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Location

Bristol, Darlington, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton

About the job

We are MHCLG 

Do you want to work at the centre of a pensions scheme that is leading the way in equality, fairness and protections for key local government workers? 

Can you analyse evidence, improve processes, understand legislation and work with varied stakeholders to provide a quality service? 

The Member Benefits team is looking for 1 x HEO Policy Adviser to join the Local Government Pensions team in the Local Tax and Pensions division. As part of the wider Local Government Finance Directorate, you will work in an area of increasing complexity and importance during a time of significant reforms. The role is an excellent fit for anyone looking to tackle complex technical policy areas and processes, whilst managing varied stakeholders in and out of government, and deliver a quality service to our many local government stakeholders. 

The team is a diverse range of individuals passionate about the difference central government can make to working individuals in the UK. We have grown significantly in the last 12 months and own a mixture of new and existing policy areas and processes. The successful candidate will own processes as the departmental lead, be involved in wider team policy development work, and flex across the Local Government Pensions team as needed.

The role holder will own a number of processes that the Member Benefits team has responsibility for. To do that, the role holder will have to be comfortable working in the detail of legislation and developing a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory landscape of the Local Government Pension Scheme. The role requires confidence in decision-making and leadership, as the role holder will be the recognised external lead for the processes. The role also requires excellent organisational skills and the ability to work on multiple workstreams at once, as the many processes require concurrent running. The role holder will also be involved in the wider consultation and legislation work that the Member Benefits team owns. This work encompasses a range of policies that improve and promote fairness, equality, protections and access to the Local Government Pension Scheme. 

Over time, the role holder will be involved with all stages of the policy cycle. Currently, the team is working on secondary legislation to implement policies consulted on in 2025/26, with a pipeline of work planned until 1 April 2027. Typical work here would be analysing consultation responses, identifying and resolving policy issues, working with OGDs and external stakeholders to gather support and evidence for options, and presenting decisions to ministers. Finally, the role holder will be expected to work across the wider Local Government Pensions team to assist in the overriding monitoring and reporting work that the team undertakes.

• Track record of delivering multiple priority workstreams concurrently 

• Willingness to tackle technical detail and processes 

• Desire to work on policy, both as an individual lead and broader team support 

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to understand external stakeholder needs, negotiate, and communicate difficult messages with clarity 

• Attention to detail in both individual research and external communication (understanding and explaining complex processes and legislation to non-expert audiences)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,169, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £10,478 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial 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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Application and Selection  The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles: 

Behaviours ,  Strengths , Experience

Stage 1: Sift 

• Behaviour: Making effective decisions (Lead Behaviour) 

• Behaviour: Delivering at pace

• Behaviour: Working together

• Behaviour: Changing and Improving

• Experience: CV

There is a 250-word limit per question. 

When writing your application, remember: 

• the assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially 

• do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers 

• if talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.  

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview. 

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com. 

Stage 2: Interview 

• Behaviours: Making effective decisions, Delivering at pace, Working together, Changing and Improving

• Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

 Candidates will be expected to take part in a written exercise with their answer presented at the start of the interview. Details will be sent to those invited to interview stage. 

Sift and Interview Dates 

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 24/08/26. 

Interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change. 

Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) 

We are a Disability Confident employer. 

We apply a fair and proportionate interview process for all candidates. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to progress candidates who apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and meet the required minimum selection criteria. 

However, where high application volumes are received, progression to interview may be limited to those who best meet the role criteria. In these circumstances, the benchmark required to proceed to interview may be raised for all candidates. 

How We Recruit 

Find out more about our recruitment processes here. 

• Applying 

• Sifting 

• Interview 

• Interview Results & Feedback 

• Reserve List 

• Near Miss 

• Civil Service Grades 

• We are a Disability Confident Scheme, Redeployment Interview scheme & Great Place to Work for Veterans employer 

• Reasonable Adjustments 

How to Apply 

Find out everything you need to know before applying here. 

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly. 

• Security Clearance Requirements 

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements 

• Right to Work 

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles 

• CV Declaration 

• Sponsorships 

• Salary and Grade 

• Existing Civil Servants 

• Conflict of Interest 

• Location and Flexible Working 

• Internal Fraud Database 

• Appeals and Complaints 

• Fixed Term Appointments for: 

• External Candidates 

• Existing Civil Servants (Including Loans) 

• Secondments 

• MHCLG employees 

Security Clearance Requirements 

National Office: BPSS 

London Office: BPSS + CTC 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

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

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals

• nationals of the Republic of Ireland

• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

• nationals 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 2020

• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

The 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.

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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Job contact :

• Name :Ben Lavelle

• Email :Ben.Lavelle@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email :recruitment@communities.gov.uk

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been: a procedural irregularity an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day. It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk. If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk