The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is on the hunt for a gambling reform strategy lead to help “determine next steps in gambling policy”.
The job, which will be based in either Manchester or London, will run on a two-year contract with applications closing on 9 October.
The position sits in DCMS’ senior executive officer pay bracket, meaning candidates based in Manchester could be paid between £37,670 and £45,217 per year.
In London, that pay package ranges from £41,055 to £49,571.
Situated within the DCMS’ gambling team, the role will involve land-based and online operations with a core focus on “strategic planning for gambling reform”.
According to the DCMS job spec, candidates will also be required to “lead on cross-government and department planning” as well as work closely with the Gambling Commission to monitor the effectiveness of existing regulations.
Additionally, prospective applicants will be required to “lead on all governance and risk management, including ensuring ministers and senior leaders are kept up to date”.
Listed under “essential requirements”, the job description makes no reference to gambling-specific experience.
Instead, a “particular interest in and understanding of the gambling sector” is listed under “desirable skills” on the spec.
The DCMS listing reads: “The gambling reform strategy lead role is a great opportunity for a motivated and experienced candidate looking for a stretching role in a fascinating area of government policy.
“The role will span the work of the gambling team, which includes land-based and online gambling policy areas and consumer protections.
“The role will lead on strategic planning for gambling reform, including making strategic connections across the department and more widely across government, representing gambling interests with the government’s missions and wider DCMS strategy.”
The gambling division within the DCMS is headed up by Nat Fox, who joined the department in February of this year as head of online gambling policy.
Prior to moving to the DCMS, Fox served as a senior policy advisor for Ofcom and spent more than four years with the Guardian in video and multimedia production roles.
At ministerial level, gambling policy is now under the watch of Baroness Fiona Twycross, who was drafted into the department after Labour swept to power in the July general election.
Many expected former shadow gambling minister Stephanie Peacock to reprise her role, but she was shifted to another brief in the DCMS.
Baroness Twycross spoke at the Labour Party Conference last month on a panel entitled ‘Bad money: the economics of gambling harm’, alongside Dr James Noyes of the Social Market Foundation.
Last week at the SBC Lisbon Summit, several leading figures from UK operators, including evoke CEO Per Widerström, said initial conversations with the new Labour government on gambling reform had been positive.
Labour dedicated just 37 words to the gambling sector in its electoral manifesto, buried in the policy document’s section on NHS reform.
Weeks later, in the King’s Speech laying out the main priorities for parliament, the industry was not mentioned at all.
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