Deputy Spending Principal

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you!

Job description

About the job

We are recruiting a Deputy Spending Principal in the Education and Skills team. This is a key role that sits centrally across the entire spending team. Together with the team’s Spending Principal, this role has responsibility within HM Treasury for overseeing the entirety of DfE’s budget (over £100bn of annual spending – the second largest departmental budget across all of government).

This is an exciting time to join the team – you will play a pivotal role in working across HM Treasury and with DfE to help implement the recent Spending Review settlement, and to prepare for and help deliver the next Spending Review due to take place next year. You will build networks across HMT as well as develop positive relationships with DfE to find common positions and broker agreements.

We strongly encourage candidates from a diverse set of backgrounds to apply. We are looking for people who have the right set of skills, who demonstrate the values of our organisation, and who are motivated to come and work with us on a range of issues that are at the heart of how we spend money and deliver public services. This role requires a strong grasp of budgetary frameworks and as such spending experience would be helpful (but not essential).

The key responsibilities of the post-holder will be:

1. Leading the monitoring of DfE’s in-year budget position. We have just set DfE’s budget for the next three years at the recent Spending Review. You will now support the implementation of this budget through leading the monitoring of DfE’s in-year budget position. This involves analysing DfE’s spending data on a monthly basis, identifying and helping to respond to emerging spending risks. The role leads on the bi-annual Estimates process, working closely with other HM Treasury teams and DfE’s strategic finance team. This also involves leading advice for HM Treasury seniors and ministers to resolve novel, contentious, repercussive or complex spending issues that require HM Treasury approval.
2. Leading HM Treasury’s relationship with two non-ministerial departments, Ofsted and Ofqual. You will independently own and maintain strong relationships with senior finance officials in Ofsted and Ofqual, leading advice for HM Treasury ministers to help set and monitor their budgets. You will lead the Spending Review process for Ofsted and Ofqual at the upcoming Spending Review due to take place next year, working through their bids and leading discussions with other HM Treasury teams, including the General Expenditure Policy team, to help set their budgets
3. Supporting the team’s Spending Principal to help set the overall education spending strategy, both RDEL and CDEL, including at Spending Reviews and fiscal events.As part of the team’s central branch, you will support the Spending Principal and the team’s senior Management (consisting of two Grade 6s and a Deputy Director) to develop a team-wide position on how to prioritise spending in the education space and to provide briefing for senior officials and ministers to support their decisions. At Spending Reviews and fiscal events, this will involve reviewing and scrutinising DfE’s bids and helping to guide the rest of the spending team through challenging negotiations.

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date, please contact Lawrence Holmes: lawrence.holmes@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Person specification

Application Stage

Application Form

Applications should consist of a CV including your employment history, and a 250-word statement demonstrating evidence of each of the below shortlisting criteria. Your CV and employment history won’t be scored. It’s used to give context to your application and support discussions at interview.

The panel will review applications and invite those that best demonstrate evidence of the shortlisting criteria below for interview. Please keep this in mind when writing your application.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

1. Strong analytical and judgement skills with the ability to synthesise a range of information and evaluate evidence to make a clear recommendation (Making Effective Decisions)
2. Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with a wide network of partners, and use these formal and informal relationships to deliver your objectives (Working Together)
3. Ability to prioritise and reassess workloads to address short-term issues while continuing to make progress on long-term objectives (Delivering at Pace)
4. Ability to explain and influence skilfully, delivering difficult messages, bringing others along with you, and ensuring shared clarity on objectives and plans(Communicating and Influencing)

The lead criterion is: Making Effective Decisions

If we receive a high volume of applications, we’ll first sift using the lead criterion only. Those meeting the minimum score will then be assessed against all remaining criteria.

Interview Stage

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Strengths
• Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Working Together, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,090, HM Treasury contributes £12,483 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave package.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 28%
• 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 and diversity

Flexible Working Arrangements

HM Treasury views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they can enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including; part-time, compressed hours and job sharing. Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees the flexibility to adjust their working patterns throughout the week which is subject to operational needs and line management approval.

At HM Treasury we have an incredibly 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 can realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

HM Treasury operates an office based working approach across all Treasury sites - Darlington, London, and Norwich, and along with the rest of the Civil Service, has an expectation of a minimum of 60% attendance in the office, along with working remotely. This blended working approach allows you to work collaboratively, meet stakeholders face to face, support others and promotes a healthy work life balance (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review. All our offices have been recently modernised and designed to collaborate and connect with colleagues as well as desk and quiet space to allow a range of ways to work.

The office working expectation is linked to the location of the role. If you apply to a post in a single location, then you will not be able to meet this expectation at any of our other sites or move your role to another location.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

The reference to Experience above is system-generated. For this role, experience is not assessed at any stage. We will ask for some CV details in your application form, but this is for reference only and will not be scored.

Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: Sunday 1 February 2026 at 23:55
• Shortlisting: w/c 2 February 2026
• Interviews: w/c 9 February 2026

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline.

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Reserve Lists

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a post immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be approached for roles in merit order according to the first preferred location stated on your application form.

Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer. We would still encourage you to apply for other HM Treasury opportunities that you are interested in. If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or you are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances.

Those on the reserve list may also be approached for similar roles at a lower grade. If you are offered a role at a lower grade and choose to decline, you can remain on the reserve list.

Eligibility Statement

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information.

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Counter Terrorist Check (CTC)

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. In exceptional circumstances, for example if you have been working abroad on a government posting, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you. Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.

These short videos address common concerns and preconceptions which applicants may have about national security vetting. If you have questions relating to security clearances, please contact HMTSecurityVetting@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Lawrence Holmes
• Email : lawrence.holmes@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints Process: Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment based on fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact HMT by email at: hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

Attachments

Candidate FAQ's - 2025 (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 175kB)HM Treasury Guidance on Pay 2024 October 2024 (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 74kB)445136 Deputy Spending Principal – Education and Skills SEO Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 144kB)