policy advisor

software architect

economist

user experience researcher

shift leader

Defra

For all the talk of diversity blah blah, it's a very cliquey environment full of incompetent yes-men.  You don't need to come from a particular background but you need to fit in and you need to watch your back.   If you are a self-promoter and care about your advancement  above anything else, you may like it.

In the years before Brexit they got rid of a lot of experienced staff then after Brexit they were forced to recruit new people to cope with the increased workload.  The new recruits were mostly young and inexperienced.  The department has changed dramatically as a consequence.  It wasn't great before but now it really has lost its way.

You don't need to be terribly bright to join or to be promoted.  With the exception of a handful of genuinely talented people, most Defra employees are average.  The problem is that people are promoted beyond their abilities.  Most middle managers (and there are far too many of them!) are so inadequate it's painful to watch them making decisions.  So much money is wasted as a result. But they don't seem to care.   Briefings for ministers can frequently be inaccurate or plainly wrong.  Feeble, uncertain evidence is presented as facts.  

Like most ambitious, mediocre people out of their depth, this army of self-congratulatory, overpaid middle managers cannot handle criticism or a different point of view.  So they become petty, intolerant micro-managers who back each other up.  There used to be room for people with an independent mind but it's becoming harder to be a critical voice.  

The pension scheme is still good, and they do encourage work-life balance.  But a Rolls-Royce it is not.  More like an echo chamber.

I started working at DEFRA (soon to be ISS) recently.  I worked four days expecting to go back to work on the Monday only to be told that my assignment had ended and that I was not the right person for the role!!!!  I was not the right person for the role?   I went in, I did not have a laptop so I could not do any admin work but I still mucked in and I helped the others wherever possible.  I was always pleasant, friendly, helpful and I treated all staff with respect.   I was always present and I was constantly around the Facilities Department, I asked the team numerous times if there was any work do to.  I covered reception numerous times when I was not feeling confident but I did it anyway!

The job description did not match the admin role as the role was physical with much heavy lifting, etc.  I did not object and again I helped out.  I personally do not have any physical injuries but another candidate not expecting a physical admin role would probably object to this!

Avoid this company at all costs if they can treat staff in this way!!!!!

•         Run project co-ordination on the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) project. This is a £5 billion project and one of the top 40 infrastructure projects within the UK
•         Responsible for maintaining key Project documents, i.e. high level and detailed project plans, weekly and monthly highlight reports, assurance and approvals plans and governance papers
•         Co-ordinate with internal and external stakeholders to assess risks and issues relating to the TTT project and wider Water Availability programme
•         Work with project workstream leads to develop and maintain the Defra risk register and issues log, to ensure key project risks and issues have been identified and are effectively managed
•         Work collaboratively with the wider PMO to develop joint work plans and identify cross-cutting issues and processes, to help streamline reporting and PPM processes
•         Line management of a Project Support Officer and Project Administrator

I was responsible for a team of 15 office based and 8 Porters and cleaners. I dealt with a number of foreign nationals, and I learned that we may be different, but we are all the same!

Maintained all financial records and Contract reports for the OfficePreparation and co-ordination of monthly reports, attending management meetings
Co-ordination of all supplier invoices and ensured payments to contractual time scales
Co-ordinated Additional Works requests including pricing, submission to client and payments
Raised purchase orders and ensured a robust audit trail
I had face to face contact with Ministers on a regular basis to discuss ways forward for billing of the department and managing reports.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good Location of office and hours of work can be flexible plus there is Free parking



What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with an out dated management structure with and old civil servant attitude 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Still in the dark ages with poor IT systems and processes which are strutted toward failure . Training on procedures is weak and heavily monitored by management with low skill levels 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The work is constant . The clients are always frustrated with timescale and weak updates . Help with issues is slow but the people , in general, are pleasant .

Pros:
- flexibility 
- family friendly
- relaxed pace of work
- career progression

Cons:
- too generalist. Normal for people to jump between completely different policy areas as thats sometimes the only way to get promoted and earn more. As a result there is no long term corporate knowledge. A lot of people have zero real life experience of the policy area they work in. 
- hit and miss managers
- work can be slow and often has no tangible results. You work for a bureaucracy at the end of the day. Theres also no shortage of work for works sake - spending hours on powerpoints and reports that nobody reads or cares about
- extremely difficult to enact any internal or external change

What is the best part of working at the company?
Flexible hours, pleasant colleagues.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Access to building (security), requiring escorts for access, departure etc. 
Requirements of role not always clear, targets varied and could be challenging (uneven work flows).

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Can be impersonal. Communication could be improved across sectors.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Work fairly routine, but can be stressful.

Typical days at work were very long. I regularly worked from 7am to 7/8pm most days. 

The management had very high expectations of delivery despite the constantly changing objectives. There was not always clear direction and support in achieving these aims and as such. 

The workplace culture was fast paced and challenging.

The hardest part of the job was getting individuals to accept and embrace change - particularly where what was being implemented was a significant departure from what they were used to.

A typical day at work involves first reading any emails, responding to them, checking the inhouse Edomero database for any potato export applications that need inputting on the spreadsheet, seed export applications which have had their representative sample taken by an inspector and passed a laboratory inspection.  If the seed or potato applications have passed their inspections , then phytosanitary certificates are generated, edited and sent to the exporter.

There is not much to say. it is not a company but a Government Department. I worked as a consultant remotely. My day starts at about 8.30AM and finishes at about 6.00PM. I did not learn much. AS I worked remotely, I cannot comment much on the culture of the department. With regards to management, I will say it is very typical of the government department. The hardest part of the job is receiving feedbacks. the most enjoyable part was completing the project on time successful.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Policy advisor 16 salaries reported	£40,153 per year
Software architect 15 salaries reported	£66,034 per year
Economist 4 salaries reported	£41,000 per year
User experience researcher 23 salaries reported	£52,757 per year
Shift leader 1 salary reported	£34,765 per year

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