Senior Policy Officer

BACKGROUND

The Northern Ireland Office supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in promoting the best interests of Northern Ireland. We make sure that Northern Ireland interests are represented within the UK Government and that UK Government responsibilities are fully and effectively represented in Northern Ireland. We are the centre of expertise on Northern Ireland issues across Government.

The Northern Ireland Office supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in promoting the best interests of Northern Ireland. We make sure that Northern Ireland interests are represented within the UK Government and that UK Government responsibilities are fully and effectively represented in Northern Ireland. We are the centre of expertise on Northern Ireland issues across Government.

The Northern Ireland Office employs around 170 staff, with offices in Belfast and London. As a small Department, we adopt a flexible project-based approach to ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place to support the delivery of our key objectives.

Due to our structure and size, we are able to offer extensive exposure to Ministers and the opportunity to work on a far wider portfolio of policy and responsibilities than might be the case in a larger department. This creates an interesting and stimulating work environment.

Our key priorities are set out in our Operational Delivery plan and include:

• Supporting greater inclusion, tolerance and openness in Northern Ireland
• Contributing to a safer Northern Ireland, where terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities
• Ensuring that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public service.
• Addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland

For more information about what we do:

National Security is one of the foundations on which the Missions set in the UK Governments Plan for Change are built. Through our work to achieve a safer Northern Ireland, the Security & Protection Group (SPG) in the NIO plays a key role in sustaining this foundation, and in the delivery of the Governments Safer Streets Mission. We do this through core teams working on:
National Security Policy, Strategy, Programmes and Engagement, Operational Delivery, and Casework and Protection.

We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality work on issues that matter, at pace and often in challenging circumstances. All SPG colleagues have an anchor within one of the core teams, allowing them to build specialist knowledge, expertise and relationships.

Everyone, regardless of grade or experience, also has the opportunity to get involved in project-based work across the group and the wider department beyond their core teams. This approach ensures we add more value, are agile enough to deliver on key departmental priorities and gives everyone in SPG a wide range of developmental opportunities. We are committed to using every opportunity to continuously improve ourselves and our business outcomes.

You can expect diverse, interesting and rewarding work that goes to the heart of public service and you can expect to do this in a safe space where individuals and teams are supported to deliver and encouraged to innovate, stretch, challenge and learn.

We are currently looking to recruit a senior policy adviser to work flexibly across policy, strategy and programme management portfolios within the Security and Protection Group. Teams across the group work closely together on many areas of shared and overlapping interest and this may be reflected in changes to the team structures in the medium term.

In this role, as a policy adviser, you will take the lead on a number of strands of work to develop a comprehensive and shared evidence base which informs the design and delivery of interventions to tackle the threat from terrorism and paramilitarism, in support of the UK Governments national security foundation and the Safer Streets Mission. You will need to build and maintain strong collaborative relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders across the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Civil Service, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the wider security, law enforcement and justice community.

As part of a wider team covering policy, strategy, programmes and engagement, you will also be expected to flex to take on new work across this portfolio as the strategic context changes and the delivery environment evolves.

For this role it is important that applicants have experience of working in policy, and experience of building, maintaining and delivering through a diverse network of stakeholders with competing priorities. The role offers a significant amount of autonomy, and the post-holder should be comfortable with driving forward work and maintaining effective, responsive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.

Key skills in this role include the ability to explain complex information to…