Secretary of State's Delivery Unit - Senior Delivery Advisor

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA); York and North Yorkshire; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK government department is seeking a skilled Senior Delivery Advisor to support high-level strategic initiatives. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical skills, experience in advising senior officials, and the ability to develop effective relationships across departments. This intellectually stimulating role offers the opportunity to influence key priorities and deliver impactful outcomes in a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in advising senior officials on delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to build strategic connections.
• Strong evidence-based analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategic connections and trusted relationships.
• Provide evidence-based advice for high-level decision-making.
• Lead change and use analytical rigor to achieve outcomes.
• Track progress against priorities set by Secretary of State.

Skills

Analytical acumen

Strategic thinking

Influencing senior leaders

Job description

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, the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

Strategy Directorate

Strategy is a fast‑paced, dynamic, and challenging environment. Our purpose is to give a high quality and timely service to Ministers and the Permanent Secretary, and to ensure that Defra group is able to achieve the strategic objectives we set out in our Business Plan. We work in support of Defra's strategic objectives, look at how we can join up with other initiatives across the organisation to get things done, support each other to deliver excellent work, help Defra to make good decisions and we identify and unblock barriers to change.

Location

This role can be based at any Main Defra Policy Hub. We value flexible working; you will be expected to work 60% of your working week in your contractual office.

Role Overview

We are looking for a skilled and dynamic Senior Delivery Advisor to support Defra's Secretary of State to deliver her top priorities. The Delivery Unit is a capable and high‑performing team that drives forward the Secretary of State's priorities, made up of a mix of analysts and delivery advisors. Sitting at the centre of Defra, we are positioned close to Secretary of State's Private Office and other central teams. This role will be intellectually stimulating and extremely stretching. It will demand a blend of analytical acumen, strategic thinking and the ability to influence at the highest levels.

Main Responsibilities

• Develop strategic connections and trusted relationships to align departmental activity with the Secretary of State's priorities, working across the department and its ALBs and building credibility with Ministerial Private Offices and senior leaders.
• Provide clear, evidence‑based advice for the Secretary of State, Ministers and senior leaders on delivery, facilitating consensus and informing the prioritisation of action.
• Lead change and bring challenge as a partner to key areas, using analytical rigour and critical thinking to achieve priority outcomes.
• Track and report progress against the Secretary of State's priorities, taking into account the bigger picture, wider departmental interests and the trade‑offs that exist.
• Deliver time‑limited sprints commissioned by the political team, the Permanent Secretary or other senior officials.

Diversity and Disability

Encouraging diverse applicants: We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups.

Disability Confident: A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high‑volume, seasonal and high‑peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non‑disabled people. For more details please go to .