Senior Policy Advisor

The Policy Team leads on reform to strengthen the SFOs ability to tackle serious and complex economic crime. The team also contributes significantly to cross-Government initiatives on economic crime and criminal justice. This role is part of the Policy and Engagement team which sits within the SFOs Strategy Group. The Senior Policy Advisor will report to the G7 Deputy Head of Policy.

We invite applications from candidates with previous experience in policy roles gained in government, law enforcement, multilateral organisations, civil society, think tanks, regulatory bodies, or the private sector. While this is not an entry-level policy position, we also welcome applications from candidates with operational experience in economic crime, investigations, compliance, regulation, or criminal justice who have had some previous engagement with policy development.

The SFO investigates and prosecutes the most serious and complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption. The Policy Team works closely with the SFOs senior leaders (SCS2 and SCS3) to develop evidence-based policy positions which support the departments ambitions. The team supports the work of the SFOs operational teams, including the Intelligence, Investigation, and Proceeds of Crime teams. We work closely with operational colleagues to understand the challenges they are facing, gaps in current legislation and opportunities to develop proposals to improve the SFOs ability to tackle economic crime.

The SFO is a non-ministerial department, superintended by the Attorney Generals Office. The Policy Team has a significant level of autonomy in its work and team members have the freedom to pitch and develop new ideas, alongside supporting wider Government priorities. The role holder will be responsible for leading specific policy areas and will act as the main point of contact with operational colleagues, the senior leadership team and other Government departments.

A recent example of our work is the SFOs proposals to financially incentivise whistleblowers. As a result of the Policy Teams work, the Government has committed to explore financially rewarding whistleblowers of economic crime. This is an exciting time to join the Policy Team. Not only is the SFO leading the development of a range of new proposals, the Government is also undertaking significant reform to the criminal justice system as a whole.

As a Senior Policy Advisor you will be responsible for:

• Leading and developing the SFOs policies on specific economic crime issues, and seeking to drive the Government agenda on these issues.
• Shaping engagement in a way that delivers the objectives of the Policy Team, including drafting high quality briefings for senior civil servants.
• Keeping abreast of policy developments that affect the SFO (including through Parliamentary monitoring, reviewing Government strategies and maintaining strong relationships with counterparts across Government), using this deep understanding to link SFO work to Government priorities.
• Supporting wider Strategy Group and SFO work as required.

The work of the team is often challenging and high profile so the role holder will be required to grasp complex concepts in a short period of time.

The Senior Policy Advisor will have a high level of autonomy, being empowered to identify new priority policy areas as they come to better understand the SFOs work and the economic crime landscape. There will also be a requirement for the role holder to remain flexible, and to tackle urgent policy priorities as they arise.

For more information about the role and for a full list of key responsibilities, please see attached Job Pack.