Senior Policy Advisor: Increasing Opportunities for

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 222891**Salary**:

- £65,500**Grade**:

- Grade 6- B1**Contract type**:

- Fixed Term**Length of employment**:

- 18 months**Business area**:

- MOD - Head Office & Corporate Services**Type of role**:

- Policy**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of posts**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- MOD Main Building, LondonAbout the job

**Summary**:
This will not be straight-forward. The demands of serving in the Armed Forces are clearly not compatible with some disabilities in some circumstances; but the opportunities and support requirements for someone who is neurodivergent are very different from someone with a hearing impairment. The AF Disability Strategy team are running an 18-month programme to examine our options. This will include: conducting a wide-ranging review of the large number of policies to see how to better support serving personnel with disabilities; running small pathfinder projects in parts of Defence to demonstrate what can and must change for disabled personnel to serve in specific areas of the Armed Forces; and conducting a review of the law governing the overall Armed Forces approach.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

This is a Fixed-term Appointment as a Grade 6 in the MOD Head Office. Your responsibilities will be as described in this job advert. The reason why you are appointed for a fixed period is because the Review has a fixed period for delivery. This post will therefore begin on your appointment and end on 31/3/24.

If you are a permanent MoD civil servant and are found successful for an internally advertised Fixed-term Appointment (FTA) you should move into the post under a Temporary Transfer (for up to a maximum of 23 months). At the end of the posting you will return to your previous MoD Business area. If this posting is at a higher grade, your promotion will be temporary, and you will return to your substantive grade at the end of the Temporary Transfer. If a Temporary Transfer cannot be agreed between all parties then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA and Change of Work Location in the UK policy for further information.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week

**Job description**:

- The role will oversee all aspects of this work, supported by two Senior Executive Officers. You will engage with a broad range of stakeholders across each of the Military Commands to identify all policies relevant to our personnel with disabilities and then work with them to develop and agree proposals for change. This might range from considering how we manage and build our infrastructure, through to changing medical policies or processes. You will seek a broad range of views across Defence. Much of the work will focus on understanding different policy, operational and financial priorities; you will develop new approaches that balance those factors while still making a concrete difference to the lives and careers of Service personnel with disabilities. You will also work with the pathfinder projects, starting with the Cyber Force pathfinder, not just to unlock opportunities to test and evaluate our future approach but also to make a real difference to today’s personnel. You will develop proposals for new pathfinder projects in other areas of the Armed Forces.
- You will also oversee the review of the legal basis for the Armed Forces responsibilities towards personnel with disabilities. The military is currently exempt from the disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010 - in civilian life, these set out firm legal requirements for the practical support and protections that employers must give to employees with disabilities. We have publicly committed to review this exemption and you would guide this process. This will involve engaging with many different stakeholders both inside and outside of Defence - it will be critical both that we hear the voices of those with disabilities currently or formerly in the Armed Forces, but equally that we properly explore the consequences for our operational capability if legal changes are made. You will also work with other organisations, particularly the police and fire services, to understand how they manage their operational capability within the scope of the Equality Act. You will ultimately write a Case for Change, setting out the pros and cons of legislating in this area, and work with legal advisers to identify how we might do this.**Responsibilities**:

- Seeing the Big Picture - you will be comfortable engaging with a wide range of people within and beyond Defence, understanding their perspectives and clearly explaining your objectives.- Communicating and Influencing - your oral and written communication will be clear, compelling and inclusive. You will adapt your approach to deal with very different groups of people and build consensus. Your analysis will be