Senior Policy Adviser, Arts Infrastructure

Job summary

The Culture Directorate’s aim is to support and promote growth in the cultural sectors across the country, and to realise and maximise the cultural, social and economic benefits these sectors bring to people in the UK. We are a directorate of about 80 people, working across culture, arts, libraries and the museums sectors.

This role is based within the Arts team. Our aim is to ensure the long term financial sustainability of our arts and cultural organisations across the country, and to deliver our Secretary of State’s vision to make the arts available for everyone.

We are a flexible team and work to ensure the best outcomes for our sector and deliver on our Secretary of State’s priorities:

• Growth and good jobs in every place
• A more socially cohesive country with an inclusive national story
• Richer lives with choices and opportunities for all

Job description

As Senior Policy Adviser, Arts Infrastructure you will be responsible for managing the ongoing delivery and monitoring/oversight of the £425m Creative Foundations Fund (CFF) as well as policy work relating to the design and delivery of the Department’s arts capital funding.

CFF is the largest investment in arts and cultural infrastructure in over a decade and enables not-for-profit cultural organisations to address urgent capital works.

You will sit at the intersection of policy, delivery and finance, ensuring CFF meets its core objectives and delivers value for public money. You will act as the primary relationship manager with the fund’s delivery partner, Arts Council England (ACE). You will also work effectively across the department and with stakeholders to build consensus and ensure that ministerial objectives are met.

You will also lead policy development for future arts infrastructure interventions, identifying sector needs, evaluating risks, and designing innovative solutions to support cultural assets. You will work closely with analysts to develop robust, evidence-based cases for future fiscal events, demonstrating the economic and social value of capital investment in the arts.

You will belong to a supportive and dynamic team, reporting to the Head of Arts Infrastructure. The role does not have line management responsibilities.

This is an exciting opportunity to deliver a major fund and to shape the future of arts infrastructure. This role would suit a motivated and strategic candidate with a strong track record of delivery, policy development and stakeholder management.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience:

Essential requirements:

• Communicating & Influencing: Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to build collaborative, trusting, and influential relationships with complex stakeholders.
• Delivering at Pace: A strong track record of overseeing complex funds, projects, or delivery programmes, ensuring tight governance, risk management, and the timely delivery of outcomes in a fast-moving environment.
• Seeing the Big Picture: Strong analytical skills, with the ability to shape policy thinking from first principles through to implementation with a curious and innovative mindset.
• Working Together: Excellent collaborative skills, with the ability to draw on the expertise of diverse internal teams (such as legal, finance, and analytical professions) to navigate barriers and deliver shared strategic goals

Desirable Skills

• Understanding of grant delivery

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Greg Forrest and will take place on:

13th July @ 3pm

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest through this Registration form by 8:00 on 6th July 2026 and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk