Job description

To apply

Please send in a personal statement and CV demonstrating how you meet the criteria below, along with a completed Your Details form, to [email protected] or by post to Welsh Revenue Authority, PO Box 110, Pontypridd CF37 9EH.

Role details

Job title Policy Adviser

Grade HEO

Salary range £29,800 – £36,600

Full time, but open to candidates who wish to Working pattern work on a part time or job share basis Permanent or available as fixed-term Contract type appointment or loan of up to 3 years Welsh Government building, Cathays Park, Location Cardiff (with regular visits to QED Centre, Treforest) Closing date and time Midnight 8 January 2020

Reporting to Dave Matthews, Head of Policy

Contact us about this role [email protected]

About the Welsh Revenue Authority

Our purpose is to:

Design and deliver Welsh Lead the better use of Welsh national revenue services taxpayer data for Wales

We are committed to helping to deliver a fair tax system for Wales. By collecting and managing the first devolved Welsh taxes in 800 years – Land Transaction Tax (LTT) and Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) – we expect to raise £1billion over our first four years. Money which will directly fund public services, including the NHS and schools, across Wales. Find out more about our 2019-2022 priorities in our Corporate Plan. You will join a small, specialist organisation covering sixteen different professions. We empower and trust our people with a high level of responsibility and autonomy, and maximise opportunities for innovation, collaboration and shared decision making. Find out more about what it’s like to work for us in our latest People Survey.

About the role

Working directly to the Head of Policy, the Policy Adviser will play a key role in supporting the purpose of the WRA’s Legal and Policy Office (LPO). LPO ensures the WRA acts lawfully, exercises its functions in accordance with devolved tax legislation, and develops policy consistent with its approach and values. LPO provides advice and support on complex tax cases, develops policy and guidance on operational and tax technical issues, and works in partnership with Welsh Treasury to advise on strategic and administrative aspects of the system of devolved taxes in Wales. The Policy Adviser will need to be a great team player, possess strong analytical skills and enjoy working with others to find innovative solutions to complex problems. Able to manage a varied and challenging workload effectively, (s)he will be a key player in the LPO working across the WRA. To be successful in the role, (s)he will need to enjoy engaging with a diverse network of stakeholders, tracking developments in their policy area, and communicating technical matters and advice clearly and simply to a range of audiences. The work of the policy team varies according to emerging issues and trends, delivery of WRA priorities and wider Welsh Government strategy for the devolved taxes in Wales. We are looking for individuals who can work flexibly and collaboratively to resolve uncertainty, and to develop robust solutions to challenging issues. To enjoy the role, (s)he will appreciate that the WRA is still forming and there is much to do, and that the role will change over time.

“This is an opportunity to join a small team with a wide reach across a range of policy areas and issues. The breadth and variety of the role is exciting; you can provide advice to operational colleagues on the application of tax legislation one day, and explore new areas of operational policy the next.”

- Dave Matthews, Head of Policy

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Key Tasks  Coordinate and lead on policy development and the provision of technical advice on the practical application of the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016, working closely with colleagues in LPO and the WRA’s Operations and Customer teams.

 Lead on maintaining and updating the WRA’s published guidance: taking decisions on the content and format of guidance; reviewing content to iden- tify improvements needed and create a pipeline of updates; working across teams to maintain accuracy of guidance; engaging with external stakehold- ers to explore user requirements;

 Quickly build expertise in devolved taxes legislation to provide high quality and timely technical advice on the application of LDT and LTT. Ensure that decisions are made and communicated in a way that is sound, clear and lawful;

 Work with senior policy advisers to take forward development of particular LDT and LTT issues, working closely with colleagues across the WRA and Welsh Treasury to review, update and shape the future of the devolved taxes;

 Support development of operational policies and technical advice for the practical implementation of the WRA’s approach to taxing unauthorised dis- posals of waste under LDT, working closely with teams across WRA and partners such as Natural Resources Wales;

 Identify and address issues arising from implementation of tax policy. Work- ing with Operations and Legal teams to resolve issues early, and maintain the integrity of the tax system;

 Research and develop policy thinking on wider devolved tax policy, including possible new taxes, working together with Welsh Treasury and other Welsh Government departments;

 Build and maintain positive relationships with key stakeholders, including Welsh Treasury, wider Welsh Government, other government departments and external stakeholders;

 Support the secretariat for key WRA governance and stakeholders groups: preparing for meetings, recording decisions and actions, and managing rela- tionships with members;

 Identify wider opportunities to contribute to the continuous development and strategic direction of the organisation;

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 Opportunity to develop as a policy professional with direct experience of col- laborating and policy making in an operational environment.

Success Criteria

We recruit using success profiles. The success profiles guidance will help you in completing your application. We look for what you can do, not just what you have done. This means we look for the behaviours, strengths and ability needed to do the job, and experience and technical knowledge where they are necessary too. This starts at your application, and continues throughout recruitment, and we may only look for some things at certain stages. We will always make clear what we are looking for, when, in the table below. Please see below for the evidence you should look to showcase during the recruitment process (you may also wish to refer to the key tasks mentioned above):

Assessed in Assessed personal during

statement interview/ and CV assessment

Behaviours

Seeing the Big Picture ✓ ✓ Remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area

Making Effective Decisions

Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other ✓ ✓ options, costs, benefits and risks

Managing a Quality Service ✓ ✓ Involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements

Communicating and Influencing Communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner, choosing appropriate styles ✓ ✓ to maximise understanding and impact

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Strengths

Analytical You seek and analyse information to inform ✓ decisions based on best available evidence

Improver You look for better ways of doing things and ✓ enjoy coming up with new and original ideas

Experience and Technical Knowledge None required.

Qualifications

Not required.

Welsh Language Requirements

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this post:

Welsh language skills Welsh skills are desirable

Reading 0 = No skills

Spoken 0 = No skills

Understanding 0 = No skills

Written 0 = No skills

Welsh desirable means that having Welsh language skills would be useful in this role, but it is not an assessment criteria so it won’t put you at any disadvantage during recruitment if you aren’t a Welsh speaker. We support all staff to learn or improve their Welsh language skills once they join us.

Level of Security Vetting

Basic Check

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Assessment

Assessment consists of a blended interview, where we test for the above published criteria. Depending on the role, we may: • test for strengths relevant to the behaviours • ask you to complete an exercise, test or presentation. If that is the case, we will tell you before your interview, and ask if you have any requirements you would like us to be aware of.

How to apply

To apply, please complete a personal statement (which should be between 800 and 1200 words) and a CV (of no more than two sides of A4) which provide evidence of how you meet the criteria above. You will also need to complete our ‘Your Details’ form, to allow us to make sure our recruitment processes are fair, but this will not be shared any further than our HR team.

Personal statement CV Your Details form (800-1200 words) (2 pages)

Send these three documents together to [email protected]. To be fair to all, we do not accept late applications, or personal statements longer than 1200 words, so please check you have attached all three documents.

Working for the Civil Service

There is a wide range of excellent benefits of working for us.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit, based on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission recruitment principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact our Head of HR at [email protected].

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Find out more about the Welsh Revenue Authority

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Find out more about the WRA by visiting our website or by accessing our Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts.

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