Policy Advisor

Job summary

The Civil Society and Youth (CSY) directorate aims to build a fairer society, in which government, civil society, and businesses are able to work together to tackle social challenges and build stronger communities. We are the Government leads for civil society responsible for a dynamic set of policy areas relating to young people, volunteers, charities and social enterprises, with over 100 staff based across the UK.

The Youth team is a high profile and friendly unit within this directorate with a vision to ensure that DCMS delivers the greatest impact for young people and their communities. In December 2025, the Government published ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ alongside a State of the Nation report. It is the first cross-government Strategy for young people in England in 15 years. Youth Matters was co-produced with young people and the sector. It is a 10 year plan, backed by an initial £500 million from DCMS over the next 3 years, to ensure every young person across the country has somewhere to go, someone who cares for them and a community they feel part of. This is a busy and exciting time for the Youth team as we deliver the first funded steps of this ambitious strategy.

Job description

This role presents an opportunity to join the Young Futures Hubs and Transformation Team within the wider Youth Team at DCMS. The team is responsible for delivering theYoung Futures Hubs and Transformation Programmeto improve local youth services and establish a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs by March 2029.

This programme is high-profile as it delivers on multiple National Youth Strategy commitments and a manifesto commitment.

In this role your responsibilities may include:

• Supporting internal and external stakeholder engagement activities (for example attending conferences, off-site visits, and policy roundtables), including establishing new relationships with stakeholders interested in our work.
• Responding to incoming commissions, correspondence, briefings, and Parliamentary business relating to our work.
• Sharing information and best practice case studies from the programme with the local government and youth sectors.
• Scoping and researching policy ideas and drafting ministerial advice.
• Establishing a formal mechanism for the local government sector to engage with and input views into youth policy development.

Person specification

Essential requirements:

• Ability to organise and manage competing priorities across multiple projects or workstreams to deliver high-quality results to agreed deadlines.
• Ability to organise your time flexibly to adapt to urgent, emerging priorities and produce clear written summaries, reports, or responses for senior stakeholders.
• Experience of building collaborative, productive working relationships with a range of internal and external partners to achieve shared goals.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence others and tailor complex information to diverse audiences.

Desirable skills:

• Knowledge or understanding of the key issues, opportunities, and challenges facing young people.
• Experience of grant and/or contract management.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Tiegan Bingham-Roberts and will take place on:

• Monday, 12th October at 11:00am

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to [email removed]

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,734, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £10,641 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).

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home
• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice
• 3 days of paid volunteering leave
• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year
• Occupational sick pay
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice
• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks
• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work
• Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!

Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strength