21 Policy Jobs in Cardiff

We are recruiting two full-time Higher Research Officers in Senedd Research who will work across policy areas and likely to be working on the following:

Post 1: Environment & Transport / Constitution
Post 2: Post 16 Education and Skills / Economy

As work requires, post holders will be required to work in the other subject areas covered by Senedd Research.

The purpose of these posts is to provide impartial, independent, and expert factual briefing on all aspects of relevant policy, legislation and statistics to support Senedd Members and committees. This briefing can involve secondary research and requires critical analysis of a range of information sources. The roles also involves writing and publishing articles to inform debate and scrutiny, while aiding understanding of the Senedd’s wider work.

The role of a Higher Research Officer involves understanding areas of devolved policy as well as having the ability to work flexibly, leading on your own research work while supporting senior researchers and team leaders on their subject areas.

You will need to have a good understanding of the current Welsh policy context which will enable you to quickly gain an overview of relevant legislation and statistics in related policy areas. You will need to demonstrate excellent research and briefing skills. You will be expected to be flexible, work proactively with research colleagues across a range of policy areas and work across the whole Service providing support to teams where there is high demand. You’ll be responding to enquiries from Senedd Members; preparing briefing for Senedd Committees; writing articles and briefings to be published online and via our social media channels; and identifying opportunities for cross service working. You will have the opportunity to develop digital skills, including producing data visualisations and helping to create interactive content.

We work as ‘one team’ and have a culture of working across teams to help support each other in times of high demand. You will therefore be expected to adapt as the role evolves and to work across teams as required. You will work in an agile way to support and develop ways of working in Senedd Research, through participation in cross service improvement groups, editorial board activities and any service plan priorities where opportunities arise.

Job description

Key tasks:

Undertaking research and analysis to produce written briefings and responses to information requests from Senedd Committees or individual Senedd Members and their staff.
Supporting Senedd Committees with scrutiny of legislation, policy and financial issues, working independently as well as with the Team Leader and Senior Researchers.
Further developing and maintaining your comprehensive understanding of relevant policy, legislation and statistics; using this expertise to improve services to support Senedd Committees, Senedd Members and information available to the wider public.
Producing engaging proactive content, including research articles and briefings, data visualisations, and supporting other researchers to deliver content that contributes to open and well-informed debate.
Supporting the publication and promotion of external content through social media.
Developing and maintaining digital skills and expertise to improve the information available to Senedd Members and the wider public.
Working with external stakeholders to develop a network of expertise, identifying opportunities to work with academics and others so that Senedd Members have access to a wide range of evidence.
Developing effective relationships with Senedd Members and their staff and working collaboratively with colleagues from different service areas across the Welsh Parliament and other UK parliaments.
Contributing to the development of Senedd Research ways of working and contributing to a one team ethos.

Person specification

This section states which skills and experience are deemed to be essential for this role, and also which are considered desirable. You should refer to these in your application form.

Please note, in the event that we receive a high number of applications, the panel will sift against the lead job specific criteria (typically Job specific criteria 1 and 2).

Only those who meet the job specific criteria at this stage will proceed to a full assessment of their application. If a candidate does not meet the minimum requirements during the initial sift, the remainder of their application will not be reviewed.

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

Job Specific criteria:

Communication skills: You have a proven professional track record of using your excellent written and oral communication skills to produce impartial briefings.
Research and briefing skills: You have a demonstrable ability and/or experience in working independently to identify and review relevant information and statistics, synthesising these into written briefings for others. This includes the ability to quickly learn new subjects and policy areas.
Sound judgement: You have extensive experience of making effective decisions in a challenging environment and at short notice. You are also able to give impartial advice and produce briefings that are objective and sensitive to political issues.

Desirable criteria:

The following qualities are not essential for these particular posts but are desirable. These will only be taken into account in the event of two (or more) candidates acquiring the same score at either application or interview stage.

Subject knowledge: an in-depth understanding of Welsh policy, legislation and statistics in one or more of the following:

Post-16 education and skills
Economy, including economic development and employment
Environmental policy
Land use planning
Constitutional affairs

Digital skills: You will have good digital skills including any of the following: social media content development, media production, digital storytelling, data visualisation, and experience of content editing.

Welsh language criteria:

The language skills for these posts have been assessed Courtesy Level Welsh.

Candidates should have the ability to:

To pronounce Welsh names, answer the telephone, greet people or make introductions bilingually.
To understand and use proactively familiar, everyday, expressions.
To understand very short texts where people are giving basic information about themselves or others in correspondence, on forms or to interpret content using the technology available.

If the successful candidate does not possess these skills, they will be expected to commit to learn them during an agreed period. For further information on the Welsh language levels, please visit our website.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,930, Welsh Parliament contributes £11,278 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).

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

Candidates are required to complete an application form through our recruitment portal addressing the job specific and desirable criteria.

Your application must be submitted before midnight on the closing date.

You will be updated on your progress via the email address you first register with. Please check your Junk Mail and Spam folders to make sure you don’t miss any future correspondence.

Candidates that are successful at sift will be invited to a virtual written assessment to be conducted on the week commencing;

17 August 2026

Only the successful candidates at the assessment stage will be invited to interview.

Interviews will then be held in-person only in Tŷ Hywel, Cardiff Bay on:

11 September 2026

(provisional date)

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.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

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.

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

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 : Lucy Yarham
Email : lucy.yarham@senedd.wales

Salary range

£38,930 - £46,445 per year