Policy Adviser - Sovereign AI

Job summary

Sovereign AI

Artificial intelligence is central to the UK's economic and national security. As countries around the world compete to develop and deploy this transformative technology, the UK must ensure it can build, attract and retain the companies that will shape the future of AI.The Sovereign AI Fund sits at the heart of this mission, with a clear mandate to identify, back and scale the companies that will define the UK's position in one of the most consequential technologies of our time.

Backed by up to £500 million, the Fund exists to turn ambition into action, supporting high-potential AI startups and scaleups to become national champions and strengthening the UK's sovereign capability in frontier AI.

Job description

The Policy Adviser sits within the Policy team, reporting to the Policy Lead (G7), and plays a central role in ensuring the Fund remains strategically coherent as government priorities, funding opportunities and the AI market evolve. This is a unique opportunity to shape the strategic backbone of one of the UK Government's most high-profile initiatives, working across strategy, delivery, finance and ministerial priorities to ensure the Fund is well-governed and built to last.

You'll work closely with HM Treasury, BIST and wider departmental stakeholders, as well as the Fund's Board, ensuring the Fund's strategy, funding model and performance framework keep pace with a fast-moving policy and market landscape.

Key Responsibilities

You will own:

• Thesis and KPI: You will own the Fund's thesis, objectives and KPIs, leading on work with analysts and delivery teams to develop and run the Fund's impact and evaluation framework, clearly evidencing its impact.
• usiness cases and spending reviews:You will support the development of business cases, Spending Reviews and funding proposals. You will support the Board with decisions on major programmes
• Remit and delivery model advice: You will coordinate cross-team advice on proposed changes to the Fund's remit, priorities or delivery model across delivery teams so decisions are well informed and consistent
• Institutional model: You willsupport policy work on the Fund's long-term institutional model and future delivery arrangements, helping shape how the Fund operates as it matures
• HMT and departmental relationships: You will build and manage relationships with HM Treasury, BIST and wider departmental stakeholders, ensuring the Fund’s strategic direction remains aligned with government priorities
• Ministerial and parliamentary business: You will lead ministerial and parliamentary business including PQs, FOIs, correspondence and briefings. Ensuring the Fund’s ministerial and parliamentary business is handled to a high standard.

This might not be the role for you if:

• You prefer working on a single, well-defined policy area rather than across strategy, finance, delivery and ministerial business simultaneously.
• You're less comfortable producing high-stakes advice for senior decision-makers under time pressure.
• You'd rather execute an existing strategy than help shape and evolve one.
• You find it challenging to manage relationships with stakeholders who have competing priorities (e.g. HM Treasury vs delivery teams).
• You're looking for a role with limited exposure to ministerial or parliamentary business.

What Success Looks Like

• The Fund operates with a clear and coherent strategy, thesis and performance framework that stands up to scrutiny
• Senior leaders and the Board recieive high-quality, timely policy advice is that supports confident decision making.
• Strong, trusted working relationships are maintained with HM Treasury and key departmental stakeholders.
• Business cases, Spending Review products and ministerial commissions are delivered to a high standard, on time and fit for purpose.

Person specification

You’ll thrive if you bring:

• Policy expertise: You have experience developing policy or strategy in government or a comparable organisation.
• Drafting and communication: You produce high-quality policy advice for senior decision-makers, including designing new interventions or policy proposals from scratch.
• Analytical : You can evidence strong analytical and problem solving skills, including assessing progress towards long-term goals, and developing stop/start-change options as needed.
• Whitehall fluency: Experience of HM Treasury processes, business cases or public spending is desirable.
• Stakeholder management: Experience building and maintaining relationships with a wide group of stakeholders, resolving conflicts as needed.
• Comfortable context switching: You’re comfortable working across strategy, delivery, finance and ministerial priorities, adapting your approach to the audience and ask.

Behaviours

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

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,620, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £12,926 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

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 and Experience.Application: Please apply here.You will be asked to submit your CV and answer the following application questions:

• What interests you in the SovAI Fund? (250 words)
• Tell us about a time you developed policy, strategy or advice to support senior decision-making. What was your contribution and what was the outcome? (250 words)
• How would you approach maintaining a clear strategy and set of objectives in a fast-moving and changing environment? (250 words)

Interview 1: Experience and motivations interview.

Interview 2: Civil service behaviours interview with task. (The details of the task will be send beforehand)

Interview 3: Final stage with senior leadership team.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sift and interview dates

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply,and can be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.

DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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 : Georgia Stone
• Email : Georgia.Stone@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Georgia.Stone@dsit.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance DSITrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk . If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints.

https://www.sovereignai.gov.uk/