Policy Professional Placement

The policy professional placements sit within our Wales & Government Engagement team, . The Government Engagement team acts as the gatekeeper for the UK and Welsh governments to engage with Ofwat. 

Our strategic priorities are to ensure a consistent, connected, and strategic interactions with UK and Welsh governments, and support Ofwat’s Senior Leadership Team and Directors to hold constructive relationships with key partners.
 We lead on engagement with government in cross-cutting policy areas (e.g. regulatory reform), helping to shape and inform policy to deliver the best outcomes for the consumer. We also analyse legislation and policy to provide impact and risk analysis and support the development of government consultation responses.

This will be a busy time for Government Engagement, and you will help deliver and facilitate a consistent, connected, and strategic relationship with, primarily, UK Government but also other key regulatory stakeholders as required. You will be supporting work to engage with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as they prepare and then take through Parliament a new Water Bill, that will set out the future legislative environment for the water industry and for Ofwat's successor regulator.   

Professional requirements - Essential criteria

To succeed in this role, you will need the following qualifications, essential attributes, experience, skills and knowledge.

Eligibility Qualifications
You should have, or be on track to achieve, at least a 2:2 degree in Politics,  International Relations,  Public policy,  Law,  History, Geography,  Environmental studies, Engineering (or a related discipline from a UK university.  
We also welcome applicants who have completed a Level 3, 4, or 5 apprenticeships in any of the areas listed above, as well as applicants with a relevant postgraduate qualification.  
As this is a placement programme, you must either be studying on a degree that includes a sandwich year or be a recent graduate/apprentice with no more than three years of post-graduation work experience. 

Experience, skills and knowledge

• Lead Criterion - A keen understanding of various policy concepts and their application, with a particular motivation for working in regulatory economic environments.

• Good numerical and analytical skills and a good understanding of qualitative values and analysis.

• Ability to demonstrate effective problem solving,  critical thinking, decision making and information processing. 

• Great verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write clearly and concisely.