Policy Adviser – State-Owned Banking Assets
About the Team
The State-Owned Banking Assets unit is responsible for policy relating to financial sector assets taken on as a result of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, including the Treasury’s shareholding in NatWest Group and ongoing interest in UK Asset Resolution, a government owned company handling the government’s exposures to the legacy liabilities of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley.The unit works closely with UK Government Investments (UKGI) as it develops and advises Ministers on policy to exit these multi-billion pound interventions in the financial sector.
About the Job
The primary focus of the role will be to support policy for the government’s shareholding in NatWest. The government recapitalised the bank, acquiring an 84% shareholding, as part of a number of interventions made as a result of the global financial crisis to restore economic and financial stability to the UK economy.With that objective long achieved, the policy objective is to fully return the bank to the private ownership through sales of the government’s shareholding. Significant progress has been made against this objective in recent years, with the shareholding now reduced to below 18%.
The government intends to fully exit this shareholding by 2025/26, subject to market conditions and achieving value for money. You will be supporting delivery of this objective, with sales of the shareholding raising billions of pounds in revenue to support the delivery of wider public services.
In addition to the work on the NatWest shareholding you may also support the work of the team in delivering a managed wind down of the UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) intervention. This involves assessing the best way to resolve a number of complex liabilities, including policy to defund and transfer the company’s pension schemes to central government.
Key Accountabilities for this role include:
- Sales strategy – working with UKGI to assess the viability and feasibility of options for selling down the government’s shareholding.
- Sale preparation and execution – co-ordinating and managing the process of preparing and implementing sale options.
- Shareholding management – advising ministers on issues relating to the management of the shareholding and issues relating to the intervention in the bank.
- Building and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues across the Civil Service and public sector, and with external advisers and other organisations from the private sector.
- Providing clear advice and briefings to the Treasury Accounting Officer and ministers and handling ministerial and other correspondence on issues relating to the NatWest shareholding.
- Preparing for fiscal events, working with colleagues across the Treasury and at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to produce forecasts for sales of the government’s financial assets.
- 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month
- Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
- Generous parental and adoption leave packages
- Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 27%
- Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances
- A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity
For more information about the Treasury, role, salary, benefits, who to contact and how to apply please follow the Apply link.
If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form, or speak to the recruitment team at hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk