Policy Adviser - Catastrophic Risk Insurance

This post is based in Darlington (Feethams House). This role cannot be worked from any other HM Treasury office. Should you be successful for the role, this will be your contractual office location.

Job Summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you!

Job Description

About the Group

The Financial Services Group advises the government on how to promote a stable and efficient financial services sector, to deliver excellent outcomes for consumers and business, enhance the UK’s position as a global hub for financial services and support economic growth across the country.

The financial services sector is important to the UK economy – providing significant numbers of jobs and making a large contribution to the UK’s economic output. It also provides essential services to individuals – for example, helping them to purchase goods with ease, buy their first home, and plan for their retirement. During the COVID pandemic, it played a critical role in supporting individuals and businesses – for example, in providing payment holidays for individuals and businesses affected by the pandemic and working with the government to deliver Bounce Back Loans.

We ensure that financial services businesses such as banks, investment firms, financial advisors and insurers are well-regulated. Ensuring firms treat customers fairly, customers have access to a range of financial services as a result of competition in the market, and there are appropriate remedies in place when things go wrong.

We work on a significant international agenda which includes promoting openness and trading links between the UK and countries all around the world, including through Free Trade Agreements and other international dialogues and negotiations. To do this we work closely with colleagues in offices overseas from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office and the Department for International Trade.

About The Team

The Market Growth and Systemic Risks branch of the Insurance and Pensions Markets team leads HM Treasury’s work on domestic insurance markets. This includes policies relating to the growth and competitiveness of UK insurance markets, the Government’s position on catastrophic insurance risks (such as terrorism and cyber insurance), and on novel and emerging insurance issues.

The team engages regularly with the financial regulators, the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, and with the insurance sector.

About The Job

You will be leading on a key part of the team’s work, focused on catastrophic risks in insurance markets. Your responsibilities will include addressing acute and high-profile challenges as they arise, as well as effectively dealing with day-to-day work on these issues.

Importantly, you don’t need to be a policy professional or have any specific qualifications to apply to this role. We are looking for people who have the right set of skills for the role, who demonstrate the values of our organisation, and who are motivated to come and work with us on a range of issues that are important for our financial services sector. You will be well supported by your line management and the wider team, and opportunities to learn about the financial services sector will be provided.

Key Accountabilities Include:

• Terrorism reinsurance – lead on our team’s relationship with Pool Re, an Arm’s Length Body of HMT and the UK’s Government backed terrorism reinsurer.
  • Act as the main day to day point of contact for Pool Re, including building a strong relationship with their Executive team and holding them to account for their performance under existing agreements.
  • Evaluate the impact of wider cross-government reforms and their impact on Pool Re and the UK’s domestic terrorism market (e.g. Martyn’s Law).
• New and emerging areas of catastrophic risk – develop HMT’s understanding and policy views on new and emerging areas of catastrophic risk, including other government reinsurance schemes and interventions to strengthen and grow these markets. Engage across Whitehall to communicate HMT’s policy views and progress a joined-up government approach.
• Sanctions and war risk – lead for the team and engage across Whitehall and with industry, on how sanctions affect insurance markets, or how insurance markets can support reconstruction efforts after conflict.
• Briefing and correspondence – produce high quality briefing for senior officials and ministers, and lead on relevant correspondence. Depending on workload, contribute to wider team efforts to brief and respond to correspondence on issues beyond those in main policy responsibilities.

Person specification

We are looking for the below skills, experience and behaviours and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application form. Please review the Candidate FAQ document that is attached to the advert for guidance on how to complete your application form.

• Delivering at Pace– Ability to work independently and as part of a team and manage a busy work load to meet deadlines and targets.
• Making Effective Decisions– Ability to evaluate and use a range of different and sometimes competing evidence sources and apply considered judgement to develop accurate policy decisions and advice.
• Communicating and Influencing– Ability to clearly communicate complex issues in person and in writing, and credibly hold the Treasury’s primary relationship with key organisations.

Candidate Guidance Support Session

We will be running an overview of Success Profiles and the STAR approach including top tips for the application and interview process and an opportunity to ask general questions around our recruitment practices. Please note that this session is not role specific, so we will be unable to answer specific questions about roles we are advertising. If you would like to join us, please use the link below to join the call at the right time.

Thursday 10th April 2025 12:30-13:15Join the meeting now

Eligibility Statement

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information.

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Security Check (SC).

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years.

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you. Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

Contact point for applicants
Job Contact :

• Name : James Pettitt
• Email : James.Pettitt@HMTreasury.gov.uk