Policy Advisor – TCA Implementation and UK-EU Trade

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Our Mission

At BEIS, we are leading the UK’s recovery from coronavirus and are building a stronger, greener country. Our varied work makes a real difference to people across the UK and internationally. This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of the BEIS team and our exciting mission!

We lead on the UK’s commitments to tackle climate change and drive green economic growth. We support businesses to create jobs and increase opportunity in regions across the UK. We also encourage investment and innovation to make the UK a science superpower producing research that will improve lives.

Our Inclusive Environment

We are building an inclusive culture to make BEIS 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.

Trade and Investment Negotiations (Services) Directorate (known as TINS) helps UK service suppliers and investors to thrive in a changing environment. We create opportunities for businesses by ensuring that the UK’s trade and domestic regulatory frameworks work in tandem to deliver for services, investment and UK professionals.

One of TINS’s responsibilities is promoting UK-EU trade in services and investment. Our role is to create opportunities to maximise the benefits of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) through effective implementation of the TCA’s services provisions. We work with businesses and officials across Government to identify and tackle barriers to trade in EU markets.

This includes supporting the UK co-chair of the TCA Trade Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade which meets at least annually to consider formally the implementation of the TCA’s services provisions. We are also looking ahead towards the joint review of the TCA at the end of 2025 and considering possible priorities.

It is not just businesses we help to thrive. TINS is a friendly and inclusive place to work. With empathetic leadership, we will support you to build connections and a sense of team spirit with your colleagues – not just through your work, but through opportunities to make corporate contributions in areas such as wellbeing or learning and development.

We are looking for an enthusiastic new team member to work on TCA Implementation and UK-EU Trade.

The successful candidate will be based in the directorate’s strategy team and will work to build and maintain TINS’s overall understanding of UK-EU trade in services and investment. The post-holder will be line managed by a Grade 7 team leader focused on TCA implementation and UK-EU trade.

In this role, you will be taking a systematic approach to engagement, including with British embassies in the EU, to identify the market access barriers and sectoral interests which shape our trading relationship.

Being naturally curious, you will want to build a wide-ranging network, interrogate the evidence base and build consensus on the team’s priorities for action. You will communicate clearly and concisely to present your views to your colleagues and to the directorate’s senior leadership team.

You will use your excellent communication skills to draft briefings and respond to regular requests for information. Through this you’ll influence our relationship with the EU institutions and stakeholders that matter.

You will use your skills and experience to:

• brief senior officials and ministers to promote and improve UK-EU trade in services and investment;

• support the TCA Trade Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade; and

• build our evidence base and prepare for the TCA review at the end of 2025.

Skills and Experience

This role will give you opportunities to apply and develop your skills in:

• using evidence to support accurate, expert decisions and advice;

• building useful, well-functioning networks with a range of people and organisations; and

• managing competing responsibilities and meeting deadlines by prioritising efficiently.

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

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

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

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

BEIS 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.

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 (from September 2021, depending on how the public health guidance evolves).

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 note – the CV incorporated into the application form is for information purposes only and will not be scored.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 250 words) to explain why you want this job and what you will bring to the role.

Applications will be sifted on behavioural statements and personal statement.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the lead behavioural statement (Making Effective Decisions). 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 and strength-based questions.

Expected Timeline subject to change

Sift dates: w/c 16th January 2023

Interview dates: w/c 30th January 2023

Interview Location: MS Teams.

Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via beisrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further Information

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers.

BEIS does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Please note that BEIS does not hold a licence to sponsor visa applications.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service / Disclosure Scotland. on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

BEIS wants to be accessible for all, and this includes offering assistance to attend interviews. The offer is targeted toward those from a lower socio-economic background, or who struggle to cover the cost of attending an interview. Please see the attached guidance document at the bottom of this Civil Service Jobs advert. Embedded in the document on page 5, are 2 documents that must be completed and returned to the email addresses listed on the forms to claim an expenses payment.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.