SME Strategy Policy Adviser Position Available In Darlington, South Carolina

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. The Small Business Growth Directorate supports Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to start, grow and prosper. We lead the Government’s strategic thinking on small business policy to support growth and productivity. The Directorate is also responsible for SME finance, sponsoring both the British Business Bank and the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (which focuses on prompt payments); programmes that support firm level productivity such as our flagship Help to Grow Management scheme; and we look after small firms’ international interests through SME chapters in trade agreements and collaborations with other countries and institutions such as the OECD. We do this through co-ordination, engagement and policy development with relevant teams across Government. We also have a strong embedded analytical function which works right across these areas. The directorate has established an SME Strategy team to drive progress on this SoS priority. The team’s core purpose will be to lead on strategic thinking on small business policy issues to support growth, productivity and good jobs. We will do this through co-ordination, engagement and policy development with relevant teams across Government. The role sits within the Analysis, Strategy and International (AS&I) Division of the Small Business Growth Directorate, which is a multi-disciplinary division made up of policy specialists, analysts and trade professionals. The Small Business Growth Directorate is a friendly, supportive and inclusive place to work and the team regularly meet for office days and also facilitate social activities to those who wish to join. We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and line managers are supportive of individual working requirements. This is a high profile, fast paced role in a much-scrutinised area of policy with a great deal of senior interest from both Ministers and senior officials. It requires collaboration across DBT and other government departments as well as with a range of external stakeholders. This SEO role will support policy development across a range of areas affecting SMEs, advocating for the important role SMEs play in the economy. A particular area of focus will be on SME scale-ups policy. Scale-ups (high growth businesses) will play a critical role in the government’s Growth Mission. There are around 34,000 scale-ups in the UK, across every sector and locality. Scale-ups contribute £1.4 trillion to the UK economy and create high quality jobs, employing 3.2 million people. It is envisaged that the SEO will support on policy development but also be given opportunities to own and drive individual pieces of work. Specific responsibilities are likely to include: Supporting policy development in relation to SME scale-ups policy, where the strategy team will be required to drive policy thinking at pace, involving research, stakeholder engagement and options analysis; Set-up and ongoing smooth management of senior (DG and ministerial) fora, both internally and across-government, to drive decision making; Respond to commissions (ministerial briefings, speeches submissions, Parliamentary Questions) related to SMEs; Given the rapidly evolving nature of this work, you will need to be comfortable with adapting to change if needed.