Policy Adviser - Special Situations

• Salary: £44,600 to £50,906
• Contract Type:
  Permanent
• Working Pattern:
  This post is available on a full-time, part-time or job-share basis, and flexible working hours can be accommodated.
• Location:
  
  London / Darlington

The Enterprise and Growth Unit (EGU) promotes balanced economic growth and higher efficiency for the UK. We provide analysis and advice on enterprise, innovation, private sector investment and an efficient transition to a low-carbon economy. The department dedicated to business expansion and development has a varied and exciting agenda. We work closely with many teams across the Treasury.

We also work alongside multiple other departments and Government organisations to ensure that we are thinking creatively, spending wisely, and acting ambitiously to deliver these goals.

Members of Special Situations and Industrial Strategy (SSIS) come from a diverse range of backgrounds from the corporate world, public sector and beyond. Our priority is to develop all our team members to make the most of their abilities.

We are the go-to team for sectoral and company work; providing advice to the Chancellor regular on strategy as well as acute short term issues. Our analysis branch works closely with policy teams across HMT, providing and feeding into far-reaching analysis on companies and sectors. As part of this, we lead on the Industrial Strategy within HMT. We have responsibility for foundational sectors like metallurgy and chemical manufacturing.

Our teams helped develop the UK’s new modern Industrial Strategy. They are now working with BIST and across government to deliver it.

We have small teams that focus specifically on the Steel and Chemicals industries, supporting sophisticated commercial negotiations with companies and developing strategies for the sectors. The special situation branch handles bespoke commercial interventions for strategically important companies, including financially distressed firms or those looking for investment. We sponsor HMT owned arm’s length bodies (UKGI and The Royal Mint) and take a strategic approach to corporate finance issues and wider management of government owned assets.

In this role, you will:

• Lead on situations where companies encounter financial difficulties for HM Treasury, using corporate financial information to advise decision making, often  may be assigned responsibility for company distress cases or oversee specific work streams within larger and more sophisticated negotiations. You will provide recommendations to ministers that reflect the best interests of the UK and its taxpayers.
• Build positive relationships and communicate optimally with colleagues across government - including the Department for Business and Trade, No.10, Cabinet Office, UK Government Investments, and other relevant bodies to represent HM Treasury’s interests in company interventions.
• Work with colleagues inside the organization and with outside partners. These include Treasury spending teams, external advisers, and government bodies beyond the immediate department. Together, develop high-quality advice on commercial matters. This includes deciding if the government should intervene when companies face financial difficulties or want to disinvest from the UK.
• Supporting the strategic oversight of active casework, ensuring regular updates are provided for the Chancellor, ministers, and senior officials across government. This involves supporting the ongoing development of tools such as the cross-Whitehall digital tracker for supervising company distress case activities (in partnership with No.10).
• Oversee our active company distress casework pipeline and processes, working optimally across HM Treasury and wider government to develop and explain…