Director, Chief Investment Advisor

Job summary

The Office for Investment (OfI) is the Government’s investment promotion organisation for the UK. It operates at the heart of government, as a joint unit of HM Treasury, 10 Downing Street, and the Department for Business and Trade, to unlock the private investment which will be the foundation of the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s commitment to growing the economy and decarbonising our industry and infrastructure. ​

​The OfI reflects the urgency of those missions under the leadership of the Minister for Investment, within the new framework set by the forthcoming Industrial Strategy. As part of this, it plays a central and proactive role supporting departments and their Secretaries of State to partner with the world’s leading companies, influence boardroom decisions on the allocation of global capital, and improve the competitiveness of the UK’s regulatory and business environment.

Candidate Information Call ​

The hiring manager for this position Ceri Smith, will be hosting a virtual call for any interested applicants to discuss the role and answer any questions. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. ​

This will be held via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 16th April 2026 at 10:00-10:30am (UK time). ​

Please click here for the meeting link​

Job description

• Driving forward negotiations with leading companies and investors to secure their investments for the UK. You will support the Minister for Investment, No10, and relevant Secretaries of State as one of their key interlocutors with C-suites across a range of sectors, ensuring that deals represent the best possible strategic and economic value for the UK and the taxpayer. ​
• Providing strategic direction for the Office for Investment as part of the senior leadership team, setting vision, purpose, and culture to ensure the organisation is more than the sum of its parts across deal-making, origination, and marketing and analysis.​
• More broadly, you will have a critical leadership role across government, working to the Minister for Investment. You will use your expert understanding of how businesses make decisions, and your networks across industry, to shape HMG’s investment priorities and then support Secretaries of State to deliver them. ​
• Driving a more proactive and strategic whole-of-government approach to attracting investment into UK supply chains in alignment with the Industrial Strategy. With your fellow OfI directors, you will oversee the development of cross-government ‘hunt lists’, and as a chief deal-maker you will also be part of the advance party, alongside HMG’s overseas network, responsible for unlocking conversations with these key investment targets with the strongest pitch possible for the UK. ​
• Directly drive investment across Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industrial Strategy (IS) sectors and provide leadership for key opportunities in other sectors.​
• You will have management oversight of a small group of senior deal-makers who will work across the OfI and with other departments to unblock barriers for top-tier investors. ​
• You will also have management responsibility for the investment delivery team, which is the core unit at the centre of OfI, offering support on investor fundamentals and working with local partners to land investment of all sizes across the industrial strategy sectors.

​The Office for Investment operates a model where all directors are:​

• Collectively responsible for the management and delivery of OfI’s investment pipeline.​
• Expected to drive forward major projects as required across our portfolio.​
• A visible corporate leader within the organisation, fostering collaboration and integration across business units.​
• The senior representative for the OfI across DBT and wider government in relevant management boards and fora.​
• Collectively responsible for the management of the OfI, including oversight of budget and resourcing, talent management and business planning

This Director will be a senior deal-maker who will play a critical role in unlocking transformative investment by helping the most strategically important investors and businesses navigate government and break down barriers. They will have a specific role in attracting and landing investment into the advanced manufacturing and clean energy sectors but will also have to work flexibly as new demand for the OfI’s concierge service arises.​

This role will be one of five senior Directors, who collectively will have responsibility for leading and driving the Office’s most important and high-profile projects. As well as their work providing an elite concierge service for major projects, they will provide leadership and strategic direction by offering a commercial perspective across the OfI’s activity, from the way it engages with businesses to the policy initiatives it considers for supporting its sectors. They will divide their time between speaking to investors and directly advising the Secretary of State and their most senior officials. They will have a roving, empowered brief to originate investment opportunities, build up the department’s trusted contact list in global C-suites, and find innovative ways to remove barriers to investment.​

​The projected time allocation is ​

• Oversight and input into specific investment projects – 75%​
• Corporate leadership – 15%​
• Building and maintaining links across OGDs, PuFins, etc. – 10%

Person specification

• Experience working with business and/or investors, demonstrating deep commercial acumen and a direct and expert understanding of how investors make decisions ​
• Business credibility with deep knowledge of the fundamentals affecting investment decisions and practical experience of what needs to be done to realise an investment​
• Ability and Confidence to create and lead solutions for complex barriers which may occur, when trying to land investment opportunities, in: land, planning, utilities, skills & funding​
• Deep knowledge of one or more of the key sectors within the industrial strategy and foundational industries, good understanding of the actors in this sector(s), the value chains, and their operating parameters​
• Skilled relationship- builder, with the confidence and entrepreneurialism to create networks and partnerships with c-suite executives as well as a wide range of senior decision makers across the public and private sector​
• Credibility to engage major international investors and influence decisions over the allocation of capital, with experience of negotiating and deal-making​an ability to influence and persuade different audiences, including investors and senior leaders ​Confidence in your ability to work with Ministers and senior officials, and to identify emerging priorities and tailor approach accordingly.​Effective and inspirational leader with a track record of building and motivating high-performing teams, and engaging and developing staff

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £130,000, Department for Business and Trade contributes £37,661 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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

How to apply​​​

Please follow the online instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply for this role. Applications must be submitted no later than 23:55 on 19/4/2026. ​

You will be asked to upload the two documents outlined below. It is essential you add your full name to both documents:​​

1. A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. Please provide reasons for any gaps within the last two years.​​​
2. A Supporting Statement of around two pages of A4, providing examples of how your experience meets the essential criteria.​​​

Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.​

If you encounter any issues or are unable to apply online please contact SCSRecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk in the first instance​.

DBT now host Senior Civil Service (SCS) Candidate Support sessions for those wanting to learn more about the application and recruitment processes for SCS roles within DBT, if you are interested, please register for a session here - https://registration.crowdcomms.com/dbtscsrecruitment​

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 4 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

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 security 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.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 : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scsrecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scsrecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of 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 DBT by email at SCSRecruitment@businessandtrade.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. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Civil Service Commission Complaints​

Attachments

2026-03-18 Director, Chief Investment Advisor Opens in new window (pdf, 6163kB)Director, Chief Investment Advisor- Domestic Accessible Candidate Pack Opens in new window (docx, 151kB)