Senior Policy Adviser, Company Reporting

We are looking for a motivated and collaborative person for the role of Senior Policy Adviser, Company Reporting. In this newly-created SEO-level role, you will be part of the Corporate Reporting, Audit, Business Leadership and Diversity team, in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).

Company reporting is an important part of how companies do business in the UK, with significant implications for investment and economic growth. It provides a way for companies to communicate with their investors and share information about their businesses, and improves corporate transparency. Company reporting includes both financial reporting and reporting on non-financial matters, such as climate and environmental sustainability.

This role will give you the opportunity to help shape the future of company reporting in the UK. You will work on challenging and interesting policy areas, such as sustainability reporting and the future of anti-bribery regulations. You will support the work of the team as we consider how best to develop these reporting frameworks to help achieve the government’s objectives.

This role will also give you the opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including companies, investors, civil society organisations, and regulators. In this role, you will lead on stakeholder engagement for your policy areas, helping the team to engage and build relationships with these key external groups. This will be an opportunity to showcase and develop your stakeholder engagement skills and build your knowledge of the policy area.

You will also collaborate with other colleagues in DBT, such as analysts, policy colleagues, and ministerial teams; and with other Whitehall departments. The team works most closely with HM Treasury, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

You do not need to have a background in company law, accounting, sustainability, or any other specific background to be successful in this role. DBT will support you to develop your knowledge in these areas and to build your technical understanding of the company reporting framework. An interest in the policy area and willingness to learn is more important than prior technical knowledge.

Experience in a policy role, or similar experience, is helpful but is not essential, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

This role covers Company Reporting policy in general, and may therefore evolve over time as new issues and ministerial priorities arise in this area. However, you can expect to prioritise the following areas of work in the next year:

• Considering the future of the anti-bribery regulations to support the Government’s objectives for regulatory reforms.
• Climate Transition Plans – developing our response to the upcoming public consultation on climate transition plans, helping to shape the government’s position on this important category of climate disclosures.
• Considering how the UK’s accounting standards framework can be modified to support UK inward investment and growth.  
• Stakeholder engagement, helping the team to collectively build stronger relationships with interested stakeholders across different sectors – this will ensure that our policy work is informed by ongoing evidence from external experts.

There may also be scope for you to be involved with the wider work of the team, depending on your interests and resourcing within the team. For example, the wider work of the team includes the process to assess and endorse international sustainability disclosure standards for use in the UK; the development of the UK Green Taxonomy; and the Review of Non-Financial Reporting.

This role does not include line management responsibilities.

Essential Criteria

• Ability to learn and develop technical knowledge to support your policy work.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues within DBT, across Government and within external organisations, to build strong working relationships and communicate DBT’s positions effectively.
• Ability to use evidence to take decisions in a structured way, or make recommendations to decision-makers such as ministers or senior officials.
• Ability to work independently and proactively to progress policy areas within your portfolio.

Desirable Criteria

• Prior experience in a policy role or similar role, particularly a business policy role.

Personal Attributes & Skills

• Ability to learn quickly and build policy knowledge in a technical or unfamiliar area.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to confidently build relationships with stakeholders and represent your team’s position, including providing challenge where appropriate and resolving disagreement.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.
• Collaborative approach and ability to see the bigger picture for your work, including anticipating political risks and ministerial perspectives on your policy area.

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.

Job contact :

• Name : Ed MOORE
• Email : Ed.Moore@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dbtrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk