57 Policy Jobs in Greater London

Job summary

At the Department for Education (DfE), we are striving for world-class education, training and care for everyone whatever their background. Our ambition is to have a more productive economy, giving everyone the chance to reach their potential and live a more fulfilled life.

We work in multi-disciplinary teams using Agile methods to innovate and radically improve services that:

• Raise education standards and provide the best start in life for children.
• Support disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people.
• Drive economic growth.

Our work and set up is truly end-to-end. We work closely with Ministers and our users on the design of our programmes and policies, through to successful implementation, through our research and analysis, finance and commercial, communications, technical design and programme management.

Job description

The Test Learn and Grow Unit

The DfE Test, Learn and Grow Unit will be a new, multidisciplinary team jointly delivered by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Cabinet Office to accelerate innovation across the education system. The unit will bring central government, local government, service providers, and users to tackle the challenges directly affecting people in the places they live.

Over 18 months, the unit will design, deliver and scale high‑impact Test & Learn projects across priority areas, including Cabinet Office “accelerator” projects, DfE place‑based missions as part of the Schools White Paper’s “Call to Action” to the sector, and other departmental innovation priorities.

Alongside delivery, the team will act as a centre of expertise for test‑and‑learn methods, build capability across the department, and develop a sustainable long‑term model for embedding innovation in policy and operational practice.

The Unit brings together expertise from the Behavioural Insights Unit, Regions Group, Cabinet Office TLG, and the Education Policy Innovation Centre (EPIC) — a multidisciplinary team with strengths in participatory policymaking and systems change.

This role will be hosted in EPIC and will work on priority Test, Learn and Grow (TLG) projects as part of a dedicated satellite team. The post is fixed term, ending April 2028.

Job description

As an SEO Service Designer you will often be working as the sole design practitioner during a project. Services will not have to meet Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) service standards, and you will be working in partnership with delivery teams in place (Local Authorities, Providers, Charities) to build ideas, and see what works. You will:

• Translate complex policy challenges into clear problem definitions, service opportunities and testable hypotheses.
• Design end‑to‑end service journeys, mapping user needs, touchpoints and system interactions.
• Develop and test service concepts, prototypes and pilots, iterating based on evidence and learning.
• Ensure solutions are viable, feasible and grounded in delivery realities.

Understand people, systems and places

• Work with researchers and partners to understand user needs and perspectives, particularly in place‑based contexts.
• Use appropriate mapping techniques to synthesise insight and identify intervention points.
• Apply systems thinking to navigate complex delivery environments.

Design with others

• Plan and facilitate co‑design and participatory design activities with citizens, frontline staff and stakeholders.
• Bring together diverse actors to co‑create solutions and build shared ownership.
• Communicate design work clearly through visual and tangible outputs.

Work in multidisciplinary Test & Learn teams

• Collaborate closely with researchers, analysts, behavioural scientists, policy colleagues and delivery partners.
• Integrate insight, evidence and constraints into coherent service design decisions.
• Contribute to rapid, iterative test‑and‑learn cycles.

Shape practice and capability

• Champion service design methods within the team and wider department, where service design may be non-digital, like in policy or strategy.
• Support capability building through tools, workshops and hands‑on project delivery.
• Contribute to the development of TLG’s approach to innovation and design in government, sharing what you learn with the Education Policy Innovation Centre (EPIC).

Person specification

We are looking for an experienced service designer who works with minimal support and can influence others. You will be adaptable; capable of and comfortable doing a diverse set of tasks all in the same week and borrowing approaches from different disciplines to achieve the best outcomes for a project. Finally, you will be curious and brave; impact and evaluation orientated; willing to test new approaches and excited by the question of how we can use innovation to make policymaking better and make better policy.

Essential Criteria:

• A relevant design qualification at least to a BA level in any field of design (e.g. visual, communication, service, product or industrial design). You should be hands on, a creative thinker and doer.
• Visual design: You have experience creating visual concepts using appropriate design tools, media, and/or technologies. You’re able to make complex information understandable by visually communicating patterns, themes and ideas, for example through systems mapping, journey mapping, illustration, video or animation. We will ask you to demonstrate this in the form of a portfolio.
• Strategic design: You have experience using design thinking and practice to solve complex problems. You can align your design work to both the goals and vision of your team and the strategic objectives of your organisation.
• Designing together: You have experience working in multidisciplinary teams of designers and other practitioners. You understand how to plan and run design sessions with your team and stakeholders. You are comfortable identifying and engaging the right people through the design process as well as giving and receiving constructive design feedback.
• Evidence-based design: You understand the role research plays in the design process and have experience supporting research planning and delivery. This might include experience of participatory methods such as co-design and user research. You can analyse and synthesise complex evidence to inform design decisions.
• Iterative design: You have experience visualising potential interventions or solutions as concepts and prototypes. You can iterate and improve complex designs based on successive rounds of research and adapt designs quickly to changes in needs or priorities.
• Leading design: You have experience coordinating design work in your team and supporting other designers. You understand the role design plays in the innovation process and can communicate this to stakeholders. You are comfortable presenting design outputs to different audiences and using design to influence decision-making.

Desirable Criteria:

• Applying test and learn approaches to evaluate ideas in quick cycles and iterate how they are delivered with a particular emphasis on evaluation. Find out more about test and learn approaches in the recently relaunched Magenta book.
• Navigating public sector landscapes to make change: You understand the policy and institutional contexts you’re working in and can translate between the languages of policymakers, delivery partners, and innovation practitioners.
• Applying participatory methodologies: You understand how to identify where participatory approaches, including co-design, can make a difference. You're confident facilitating co-design workshops and designing methodologies to bring diverse stakeholders together to frame problems, agree on shared purpose and deliver desired outcomes.
• Applying systems thinking: You have experience identifying where systems approaches can make a difference. You are confident applying a range of frameworks, tools, programmes, bringing together large volumes information from different sources and perspectives to make sense of complex systems.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,806, Department for Education contributes £12,400 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).

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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.

To apply for this role, please select 'Apply Now' at the top or bottom of this advert. CV details need to be included in the template within the application form; attached or emailed CVs will not be considered.

Stage 1: Civil Service Numerical Test (CSNT)

When you have completed your personal information, you will be asked to complete the CSNT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage.

Stage 2: Civil Service Verbal Test (CSVT)

When you have completed the CSNT, you will be asked to complete the CSVT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage.

Stage 3: Written Application

At sift stage, you will be assessed on your Experience in line with the essential skills listed in the person specification section of the job advert.

To apply for this role, please provide:

1. A ShortCV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.
2. A 4-page pdf portfolio of your work, demonstrating your visual communication experience and expertise. Consider work that visualises complexity, demonstrates your ability to prototype and test prototypes of services and policies with users and stakeholders and sparks imagination.
3. Your Statement of Suitability – In no more than 750words, provide examples of how your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria. This is not intended to be a cover letter, instead work through each essential criteria in turn. You may wish to follow the STAR technique to help focus your examples. The key things we are looking for are what you did, how you did it and what the outcome was.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 750 words. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 750 words will not be taken into account.

More guidance on personal statements can be found here – completing your application.

The CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the advert. Should there be a high volume of applicants, candidates will be sifted using the first four (4) essential skills.

We reserve the right to increase the minimum pass mark for the CSNT and CSVT where there is a high volume of applications or a particularly strong field of candidates. Where this occurs, candidates who do not meet the revised pass mark will not progress further, and their written application will not be assessed.

Please note, CV details must be contained within the template on the application form. Any CV or Statement of Suitability that has been emailed to our team will not be considered.

Application sifting will commence 28th July 2026. Please note these dates are subject to change.

If you are successful at application sift stage, your application will be progressed onto Stage 4 part of the Selection process.

Stage 4: Interview

The interview will be a 2-part process:

1. Part 1: Prepare and deliver a short presentation (approx.10 minutes) to the panel. Please be prepared to answer follow up questions on the presentation. The presentation will be assessed against the essential criteria and details will be provided at least 1 week prior to interview. You may use AI to support your research and thinking, but you should not use AI to generate your presentation and script wholesale. No visual aids or handouts will be required, but notes can be used.
2. Part 2: The interview will last approximately 60 minutes. At interview you will be asked questions around the Behaviours listed in the advert. We will also ask you some strength-based questions.

We receive many applications, and unfortunately, we’re not able to provide feedback for candidates who aren’t shortlisted. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

All communications will be electronic therefore it is vitally important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder.

Important Information

If you fail to complete the tests before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn. Guidance will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are untimed, administered via Civil Service Jobs, and applicant guidance is available during the test and online on GOV.UK Online Tests guidance.

Applicants must complete the test on their own, without help, and Departments reserve the right to retest applicants under supervised conditions at later stages of the selection process. Doing this can provide reassurance to recruiters who are concerned about the authenticity of one or more test results.

Please ensure you allow yourself sufficient time to complete both assessments and submit your application before the advertised deadline.

Reasonable adjustments & test accessibility:

See our reasonable adjustments guide for candidates (online tests), or some example case studies, to act as a guide. You can use these to help you decide whether to ask for help or take the test without help.

More information about online tests can be found here: Preparing for the Civil Service Verbal and Numerical tests - GOV.UK. You will also find practice tests on this page if you would find them helpful prior to completing the live test.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title

• educational institutions

• age

• gender

• email address

• postal address

• phone number

• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

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

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 circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

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

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.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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 : Sanjan Sabherwal
• Email : Sanjan.sabherwal@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)