Policy Adviser -Welfare Spending and Reform x 2 Roles

Are you looking for an exciting high-profile role with regular opportunities to advise ministers, special advisors and senior officials, playing an active role in the corporate life of Welfare Spending and Reform team and contributing to making the Treasury a great place to work? If so, we'd love to hear from you!

About the Team

The Welfare Spending and Reform team (WSR) is a friendly, inclusive, and hard-working team of 18 people from a diverse range of backgrounds from both within and outside of government. We are responsible for the Treasury's overall welfare spending and strategy, and for ensuring that spending is sustainable and meets the government's wider objectives.

We act as the spending team for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which makes up nearly 25% of all government expenditure, and lead on high-profile and complex policy and spending priorities for working age benefits, including tax credits, Child Benefit, disability benefits, Housing Benefit and Universal Credit. The team has also led on policies directly responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living, including the recent Cost of Living Payment for those receiving benefits.

We have an excellent team spirit and are committed to diversity, inclusion and personal development.

About the Jobs

A) Disability Benefits and Employment

In this role, you will:

• Develop options to reform health and disability benefits and advise ministers and senior civil servants
• Lead for the Treasury on disability benefits policy and spending, working collaboratively across Treasury and the government
• Lead for the Treasury on Statutory Sick Pay
• Lead for the Treasury on Carers Allowance

B) Family Benefits and Child Poverty

In this role, you will:

• Advise ministers and senior civil servants on policy options for Child Benefit and other family benefits
• Work collaboratively across the Treasury and government to develop the Child Poverty Strategy
• Work across the Treasury and government on Phase 2 of the Spending Review to ensure the government's child poverty objectives are taken into account
• Lead for the Treasury on the Household Support Fund
• Oversee government spending on Child Benefit and family-related benefits

About You

The successful candidate will have the ability to analyse and use relevant information from internal and external sources, to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative policy options, and the implications and risks of decisions. You will have the capability to work independently and proactively, while managing a very busy workload and delivering to short timescales. You'll actively collaborate with a variety of partners to achieve progress on shared objectives, taking on board the views of others and maintaining a positive relationship even when objectives diverge.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King's birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave packages
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 28.97%
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity

For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link.

If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form, or speak to the recruitment team at