Senior Delivery Adviser

Company:
Government Recruitment Service Salary: £44,913 to £53,230 a year

Hours:

Full-time

Location:

Edinburgh Job type:
Permanent Posting date: 2 Nov 2026 Closing date: 17 Nov 2026

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade drives good growth across the UK by supporting businesses to invest, export and grow, powered by science, innovation and technology.

This is an exciting opportunity to work in the Delivery Unit, at the centre of the department in the Strategy, Delivery and Ministers Directorate. The Delivery Unit plays a vital end-to-end role in ensuring the department prioritises and funds programmes that will have the greatest impact on growth, and delivers them effectively through close monitoring, hands-on support and escalation of emerging issues to leadership.

We track performance, spot and escalation emerging issues to keep the departmental programme on track, and ensure senior officials, Special Advisers and ministers are brought in at key junctures.

You will help drive progress on the Secretary of State’s and Permanent Secretary’s priorities, working closely with policy teams, Private Offices, Ministers and senior officials to identify delivery risks, unblock issues and maintain strategic alignment across the department.

The role will suit someone who enjoys working at pace across high-priority, complex and often fast-moving areas. Depending on the portfolio, you may support policy development, coordinate strategic advice, strengthen delivery plans, or provide grip on cross-cutting departmental priorities.

You will build effective relationships with policy teams, develop a strong understanding of your portfolio, and use that insight to provide constructive challenge, escalation issues where needed, and help ensure delivery remains on track.

Typical responsibilities will include:

• Driving progress on the Secretary of State’s and Permanent Secretary’s priorities, ensuring key delivery risks are identified, understood and escalated where needed.
• Acting as a central link between policy teams, Private Offices, special advisers, Ministers and senior officials to unblock delivery barriers and improve join-up across the department.
• Developing a strong understanding of priority policy areas and delivery plans, using this to assess progress, spot risks and provide constructive challenge.
• Actively troubleshooting problems where delivery is blocked or strategically misaligned, bringing together the right people, applying constructive challenge to different teams and using available escalation routes to resolve issues.
• Coordinating and drafting high-quality briefings, advice and updates for Ministers and senior officials, including for external engagements, cross-government meetings and Parliamentary business.
• Supporting business planning and departmental prioritisation by maintaining a clear view of progress, dependencies and risks across your portfolio.
• Building trusted relationships across the department and with other government departments, helping teams work together to deliver shared priorities.

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