JOB SUMMARY

Are you looking to develop strong policy-making skills in a critical and high-profile sector?
If so, this is an exciting time to join the Elections Directorate!
The Elections Directorate is responsible for a challenging and dynamic policy landscape, always in the public eye, covering electoral policy and law. This includes how elections are run, who can participate and how elections and campaigning are regulated. The Directorate delivers changes that realise the Government Manifesto Commitments and other Ministerial priorities (e.g. introduction of Votes for 16 and 17-year-olds, improvements to elector registration, revised list of Voter Identification that electors can produce at polling stations, etc).
We are recruiting for two policy roles within our Electoral Administration and Registration and Franchise teams. Both teams are close-knit, friendly, versatile, and inclusive, with a broad portfolio of work across complementary policy areas. Both teams’ work is high-profile, with significant senior and ministerial interest, including in No.10.
The Electoral Administration team as a range of policy interests which set out and support how the electorate chooses the elected representatives that populate our major democratic institutions – such as the UK Parliament and English Local Authorities. Their primary focus is supporting the delivery of elections, working with Returning Officers and key stakeholders such as the Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators, as well as suppliers in the sector such as printers and The team has a number of specific responsibilities relating to the running of elections and plays an important role in the lead up to local and UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The Registration and Franchise team is responsible for a number of high-profile government manifesto priorities, including policy on lowering the voting age to 16 and improving voter registration. It is also responsible for ensuring that the policy and legislative framework for electoral registration and the electoral franchise is clear and fit for purpose. which involves working with a range of Government departments, the Electoral Commission, the devolved administrations, as well as the wider electoral community and external stakeholders such as political parties and civil society groups.
These roles offer a rare opportunity to engage with Ministers, administrators and electors and be part of introducing democratic change from policy through to delivery.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The post holder will have a role that includes a variety of legislative and policy issues.

The responsibilities of the post will include the following:

• Leading on multiple areas of policy development within the team portfolio, such as Voter ID and Votes at 16 amongst others.
• Working collaboratively with your team and colleagues from across the Department, as a subject matter expert, in particular digital and legal colleagues as well as other government departments.
• Lead on engagement with a range of stakeholders, including the electoral sector, other government departments and statutory bodies such as the Electoral Commission, to support the development of policy and legislation.
• Effectively engaging with Ministers and senior leaders, providing advice and driving forward the work of the team.
• Supporting the passage of a Parliamentary Bill by providing policy expertise, ministerial briefing, and in-person support.
• This list is not exhaustive, and the post holder needs to be flexible and adapt their responsibilities to meet business demands.

SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the MHCLG Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC).
Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by MHCLG. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database.

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)
• 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

YOU WILL NEED TO MERGE YOUR CV AND COVERING LETTER INTO ONE DOCUMENT. WHEN SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION APPLIED WILL ASK YOU TO UPLOAD A CV, WHEN DOING THIS YOU SHOULD UPLOAD YOUR MERGED DOCUMENT OF YOUR CV AND COVERING LETTER.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors.

PLEASE CONTACT THE VACANCY MANAGER IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE.

We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs.
Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.

The responsibilities of the post will include the following:

• Leading on multiple areas of policy development within the team portfolio, such as Voter ID and Votes at 16 amongst others.
• Working collaboratively with your team and colleagues from across the Department, as a subject matter expert, in particular digital and legal colleagues as well as other government departments.
• Lead on engagement with a range of stakeholders, including the electoral sector, other government departments and statutory bodies such as the Electoral Commission, to support the development of policy and legislation.
• Effectively engaging with Ministers and senior leaders, providing advice and driving forward the work of the team.
• Supporting the passage of a Parliamentary Bill by providing policy expertise, ministerial briefing, and in-person support.
• This list is not exhaustive, and the post holder needs to be flexible and adapt their responsibilities to meet business demands