Policy Adviser - Water and Flooding

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, HM Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK.

The Climate and Environment Team (CET) acts as the focal point for HM Treasury’s work on climate change, net zero and the natural environment.

We advance HM Treasury;s interests across some of the biggest policy opportunities and challenges facing the UK including climate mitigation and adaptation, decarbonising heat and buildings, water company regulation, waste sector reform, implementing England’s agricultural transition plan and reforming our domestic environment policy – including through new statutory targets for the recovery of the natural world. We are a flexible and friendly team, and our members have a range of working patterns.

About the role

We are looking for a Policy Adviser to join us in the DEFRA spending team. Here, you will advise Treasury ministers on water quality, drought, flooding and coastal erosion policy and spending, and on water company regulation. This is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of government policy making and will give the postholder the opportunity to craft policy in these areas, in an encouraging environment that encourages innovation, independent thinking, and a focus on delivering value for the UK taxpayer.

Key accountabilities

1. Develop expertise in Water and Flooding policy: You will identify and promote HMT interests in these areas. This includes oversight of the £5.2 billion capital programme for flood and coastal risk management. As water is a regulated utility sector, the postholder will also cover issues relating to market competition and regulation.
2. Build and maintain positive working relationships, particularly with Defra and the Environment Agency to ensure that their plans are clear, costed, and represent value for money to the taxpayer. You will also engage with Ofwat, water companies and experts in the field, to provide evidence-based advice within these policy areas.
3. Analyse evidence and scrutinise policy proposals to ensure value for money in government spending. This will involve working through spending and policy issues, briefing and supporting senior officials, and advising HMT ministers to enable them to take policy and spending decisions with transparency on trade-offs and awareness of the wider context..
4. Leading day-to-day spending control of Ofwat’s budgets. You will work with Ofwat – the water sector regulator - to assess their in-year financial position and handle requests requiring HMT approval. You will lead the annual budget setting process (the Estimates process) for Ofwat, working closely with central HMT teams and Ofwat’s finance team.

About you

You don’t need to be a policy professional, have any specific qualifications, or prior experience/knowledge of these policy areas to apply for this role. We are looking for someone with 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 on a range of issues that are key to the UK’s economic prosperity and resilience. If this sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you! You will be well supported by line management and the wider team, and relevant training will be provided and ongoing.

About us

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 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 employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month  Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)  Generous parental and adoption leave packages  Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 27%  Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances   A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity (e.g. women in the Treasury, ethnic minority network, LGBT* network, faith and belief network)  For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link. 

If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form, or speak to the recruitment team at hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk