Executive Assistant and Policy Advisor (Digital Markets and Data Economy)

Job SummaryDSITAt DSIT we’re all about improving people’s lives by maximising the potential of science & technology.We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development.We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared.We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back.We do all this to enable the Government’s 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future.Above all, we focus on improving people’s lives. Whether it’s researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do.Our Inclusive EnvironmentWe offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.Find Out MoreWe regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/Jae3B4w7xmYou can also follow our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dsitcareers/Job DescriptionThis is an exciting opportunity to support the leadership and policy delivery of the Digital Markets and Data Economy Unit (DMDE) within the Digital and Data Policy Directorate. The role-holder's responsibilities will be split 50/50 between Executive Assistant to our DD, and Policy Advisor, offering a rich balance of operational, strategic and policy responsibilities.As EA to the Deputy Director of DMDE, you will play a key role in enabling effective leadership by managing his inbox and diary, coordinating meetings, and ensuring he can provide an excellent service to his Unit and the wider Department. This role is a great way to gain knowledge of civil service processes and to become familiar with multiple policy areas and key stakeholders.In the policy advisory capacity, you will support with policy to develop data exchanges across the economy, a high-profile commitment in the recently published Industrial Strategy, and an area which is drawing close interest from DSIT ministers. This work will include supporting cross-government collaboration with DCMS and external stakeholders, to develop a Creative Content Exchange.This role is ideal for someone who is highly organised, proactive, and keen to work at the intersection of policy and delivery. You’ll gain exposure to senior decision-making, contribute to shaping national data policy, and work closely with colleagues across DSIT, wider government and with high-profile external stakeholders.Person specificationKey responsibilities:DMDE Unit, including: Managing DD’s inbox, ensuring urgent and high-priority items are flagged and responded to promptly Managing a complex and fast-moving diary, balancing strategic priorities, operational needs, and external engagements Act as a sounding board and informal adviser, helping the DD prioritise tasks and manage competing demands Support the DD’s leadership of the team by working with policy officials to ensure clearance processes run smoothly Operational and logistical support Handle information with the utmost discretion and integrityPolicy Advisor responsibilities will include: Working on policy around understanding and supporting the development of data exchanges across the UK economy Supporting with briefings for Senior Civil Servants and ministers Planning, monitoring and evaluating delivery Communicating the work to internal and external stakeholders Working closely with DCMS to support the delivery of the Creative Content Exchange, ensuring DSIT can learn lessons from this work for our wider work on data exchangesEssential Criteria:Executive Assistant Excellent organisational skills and a proven ability to prioritise and manage competing demands, using sound judgement to flag urgent issues to the right people, and maintain focus on delivering priorities Comfortable working with ambiguity and shifting priorities, especially in a fast-paced policy environmentPolicy Development & Delivery Strong problem solving and decision-making skills; ability to think creatively about how to approach problems and use evidence effectively in making decisions Strong interpersonal skills and confidence in engaging with internal and external stakeholders Strong written communication skills and an ability to adapt communication styles to different audiencesDesirable Criteria: Experience of managing a diary and email inbox, coordinating meetings and managing logistics Comfortable working with senior colleagues, with the confidence to identify and suggest ideas, such as improvements to ways of working Familiarity with civil service processes and products, including briefingsBehavioursWe'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:Delivering at PaceWorking TogetherCommunicating and InfluencingSeeing the Big PictureBenefitsAlongside your salary of £27,380, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £7,931 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.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 attendanceThe 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 knowSelection process detailsThis vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 21/10/2025. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.Please note - the CV incorporated into the application form is for information purposes only and will not be scored.Applications will be sifted on personal statement.The interview will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions.To help you to prepare for your interview, for this campaign behaviour questions will be shared in advance of interview if you are successful at sift stage. These questions should be treated as confidential and should not be shared.The interview panel may ask you other questions which will not be shared with you in advance, including any follow-up questions, and other elements listed in the job advert, for example, experience, abilities, strengths and technical skills. The panel will be looking for examples of your own work, experience, and ability so do try and avoid using AI written answers without any human oversight.Sift and interview datesSift and interview dates to be confirmed.Artificial IntelligenceArtificial 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.Further InformationReasonable AdjustmentWe 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.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.FeedbackFeedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.SecuritySuccessful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.Nationality requirementsThis job is broadly open to the following groups:UK nationalsnationals of the Republic of Irelandnationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UKnationals 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 2020Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil ServiceFurther information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)Working for the Civil ServiceThe 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 InclusionThe Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).Apply and further informationThis vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 applicantsJob contact :Name : Joseph DowningEmail : joseph.downing@dsit.gov.ukRecruitment teamEmail : dsitresourcing.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.ukFurther informationAppointment 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.