Senior Policy Adviser - Climate Change and Sustainability

Job summary

The Climate Change and Sustainability Division sits within the Strategy, Sustainability and Impact Group (SSIG). The Division is responsible for setting and implementing UKEF's strategy and policy on climate change and sustainability matters and for engaging on these topics cross-government, with stakeholders outside government and internationally in UKEF’s capacity as an Export Credit Agency (ECA).

Job description

As a Senior Policy Adviser in UKEF’s Climate Change & Sustainability Division, you will play a central role in delivering UKEF’s climate change and sustainability priorities. You will support the implementation of UKEF’s Sustainability Strategy, lead policy development across climate‑related workstreams, and help maintain UKEF’s international leadership on sustainability issues within the export finance community.

You will work across the department and with other government departments, financial institutions, and international partners to provide high‑quality advice and briefing to senior stakeholders, including the Board, Executive Committee, the Export Guarantees Advisory Council, and Ministers.

Main Activities

Key Responsibilities

1. Sustainability Strategy & Policy Development
   • Support the implementation of UKEF’s Sustainability Strategy, leading policy development and analysis in core areas like clean growth, the low-carbon transition, nature/biodiversity/bioeconomy, financed emissions, disclosure frameworks, SDG alignment and sustainable development.
   • Lead UKEF’s implementation of the Government’s Fossil Fuel Policy, delivering transactional assessments, working with underwriters and UKEF’s customers to achieve successful commercial outcomes in line with Government policy; ensure appropriate case management, governance and information management processes are in place.
   • Work across directorates to embed sustainability considerations, including championing and delivering change management across UKEF
2. International Leadership & Engagement
   • Support UKEF’s international sustainability leadership among ECAs, including by supporting UKEF’s chairing of the Net Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliance (NZECA).
   • Ensure UKEF’s interests on climate and sustainability issues are represented effectively at international fora beyond NZECA, e.g. the OECD and Export Finance for Future (E3F).
   • Contribute to UK participation in UNFCCC COP activity, including coordinating delivery of UKEF’s COP31 programme.
   • Deliver bilateral engagement with ECAs and international institutions.
3. Strategic Briefing & Senior Stakeholder Support
   • Prepare high‑quality briefing for senior stakeholders.
   • Shape cross‑Government climate and sustainability policy.
   • Provide clear written and verbal communication.
4. Cross‑Departmental Contribution & Culture
   • Collaborate across UKEF to deliver sustainability goals.
   • Contribute to strong culture of diversity and inclusion.

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.

Person specification

UK Export Finance is looking for motivated individuals with a desire to learn about the business. Successful candidates will be provided not only with functional training to enable them to do well in their role, but also with personal development to help them to achieve their career ambitions. Please note that the person specification below outlines at which stage(s) you will be assessed on how you meet the criteria for the role(s) including:-

A = assessed at application stage I = assessed at interview stage = assessed at presentation stage

Essential

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience. (A)
• Evidence of professional development. (A)

Knowledge

• Understanding of climate change and/or sustainability issues, within a trade, financial services or government context. (A, P, I)
• Understanding of UK export or business policy landscape. (A, P, I)

Skills/Ability

• Strategic thinker with analytical approach and ability to work confidently with ambiguity. (A, P, I)
• Outstanding relationship‑building and influencing skills. (A, P, I)
• Excellent written and verbal communication. (A, P, I)

Experience

• Experience in climate change and/or sustainable development, within a trade, financial services or government context. (A, P, I)

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Presentation - a short presentation, this will be a topic determined by UKEF and will need to be prepared in advance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,750, UK Export Finance contributes £14,122 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

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

We are assessing candidates using Success Profiles (see Appendix 1) and across the whole process we will assess your Experience, Technical, and Behaviours as highlighted below.

The application must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Qualification
  • Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience. (A)
  • Evidence of professional development. (A)
• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 250 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

1. Experience - CV / Application and Statement of Suitability

In the event of a large volume of applications, there will be a pre-sift on the following essential criteria:

• Excellent written and verbal communication. (A, P, I)
• Experience in climate change and/or sustainable development, within a trade, financial services or government context. (A, P, I)

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial interview, to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours / Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all three behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1 of the candidate Information Pack attached below.
2. Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria
   1. Presentation - a short presentation, this will be a topic determined by UKEF and will need to be prepared in advance.

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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 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 : UKEF Recruitment
• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

UKEF Information Pack - Senior Policy Adviser - CC&S Opens in new window (pdf, 4373kB)