Senior Sanctions Adviser

Working at HM Treasury puts you at the heart of government, making a difference to the UK economy and ultimately to people’s lives right across the UK.

Jobs at the Treasury are fast-paced, fun and can offer unparalleled perspective – not least the opportunity to advise Ministers on the decisions which directly determine the UK’s prosperity. Deep in our DNA is a commitment to empowering our people: maximising individual and collective impact, with interesting work no matter your role or seniority.

Day-to-day you could be supporting Ministers to decide the right level of a specific tax or line of government spending; helping maintain the stability of financial markets; analysing the long-term trends impacting the future of the economy; or enabling this work as part of our vital corporate functions.

We are a high-performing department and proud to have outstanding staff from a wide range of backgrounds. We are also a friendly, inclusive and sociable workplace that prides itself on fostering great team spirit. Our two largest offices are 1 Horse Guards Road in London, opposite St James’ Park, and the Darlington Economic Campus, which also contains eight other departments. We work seamlessly across all our sites, including Norwich, Birmingham and Leeds, as one Treasury.

We are both a 1,000-year-old institution and dynamic, forward-looking economics and finance ministry, with a strong direction set by our organisational strategy, the Future Treasury Vision. The 21st century offers huge opportunities and poses new challenges for the UK. Working at the Treasury is your chance to help the country chart the right course.

We are recruiting for a caseworker role in our Licensing Unit

• This is an exciting, fast-paced, diverse role, that will provide opportunities for the post-holder to work on high-profile financial sanctions issues
• This role will suit a candidate with experience of casework, investigation, or policy implementation
• However, this experience is not required. We are also looking for people who have the right set of skills for the role, and who can demonstrate an ability to quickly develop an understanding of a complex and sensitive area.

What does the Licensing Unit do?

• The Licensing Unit assesses applications to make recommendations on whether licences should be issued to allow transactions to take place which financial sanctions would otherwise prevent
• This involves working with colleagues across Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and across government to progress individual cases, identify trends, assess risks, and handle legal challenges
• Licensing colleagues need to work quickly and in a disciplined way, drawing on the expertise of colleagues with a range of backgrounds, to make recommendations to senior decision makers (including Senior Civil Servants and the Ministers) that are significant for applicants, third parties and for the success of our sanctions regime.

What are the key responsibilities of a Sanctions Adviser in the Licensing Unit?

• Leadership: act as a leader on areas of policy specialism across the licensing unit. Potential line management responsibility for 1 Executive Officer (EO).
• Case management: overseeing a portfolio of licensing cases, utilising case management and prioritisation techniques, and ensuring compliance with internal policies and procedures. Keeping the Case Management system up to date to ensure accurate and timely data.
• Case assessment: Leading on complex licensing cases; obtaining and assessing evidence and intelligence from a variety of sources in a structured and ordered way to make licensing recommendations. In many of these cases the post holder will need to work independently in areas with limited guidance or precedents.
• External engagement on own areas of responsibility, negotiating with external partners where appropriate, and representing OFSI’s Licensing Unit more widely in external engagements. Interacting with licence applicants and their representatives through clear written and oral communications.
• Policy development: Policy scoping, research and development on licensing policy projects, including in relation to technical sanctions issues and licensing capabilities, using licensing data to support recommendations.
• Collaboration with a diverse set of stakeholders including senior colleagues in policy, litigation, legal advisory, enforcement, intelligence and across HM Government, particularly with FCDO, to implement effective and legally compliant licensing.
• Providing concise, accurate and timely advice and recommendations on complex matters to Ministers and senior officials, after taking into account legal, political and operational risk.
• Work flexibly within the Licensing Unit and OFSI more widely, supporting other areas of OFSI in their work and assisting with high priority urgent workstreams

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact maria.duque-fernandez@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

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, Strengths and Experience.

The reference to Experience above is system generated. For this role, experience is not assessed at any stage. We will ask for some CV details in your application form, but this is for reference only and will not be scored.

Candidate Guidance

Please review the candidate guidance for an overview of the Success Profiles and STAR approach, along with top tips for applications and interviews.

Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: Sunday 22nd November 2026
• Shortlisting: w/c 23rd November 2026
• Interviews: w/c 7th December 2026

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline.

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile.

Reserve Lists

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a role immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to provide your location preference on your application form. Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer.

If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances.

Those on the reserve list may also be approached for similar roles at a lower grade. If you are offered a role at a lower grade and choose to decline, you can remain on the reserve list.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Candidates cannot apply to roles in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Successful candidates will be subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database. This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This also applies to those who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the database will be refused employment.

National Security Vetting

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, successful candidates will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Security Check (SC).

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. You will be asked to provide residency information within your application form, and eligibility for national security vetting will be checked once the advert closing date has passed. In certain circumstances, for example if you have been working abroad on a government posting, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

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