Head of Excise

About the Team

The VAT and Excise team sits within HM Treasury’s Business & International Tax group and is a busy, flexible, friendly team at the heart of HM Treasury's tax agenda. We are responsible for providing ministers with advice on VAT, insurance premium tax (IPT), alcohol duty, tobacco duties, vaping duty, gambling taxes and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. Together, these raise around £200 billion a year. The team contributes significant numbers of measures to fiscal events and generates a large amount of Chancellor and external interest.

About the Job

The team is recruiting for a new Head of Excise. This is an exciting, varied and high-profile role, which will involve policy development, delivery and strategy across broad portfolios, working closely with key partners such as HMRC. It will involve significant engagement with Ministers, senior officials within HMT, other government departments and senior collaborators from businesses, advisory firms and academia.

Key accountabilities include:

1. Providing leadership to 5 Excise Branch staff, setting clear strategic priorities for the branch, supporting development, and delivering high quality work for Ministers.
2. Advising and supporting the Chancellor and other ministers on all issues related to alcohol duties, tobacco duties, gambling taxes, Vaping Products Duty and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
3. Coordinating the development and delivery of the new Vaping Products Duty, including engaging with HMRC, DHSC, businesses and public health partners.
4. Developing and advising ministers on the case and options for strategic reform to excise taxes, and how they can contribute to the government’s fiscal objectives as well as its broader missions.
5. Building collaborative relationships with counterparts and seniors to ensure HM Treasury’s decision-making is informed by robust evidence and that the government’s objectives and policies are communicated clearly.

Please note the role is likely to require regular travel to London to support Ministers in person in Parliament.

About You

The role would suit an individual who can grasp complex policy issues, think strategically and creatively about how to resolve them, deliver optimally through others and expertly be a great partner with a broad range of different team members.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave packages
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 27%
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity

For more information about the Treasury, role, salary, benefits, who to contact and how to apply please follow the Apply link.

If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form.