others to drive forward complex technical aspects of a tax that is yet to be fully implemented anywhere in the world.

Whilst formal economics or statistics qualifications are not essential, some experience and/or understanding of these areas would be valuable and the post-holder will need to be comfortable engaging with data and working with economic analysts.

You don’t need to be a policy professional or have any specific qualifications to apply to work as a Policy Adviser at HM Treasury. We are looking for people who have the right set of skills for the role, who demonstrate the values of our organisation, and who are motivated to come and work with us. There is no one type of person or particular background we are looking for, and we would encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply.

HM Treasury is proud of a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to fairness and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all. We know that having a range of experiences, ways of working and thinking makes us a stronger organisation, better at developing policy that is reflective of the communities we serve. We embrace different views and experiences and value the fresh perspective that people from a variety of circumstances bring to the work we do. We welcome applications from candidates who have not previously worked for the Civil Service, mid- and late-career changers with transferrable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 days 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 you to take up to an additional 2 days off each month.
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, compressed hours).
• Generous parental leave and adoption leave packages.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 27% Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances.
• A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes.
• Access to HM Treasury’s benefits portal allowing you access to a range of discount codes for online shopping.
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity