Senior Policy Advisors – Semiconductors Team

The responsibilities for the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology for 2023 are as follows: 

• Positioning the UK at the forefront of global scientific and technological advancement 
• Driving innovations that change lives and sustain economic growth 
• Delivering talent programmes, physical and digital infrastructure and regulation to support our economy, security and public services 
• R&D funding 

For 2023, our priorities are: 

• Optimise public R&D investment to support areas of relative UK strength and increase the level of private R&D to make our economy the most innovative in the world. 
• Promote a diverse research and innovation system that connects discovery to new companies, growth and jobs – including by delivering world-class physical and digital infrastructure (such as gigabit broadband), making the UK the best place to start and grow a technology business and developing and attracting top talent. 
• Put our public services – including the NHS and schools – at the forefront of innovation, championing new ways of working and the development of in-house STEM capability to improve outcomes for people. 
• Strengthen international collaboration on science and technology in line with the Integrated Review, and ensure our researchers are able to continue to work with leading scientists in Europe and around the world. 
• Deliver key legislative and regulatory reforms to drive competition and promote innovation, including the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill and our pro-innovation approach to regulating AI. 
• Pass the remaining stages of the reformed Online Safety Bill to keep British people, especially children, safe online. 

Our Inclusive Environment 

We are building an inclusive culture to make the Department a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions.  

We offer first-class flexible working benefits, excellent employee well-being support and a great pension. We are fortunate to have a range of excellent staff networks and are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We will support talented people from all backgrounds to build a career and thrive. 

We actively welcome applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusion. We will fully support candidates with a disability or long-term condition who require adjustments in our recruitment process. 

Find Out More 

We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/departmentforsciencetechnologyandinnovation? 

You can also follow our LinkedIn Careers Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dsitcareers/   

The DSIT Semiconductor Strategy Unit is responsible for delivery of HMG’s new Semiconductor Strategy – one of the 5 priority technologies set out in the UK’s Science & Technology Framework.

Our work sits at the heart of the government’s technology, international and national security interests.

The team is recruiting for a number of positions across international and domestic policy. These are exciting, fast paced roles on a high-profile issue that sits at the heart of government’s technology, international and national security interests. Given this, the team is regularly delivering to the highest levels in government, with challenge, stretch and variety available to all team members. In conducting its work, the team prides itself on maintaining an inclusive, empowering and fun culture in which individuals are supported not only to perform in their present roles, but also supported to achieve their long-term career objectives.

The International and Security Team is seeking individuals to drive international engagement with key strategic partners (e.g. US, Republic of Korea, Japan, OECD), contribute to shaping a strategic vision for our international work, and engage with government and external stakeholders to ensure our international objectives deliver maximum benefit for the UK. Successful candidates will have excellent judgement and political awareness, a strong ability to tie short-term goals to bigger picture objectives, and a demonstrated track record of establishing working relationships with diverse and often senior stakeholders.

The Domestic and Resilience Team is seeking individuals to lead and shape domestic semiconductor policy, designing and delivering interventions in support of the National Semiconductor Strategy and driving engagement with industry and academia. Successful candidates will have excellent judgement, a good degree of scientific and technical literacy, and an ability to developing strong working relationships.

Key Responsibilities

International Team – Engagement Roles (x2)

Responsibilities will include:

• International engagement: lead on building and advancing relationships with key strategic partners (such as the US, EU, Republic of Korea and Japan) and multilateral organisations (e.g. OECD, G7). Horizon scanning and identifying areas/regions for further collaboration.

• Strategy development: Developing an objective-focussed vision for how the UK engages with international partners in your portfolio, to ensure engagements are delivering maximum value to the UK and align with our National Strategy.

• Represent across government: Proactively build strong relationships with key departments and bodies to drive informed policy making, build co-ordinated policy positions across HMG, and ensure our work is strategically aligned with the wider departmental priorities. Secure team and DSIT interests in key discussion including representing in cross-Whitehall meetings and in preparing senior officials and Ministers for high level engagement.

• External engagement: Engaging with experts and businesses in semiconductor and related technological fields to inform and implement technically-aware UK policy. Representing the UK in external and international engagements (e.g. meetings, conferences).

International Team – Security role (x1)

Responsibilities will include:

• External engagement: Inform and implement UK policy by building relationships with key strategic international partners (e.g. US, Japan, Korea), and industry experts and businesses in semiconductor and related technological fields. Represent the UK in external engagements.

• Policy development: Lead development and implementation of policy proposals to support the implementation of the National Semiconductor Strategy’s objectives, with a focus on supply chain resilience and national security.

• Represent across government: Proactively build strong relationships with key departments and bodies to drive informed policy making, build co-ordinated policy positions across HMG, and ensure our work is strategically aligned with the wider departmental priorities. Secure team and DSIT interests in key discussion including representing in cross-Whitehall meetings and in preparing senior officials and Ministers for high level engagement.

• Managing casework: scrutinising transactions as the sectoral expert for potential government interventions, for example through the National Security & Investment Act.

Domestic and Resilience roles (x2)

Responsibilities will include:

• Delivering the National Semiconductor Strategy’s domestic growth agenda: leading the design and implementation of policy interventions to boost the UK semiconductor sector.  For example, leading the development of a semiconductor skills plan, using existing evidence and work independently with both internal and external stakeholders to identify the skills needs of the sector and develop solutions.

• Represent across government: Proactively build strong relationships with key departments and bodies to drive informed policy making, build co-ordinated policy positions across HMG, and ensure our work is strategically aligned with the wider departmental priorities. Secure team and DSIT interests in key discussion including representing in cross-Whitehall meetings and in preparing senior officials and Ministers for high level engagement.

• External engagement: Engaging with experts and businesses in semiconductor and related technological fields to inform and implement UK policy. This will include working closely with the UK Semiconductor Advisory Panel, a group of leading industry figures working with government on implementation of the National Semiconductor Strategy.

• Strategy and evidence: Consolidate and analyse evidence to support delivery of the Strategy and drive forward implementation. Work with analysts to manage and improve our evidence base across the team area – in particular on skills, identifying key evidence gaps.

• Managing casework: scrutinising transactions as the sectoral expert for potential government interventions, for example through the National Security & Investment Act.

Essential criteria

• Excellent judgement, initiative and a proactive attitude to rapidly pick up, set direction and drive forward solutions to complex issues.

• Ability to autonomously organise own portfolio of work and mange projects end-to-end experience of working at pace and balancing different priorities to deliver high-quality outputs to deadlines.

• Consistent focus on “the bigger picture” (e.g. wider policy and political landscape), enabling consistent connections between own work portfolio and wider organisational and team objectives.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to understand and adapt to different audiences, and confidence engaging with senior leaders.

• Exceptional record of building and maintaining positive working relationships with a range of different stakeholders. 

Desirable criteria

• Interest or experience in the semiconductor sector and/or other areas of science and technology policy.

• Interest or experience of international policy or engagement.

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

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 average employer contribution of 27%.
• 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.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Job contact :

• Name : Roxana Legezynska
• Email : roxana.legezynska@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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