Policy officer

Apprenticeship summary

Occupation summary

This occupation is found in:

public, private and not-for-profit sector, usually in the Civil Service, Local Authorities and non-governmental organisations. However, they may also work in charities, unions and private businesses. Policy officers work in varied environments including in an office, onsite, or remotely. On occasion they may work with other stakeholders at their sites or overseas.

The broad purpose of the occupation is:

to help shape or influence public policy. Public policy involves enacting solutions to improve the health, welfare, and prosperity of citizens.

Policy officers are responsible for the development, implementation or evaluation phases of policymaking. They also develop and implement strategies to shape and influence public policy within the remit of their organisation. They may specialise in a specific policy area, such as healthcare, housing, employment, transport, trade, the environment, national security or international relations, or work across several policy areas.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with:

interacts with a range of internal stakeholders. This includes members of their own team and other departments such as IT, legal, HR, marketing, senior management, and the board of directors. They interact with external stakeholders such as subject matter experts or specialists (e.g., in communications, public affairs, finance, legal or operations). They also interact with customers, members of the public, service providers, the media, think tanks or research institutes, local and central government, regulators and international bodies.

Policy officers work with their stakeholders towards joint goals. They build partnerships with other organisations and bodies with similar interests. They may facilitate conferences, forums, roundtable discussions and events to discuss policy issues, strengthen their own knowledge and build their network.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for:

providing support and advice to decision-makers, such as senior managers, board members, ministers, or other stakeholders. They assist them in developing options for responding to an issue or creating a change. They work to implement policy interventions by creating a set of actions and working with partners to deliver them.

Policy officers research the political or organisational environment in order to support the development of a policy, or to influence policy decisions. They gather evidence to contribute to policy making processes such as policy formulation or monitoring policy developments and lobbying accordingly.

They manage sensitive information and keep accurate records of policy history that will inform the evaluation of past and present policies. Policy officers obtain input from key stakeholders whilst they prepare and draft submissions, reports, briefings, or options papers for senior managers. They may deal with external customer, stakeholder and formal correspondence, working within set deadlines and adhering to processes, escalating issues not within the remit of their role. They support the development and delivery of training or coaching on new or existing policies to their stakeholders.

Policy officers work on their own and in a range of team settings. They work within agreed budgets and available resources. On occasion they may work without high levels of supervision, for example, when conducting research and analysis. They will work as part of the wider policy team on other duties, for example, when gathering information and providing briefings to senior colleagues and managers. They may occasionally be responsible for decision making, but more often will guide or influence the decisions of others. Policy officers may manage a small team and contribute towards budget management.

Typical job titles include: