Director – Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions

Director – Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions

The Treasury is the United Kingdom’s economics and finance ministry.

We are responsible for formulating and implementing the government’s financial and economic policy. Our aim is to raise the rate of sustainable growth and achieve rising prosperity and a better quality of life with economic and employment opportunities for all.

A Treasury career offers an exciting opportunity to be part of decision making that affects the whole of the UK.

The Treasury plays a meaningful role at the heart of Government in the UK and, together with the Cabinet Office and Number 10, forms the centre of the Government and wider Civil Service.

The Treasury is a small, agile and professional institution organised around thematic Director-led groups of standing and project teams.

This role can be based in either London or Darlington with an expectation of regular travel to the London office especially during significant peak periods throughout the year, where in-person meetings are likely to be required.

The Darlington Economic Campus is a ground-breaking new cross-government hub which brings together departments and public organisations which lead on some of the most important economic issues of the day.

Job description

The Director Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions is a member of the Tax and Welfare family and a part of the collective leadership of the Treasury, a department of c2000 staff. The Director jointly leads this group with one other Director. Together they operate at the heart of the Treasury to develop policy and strategy for personal taxes, the welfare system and labour markets. As a Group, PTWP is responsible for over £400bn of tax receipt and £285bn welfare spending and plays a crucial role in supporting the government’s Growth Mission and Opportunity Mission in particular. The Directors work closely with policy partners in His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with other parts of government, and with a wide range of internal and external partners including No 10, think tanks, unions and business rep organisations.

The Directors run the Group jointly but split policy responsibility, the post holder is currently responsible for:

• Welfare Policy and Reform, covering the working age benefits system
• Spending Control for the Department for Work and Pensions
• Labour Market Policy and Analysis, including in support of the Growth Mission
• Distributional and Equalities Analysis across HMT policies
• Supporting Women in the Economy
• There is some scope to review the current policy portfolio split with the co-Director in response to changing priorities or strategic objectives.

Key responsibilities:

1. Provide strong leadership to the 110 employees in the Group, working together with your co-Director to create a supportive and inclusive environment, promote well-being, and develop talent.
2. Act as the lead adviser to the Chancellor on working age welfare and labour market strategy and reform, including for fiscal events, working effectively with colleagues across the Treasury, other parts of government, and external stakeholders like the OBR.
3. Have responsibility for the spending settlement for DWP, advising the Chief Secretary to the Treasury as part of the overall spending approach, and working closely with spending colleagues across the Treasury, and in DWP.
4. Lead on distributional and equalities analysis, developing and deploying analytical capability including to ensure HMT’s distributional analysis techniques remain at the cutting edge, and are deployed in support of the whole department.
5. Lead the Treasury’s relationship with DWP, building trust and credibility with senior colleagues and working together on key welfare and labour market issues.
6. Be part of the visible leadership of HM Treasury as a whole. The postholder will report to the Director General Tax and Welfare, Dan York-Smith and will lead PTWP jointly with the other Director, Laura Webster.

The post-holder will report directly to the Director General for Tax and Welfare.

Person specification

While in post, the successful candidate will be expected to perform well across the full range of Senior Civil Service behaviours set out in the Success Profile framework and demonstrate commitment to the Civil Service values.

The criteria for the purpose of selection are:

• Outstanding people leadership skills, with experience of leading large, high-performing and multidisciplinary teams to deliver at pace in an inclusive way
• Sound judgement and strong strategic vision, with a track record of leading in uncertain and complex policy environments
• Excellent influencing and interpersonal skills with a proven ability to gain the confidence of and work effectively with senior stakeholders such as ministers (or Board-level equivalents) and to work collaboratively across an organisation
• Ability to absorb and interrogate data and analysis quickly and communicate it clearly and credibly to support decision making
• An understanding of welfare policy, the Budget process, and/or fiscal and spending frameworks

To apply for this post please apply via Civil Service Jobs by no later than 23:55 on the 11th November. We can only accept applications via the Civil Service Jobs platform.

Applications should consist of a CV and personal statement outlining your experience and skills against those detailed in the person specification.

The benefits of working for us include:

• 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)
• Flexible working patterns (job-share, condensed hours)
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 28%
• Generous parental leave packages
• 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)

At HM Treasury we have an exceptionally broad remit; our work touches every citizen of the country. So, it’s important our employees come from the widest possible range of backgrounds, bringing us the widest possible range of perspectives and ways of thinking. We are committed to ensuring that all staff are able to realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

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.