Summary

About HM Treasury

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives across the country, the Treasury is the department for you! We sit at the centre of everything that the Government does and have provided advice on economic policy and decisions that affect the public finances throughout the country’s history. A Treasury career continues to offer an exciting opportunity to be part of the decision making that affects the whole of the UK.

Working at the heart of government, we collaborate with other departments to ensure public money is spent well and to drive strong and sustainable economic growth. Our work ranges from protecting customers through to the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, supporting people across the country through the COVID 19 furlough scheme and Plan for Jobs as well as helping first time buyers buy their first home.

HM Treasury is proud of a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to fairness and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all. We know that having a range of experiences, ways of working and thinking makes us a stronger organisation, better at developing policy that is reflective of the communities we serve. We embrace different views and experiences and value the fresh perspective that people from a variety of circumstances bring to the work we do. We welcome applications from candidates who have not previously worked for the Civil Service, mid- and late-career changers with transferrable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, gender, age ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.

Job description

About the Group

International Group

The International Group advises ministers on promoting and protecting the UK’s international economic interests, to ensure the UK thrives in an ever-changing global economy. We do this through our policy and operational work on a range of areas ranging from free trade agreements, climate change, countering illicit finance, financial sanctions to supporting developing countries and managing our relationship with Europe, US, and emerging markets.

We support the Chancellor and senior officials in building relationships with a wide range of external and international partners and represent the UK in a range of international organisations, such as the G7, the G20 and the International Monetary Fund as well as the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). We also analyse what is happening in the world economy, and control spending on international development. Although international travel is an important part of some roles, it is not required for every role in the group and will be specified if required.

About the Team

The Prosperity and Multilateral Investment (PMI) team is a friendly, lively, and welcoming team, with a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion. We encourage and support team members to participate in activities and projects to help build a more positive, collaborative, and inclusive working environment.

We lead on the Government\'s interests in two MDBs: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The wider team works on deepening bilateral economic co-operation with China, India and Brazil and other emerging markets. It also provides flexible strategic project resource to the wider Group.

PMI works closely with other Treasury teams, other Government departments (particularly the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office), and with the UK Delegation to the EBRD, to ensure that our investments are delivering value for money for the UK taxpayer, and that our role is driving UK influence globally.

Key Accountabilities

Are you interested in playing a leading role in influencing global development finance in support of the UK’s international, economic, development and climate change priorities? If so, read on...

HM Treasury is seeking an impactful and collaborative leader to head our MDB Unit, which oversees the Government\'s interests in two MDBs, for which the Chancellor is the UK Governor: the EBRD and AIIB. The successful post-holder will work closely with Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and UK delegations to the Banks to develop the Government\'s positions relating to the MDBs and deliver this through the MDB Boards and relevant fora, including advising on positions at the G7 and G20.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities in the role are expected to include:

1. Providing effective leadership to the MDB Unit. You will set the Unit’s strategic direction. Building a diverse and inclusive environment which supports work-life balance and development opportunities. The Unit is currently comprised of four members of staff.

2. Overseeing UK Government\'s interests in EBRD. The EBRD makes annual investments of over EUR10bn across Europe, including Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa, and central Asia. You will supervise EBRD Policy Adviser assessments of EBRD investment proposals and work to secure UK priorities in cross-cutting bank policies. You will engage directly with the UK Executive Director and Alternate Director to the EBRD and with the EBRD at a senior level, and other shareholders particularly in G7 Finance Ministries. Key priorities for the UK at the EBRD over the next year include: providing economic support for Ukraine; implementing COP26 climate financing commitments; and continued engagement with EBRD consideration of expansion to sub-Saharan Africa.

3. Guiding the UK Delegation to the AIIB, consisting of one Grade 7 Senior Policy Adviser and one HEO/SEO Policy Adviser, which supports the Chancellor as UK Governor to the AIIB and the PMI Deputy Director who represents the UK on AIIB’s Executive Board as an Alternate Director. You provide guidance to the delegation as needed on key AIIB projects and policy decisions, in close coordination with the UK Alternate Director.

4. Leading policy work on cross-cutting MDB priorities. You will deliver an effective UK government response to the independent MDB Capital Adequacy Framework Review, which is expected to publish this summer and which has the potential to identify options for significant amounts of further financing to support development.

5. Maintaining a strong MDB community. You will ensure strong cross-Treasury and Whitehall working. You will build a community of MDB leads and lead work to develop and implement internal Government MDB Strategy.

You will also be expected to respond to other priorities across the group as these emerge and you will be encouraged to participate in cross-Treasury activities and projects to support a positive, collaborative and inclusive organisation.

The successful candidate will combine strong interpersonal and policy skills. Training and development support will be provided in the role. Subject to COVID-19 restrictions, the post offers potential opportunities for foreign travel.

Experience of international policy, development policy, international finance, banking and/or engagement with multilateral institutions and groupings would be an asset but is not essential.

Should you have any questions about the role then please contact Mark Collins (Mark.Collins@hmtreasury.gov.uk)

Candidate Assessment of Skills and Experience

Candidates – Please note, you will be asked to give evidence in your application of how you meet these criteria.

Required Skills, Experience and Behaviours

The below criteria will be assessed in your application form:

The lead criterion is:

1. Working together

You will be receptive to fresh insights and able to build and maintain:

• an international network of diverse colleagues and contacts, across different locations and cultures, to achieve progress on shared objectives, while ensuring consideration and support for the wellbeing of yourself and individuals throughout the team; and
  
• an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are taken into account and bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable.

If we receive large volumes of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criterion only.

We will assess the below further criteria in your application form;

2. Leadership

You will be able to encourage and empower others to be fully engaged in their work and role, including through the ability to set out a clear vision and engage others to secure active support for this. You will promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity and respects difference.

3. Making effective decisions

You will encourage and respond to both innovative suggestions and challenge from others in decision making on matters relating to international, development, and financial policy. You will clarify your own understanding and needs and expectations of others in finalising advice and ensure that decision making happens at the right level, minimising bureaucracy. The successful candidate will also be able to draw reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence.

Candidate Guidance on Completing your Application Form

Where will we assess success profiles across your application form:

• Behaviours – these will be assessed individually with a 250-word statement per behaviour. The application form will indicate which behaviour is being assessed each time you provide a statement, and we are ideally looking for an example using the below STAR method to demonstrate this behaviour

All elements of the success profiles will be linked to a defined criterion that demonstrates the behaviour, experience or technical skills. It is beneficial to ensure your answer focuses on the full criteria, and not just the related success profile, to give you the best chance or providing the evidence the panel wants to assess.

In your statements, it is best to focus on one example in each section to allow you to provide enough detail in your answer and use all the words you have been allocated. Examples from a range of roles across your application will demonstrate that you have the skills, experience and behaviours we are looking for. We would also advise you to use examples that best meet the criteria, even if it is a few years old.

How to Structure your Answer

Please use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) approach when writing your application answers.

• Situation – Describe the situation you found yourself in and what happened.
  
• Task – The Hiring Manager will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation that you found yourself in.
  
• Action – What actions did you take and how did you do it. Make sure to use “I”, not “we” to explain how your actions lead to a result.
  
• Result – Use facts and statistics to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.

Notes to Candidates

• Please refer to the candidate FAQ document which is a link on the job advert – this will provide you with guidance on completing the application form. Please contact hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk if you have any issue accessing this document
  
• At HM Treasury, to maximise diversity and inclusion within our workforce, we operate a fair, open and anonymous recruitment process. This means that the sift panel will only be able to assess you on the written evidence supplied in your application answers. They will not have access to personal information.
  
• You will be asked to provide some CV details during your application; however these will NOT be assessed during the process, but will be used to support discussions at interview – please ensure you put all information you would like to be scored against in your behaviour, experience and technical skill statements
  
• You will be assessed on your skills, experience and behaviours through the online application form. When completing your application form, please outline how you meet the requirements as detailed in the ‘candidate assessment of skills and experience ‘section of this job description. This will give you the best chance to provide the evidence that the panel wants to assess. More guidance can be found here – completing your application
  
• If we receive a large number of applications, applications will be assessed initially against the lead criterion alone. You will then be assessed against the other criteria if you have met the minimum score on the first criterion.
  
• Find out more about how the Civil Service assesses candidates and uses Success Profiles to test skills, experience and behaviours in applications and interviews.
  
• Applications are not reviewed until the closing date has passed. You will be notified of the outcome of your application as soon as the recruitment panel has reviewed all the applications.

Candidate Drop-In Session

A virtual candidate drop-in session will be held via Microsoft Teams on Thursday 7th July at 12:00 – 12:45pm. Candidates are welcome to attend to meet the hiring manager and find out more about the role.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

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

• Working Together
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

• 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the Queen’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant)
  
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
  
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions,
  
• Onsite restaurant and coffee bar. The London office also offers a gym, showers and prayer room
  
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving
  
• Access to a retail discounts and cashback site
  
• A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes
  
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity (e.g. women in the Treasury, ethnic minority network, LGBT* network, faith and belief network)