Impact Economy - Senior Policy Advisers

The role we are recruiting for sits within the Impact Economy Team in the Civil Society and Youth directorate. The team has a responsibility for mobilising innovative sources of philanthropic and private capital alongside government spending. This has primarily been in support of encouraging a financially sustainable Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector. Our work has successfully channelled £3.5 billion of non-government funding into some of the most pressing challenges of our society.

We are now responding to a Ministerial ask on how to expand this expertise to support wider HMG departments and missions, and think about how we can grow and partner with the UK’s impact economy further.

The team is driven by a commitment to improving outcomes for communities, increasing the impact of the sector through innovation and championing what works, improving civil society access to funding, and unlocking and growing non-government sources of finance.

We are firmly committed to our people, and this is reflected in our values. We work hard to build an environment that is diverse and inclusive, as well as warm, friendly and collaborative; where each member of staff can flourish, feel comfortable being themselves at work, develop their skills and move their career forward.

Job description

You will be working closely with colleagues across DCMS, officials in other government departments and external stakeholders to develop and deliver policies and partnerships  to deliver on the government’s ambitions in this area. This will require leadership in your work area, a proven history of strong policy development and stakeholder engagement skills, as well as being able to work on multiple work streams at pace. Initially, we envisage the roles will likely focus on one or more of the following areas and there is scope for the roles to be shaped to suit candidate preferences:

• Leading and operationalising a strategic approach to impact capital  across Government Departments. Ministers are being consulted through the Spending Review on the objectives and approach, and this role will help finalise that process. This work will involve engagement with the impact economy stakeholders  and other government officials.
• Leading our work on social impact investing -  this is finance that considers impact on people and the planet alongside financial returns. It is a vital source of investment for social enterprises and other businesses which are addressing social and environmental challenges. The UK is recognised as a world leader for social impact investing,
• Leading the design and development process for innovative approaches to public service delivery focused on impact via new funding models. Social Outcomes Partnerships are one such model that enable placed-based responses to tackling some of society's most entrenched social issues.

The impact economy encompasses the many philanthropists, impact investors and purpose driven-businesses who want to deliver impact and social good alongside financial goals. These roles will be a flexible, senior policy resource to drive key priority outcomes across the spectrum of work we cover. The post holder therefore will need to be comfortable working in ambiguous and changing environments and be comfortable with flexing and adapting accordingly.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential criteria:

• Demonstrable experience of working with, or addressing issues related to, impact capital.
• Ability to see the big picture by identifying connections across impact economy projects and initiatives within Government Departments to support a strategic, joined-up approach.
• Proven capability in managing a quality service by shaping and delivering impact economy approaches that effectively support the needs of other government departments.
• Strong relationship management skills, with a track record of delivering outcomes through collaboration with sector partners.
• Evidence of working together effectively by building and sustaining networks of colleagues and stakeholders to drive rapid progress on shared goals.

Desirable skills:

• Solving complex problems- using judgment and creativity to policy and delivery challenges
  
• The ability to define and deliver high-profile projects at pace, by working collaboratively with experts in and out of government.
  
• An eye for detail as Impact Economy work-streams require careful preparation and due diligence.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by James Magowan and Geoff Hope and will take place on:

• Friday, 9th May at 11.30 AM.

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register for this through our advert post latest by 8 May 2025, 10:00 AM and you will be sent an invitation.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk