Senior Policy Advisor


Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Salary:	£42,665 - £50,495
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	25 Aug 2026
Closing date:	3 Sept 2026

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Summary

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

We are seeking capable people to contribute to our policy and strategy work. Whilst core policy skills are essential, we do not expect applicants to have specialist knowledge of the area. These roles are a great opportunity to acquire experience in developing new policies to reform and transform a sector, support the development of primary and secondary legislation, work with a wide range of stakeholders, and develop extensive opportunities to brief seniors and ministers on high profile policy areas.

We work in a programmatic way, prioritising work to ensure we’re focusing on the right things at the right time. This means that our teams can pivot onto new workstreams once projects and programmes are concluded, or if circumstances change and they are reprioritised. Through this we are able to offer a wealth of development opportunities and experiences as well as experience working in an agile and flexible way.

Whichever part of the Directorate you’re in, you will play an active role in shaping and delivering our priorities, working creatively and collaboratively with others to deliver excellent outcomes. You will need to build excellent relationships across the Directorate, with wider Defra colleagues, other government departments, arm’s length bodies, and with external stakeholders, inspiring confidence and trust. You can expect frequent interaction with Ministers, Special Advisers and senior officials, including in other government departments. It’s a very exciting time to join the team and be part of supporting important policy areas.

As a senior policy advisor you may have responsibility for:

Owning key elements of policy and policy development
Independently driving progress to meet key milestones
Briefing Ministers and senior leaders, orally and in writing
Drafting responses to written correspondence
Responding to Parliamentary Questions on your policy area
Negotiating policy positions with other departments
Drafting consultations and official government responses
Working with stakeholders and experts to design new policy interventions
Line and task management for junior colleagues

Our policy vacancies span a number of teams, all of whom are gearing up to play their part in the coming changes.

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