Senior Policy Advisor

The Policy Team leads on reform to strengthen the SFO’s ability to tackle serious and complex economic crime. The team also contributes significantly to cross-Government initiatives on economic crime and criminal justice. This role is part of the Policy and Engagement team which sits within the SFO’s Strategy Group. The Senior Policy Advisor will report to the G7 Deputy Head of Policy.

We invite applications from candidates with previous experience in policy roles gained in government, law enforcement, multilateral organisations, civil society, think tanks, regulatory bodies, or the private sector. While this is not an entry-level policy position, we also welcome applications from candidates with operational experience in economic crime, investigations, compliance, regulation, or criminal justice who have had some previous engagement with policy development.

The SFO investigates and prosecutes the most serious and complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption. The Policy Team works closely with the SFO’s senior leaders (SCS2 and SCS3) to develop evidence-based policy positions which support the department’s ambitions. The team supports the work of the SFO’s operational teams, including the Intelligence, Investigation, and Proceeds of Crime teams. We work closely with operational colleagues to understand the challenges they are facing, gaps in current legislation and opportunities to develop proposals to improve the SFO’s ability to tackle economic crime.

The SFO is a non-ministerial department, superintended by the Attorney General’s Office. The Policy Team has a significant level of autonomy in its work and team members have the freedom to pitch and develop new ideas, alongside supporting wider Government priorities. The role holder will be responsible for leading specific policy areas and will act as the main point of contact with operational colleagues, the senior leadership team and other Government departments.

A recent example of our work is the SFO’s proposals to financially incentivise whistleblowers. As a result of the Policy Team’s work, the Government has committed to explore financially rewarding whistleblowers of economic crime. This is an exciting time to join the Policy Team. Not only is the SFO leading the development of a range of new proposals, the Government is also undertaking significant reform to the criminal justice system as a whole.

As a Senior Policy Advisor you will be responsible for:

• Leading and developing the SFO’s policies on specific economic crime issues, and seeking to drive the Government agenda on these issues.
• Shaping engagement in a way that delivers the objectives of the Policy Team, including drafting high quality briefings for senior civil servants.
• Keeping abreast of policy developments that affect the SFO (including through Parliamentary monitoring, reviewing Government strategies and maintaining strong relationships with counterparts across Government), using this deep understanding to link SFO work to Government priorities.
• Supporting wider Strategy Group and SFO work as required.

The work of the team is often challenging and high profile so the role holder will be required to grasp complex concepts in a short period of time.

The Senior Policy Advisor will have a high level of autonomy, being empowered to identify new priority policy areas as they come to better understand the SFO’s work and the economic crime landscape. There will also be a requirement for the role holder to remain flexible, and to tackle urgent policy priorities as they arise.

For more information about the role and for a full list of key responsibilities, please see attached Job Pack.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application stage

As part of the application process you will be required to provide:

• A personal statement of no more than 500 words that explains how your skills and experience meet each of the essential experience criteria as listed in the job pack.

Please note, the criteria "Experience in drafting policy papers/Ministerial submissions/briefings.” will be the lead criteria. If there is a large volume of applications, this criteria will be assessed first and candidates who do not meet the required standard will not have the remainder of their application considered.

• A supporting CV outlining your job history and qualifications, (including how you meet the essential criteria for the role.)

It will not be possible to provide feedback to applicants who are unsuccessful at the application stage.

Interview stage

Behaviours and essential experience as outlined in the Job Pack will be tested at interview. You will also be required to complete a written assessment assessing essential experience.

Full details of the interview process will be made available to shortlisted candidates in the invite to interview.

Sift to take place from 29 to 30 September

Interviews are expected to take from 7 October

All dates are indicative and subject to change.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. To be eligible you must meet the following residency requirements dependent of the level of security vetting required:

• SC: 5 years residency in the United Kingdom preceding this application.

This is a fixed-term appointment for 24 months with a possibility of extension (subject to business need).​

For permanent civil servants joining the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on a Fixed-term Appointment:​

Please note if you accept a Fixed-term Appointment with the SFO the preferred option is for you to transfer from your home department on a loan basis to ensure you can return to your home department at the end of the Fixed-term Appointment. Exceptionally, if a transfer on a loan basis cannot be agreed by your home department, you would transfer to the SFO on the basis that you would lose your permanent Civil Service status but retain your continuity of employment. However, if you face a redundancy situation at the end of the Fixed-term Appointment you will be treated asa permanent civil servant for redundancy and redeployment purposes only. You must have two years’ service to be eligible for redundancy benefits under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.​

Therefore you should be aware that when your Fixed-term Appointment at the SFO comes to an end, your employment in the Civil Service will end, unless:​

• an extension to your Fixed-term Appointment has been agreed by the SFO.
• a conversion to permanent status has been agreed by the SFO.​
• you are successfully redeployed into a suitable alternative post​
• you secure another Civil Service post through a recruitment process.​

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