Policy officer

Description

Policy officers research, analyse and develop policies in various public sectors, and shape and implement these policies to improve the existing regulation around the sector. They evaluate effects of existing policies and report findings to the government and members of the public. Policy officers work closely with partners, external organisations or other stakeholders and provide them with regular updates.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to policy officer:

policy analyst
health policy officer
policy researcher
policy coordinator
policy manager
strategy advisor
strategy manager
policy advisor

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as policy officer. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Policy officer is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Policy officer career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to policy officer.

agricultural policy officer
competition policy officer
cultural policy officer
immigration policy officer
trade development officer

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of policy officer. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of policy officer with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of policy officer.

Government policy implementation: The procedures related to the application of government policies at all levels of public administration.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of policy officer.

Create solutions to problems: Solve problems which arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising information to evaluate current practice and generate new understandings about practice.
Maintain relations with local representatives: Maintain good relations with representatives of the local scientific, economic and civil society.
Liaise with local authorities: Maintain the liaison and exchange of information with regional or local authorities.
Maintain relationships with government agencies: Establish and maintain cordial working relationships with peers in different governmental agencies.
Advise on legislative acts: Advise officials in a legislature on the propositioning of new bills and the consideration of items of legislation.
Manage government policy implementation: Manage the operations of the implementation of new government policies or changes in existing policies on a national or regional level as well as the staff involved in the implementation procedure.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of policy officer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Project management principles: Different elements and phases of project management.
Cultural projects: The purpose, organisation and management of cultural projects and related fundraising actions.
Foreign affairs: The operations of a foreign affairs department in a government or public organisation and its regulations.
Communications sector policies: The public administration and regulatory aspects of the communications sector, and requirements necessary to create policies.
Asylum systems: The systems which grant refugees who flee persecution or harm in their home nation access to protection in another nation.
Transportation sector policies: The public administration and regulatory aspects of the transportation and infrastructure sectors, and requirements necessary to create policies.
Trade sector policies: The public administration and regulatory aspects of the wholesale and retail trade sector, and requirements necessary to create policies.
Environmental legislation in agriculture and forestry: Awareness on enviromental legislation, policies, principles relevant for agriculture and forestry. Awareness of the impact on the enviroment of local agricultural precedures and practices. Means to adjust the production to new enviromental regulations and policies.
Politics: The method, process and study of influencing people, gaining control over a community or society, and the distribution of power within a community and between societies.
Energy sector policies: The public administration and regulatory aspects of the energy sector, and requirements necessary to create policies.
Mining sector policies: The public administration and regulatory aspects of the mining sector, and requirements necessary to create policies.
Pollution legislation: Be familiar with European and National legislation regarding the risk of pollution.
Legislation in agriculture: Body of regional, national and European laws enacted in the field of agriculture and forestry concerning various issues such as product quality, environmental protection and trade.
Ecological principles: The understanding of how an ecosystem functions and its relationship to environmental planning and design.
Business analysis: The research field which addresses the identification of business needs and problems and the determination of the solutions that would mitigate or prevent the smooth functioning of a business. Business analysis comprises IT solutions, market challenges, policy development and strategic matters.
International commercial transactions rules: Pre-defined commercial terms used in international commercial transactions which stipulate clear tasks, costs and risks associated with the delivery of goods and services.
Pollution prevention: The processes used to prevent pollution: precautions to pollution of the environment, procedures to counter pollution and associated equipment, and possible measures to protect the environment.
Immigration law: The regulations to follow to ensure compliance during investigations or advice in immigration cases and file handling.
Quality standards: The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.
Consumer law: The area of law that regulates the relationship between consumer and businesses providing goods or services, including consumer protection and regulations on irregular business practices.
Strategic planning: The elements defining the foundation and core of an organisation such as its mission, vision, values, and objectives.
Business processes: Processes which an organisation applies to improve efficiency, set new objectives and reach goals in a profitable and timely manner.
International law: The binding rules and regulations in the relations between states and nations, and legal systems dealing with countries rather than private citizens.
Tourism sector policies: The public administration and regulatory aspects of the tourism and hotels sector, and requirements necessary to create policies.
Agronomy: The study of combining agriculture production and protection and regeneration of natural environment. Includes the principles and methods of critical selection and adequate application methods for sustainability in agriculture.
Market analysis: The field of market analysis and research and its particular research methods.
Business strategy concepts: The terminology related to the design and implementation of major trends and aims which are taken by an organisation’s executives, while keeping in mind its resources, competition and environments.
Competition law: The legal regulations that maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive behaviour of companies and organisations.
Corporate law: The legal rules that govern how corporate stakeholders (such as shareholders, employees, directors, consumers, etc) interact with one another, and the responsibilities corporations have to their stakeholders.
Social justice: The development and principles of human rights and social justice and the way they should be applied on a case by case basis.
Scientific research methodology: The theoretical methodology used in scientific research involving doing background research, constructing an hypothesis, testing it, analysing data and concluding the results.
Company policies: The set of rules that govern the activity of a company.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of policy officer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Manage government-funded programmes: Implement and monitor the development of projects subsidized by regional, national or European authorities.
Carry out strategic research: Research long term possibilities for improvements and plan steps to achieve them.
Apply conflict management: Take ownership of the handling of all complaints and disputes showing empathy and understanding to achieve resolution. To be fully aware of all Social Responsibility protocols and procedures, and to be able to deal with a problem gambling situation in a professional manner with maturity and empathy.
Develop agricultural policies: Develop programmes for the development of new technologies and methodologies in agriculture, as well as the development and implementation of improved sustainability and environmental awareness in agriculture.
Promote inclusion in organisations: Promote diversity and equal treatment of genders, ethnicities and minority groups in organisations in order to prevent discrimination and ensure inclusion and a positive environment.
Develop competition policies: Develop policies and programmes which regulate practices of free trade and competition between businesses and ban practices which impede free trade, by controlling firms attempting to dominate a market, monitoring operations of cartels, and supervising mergers and acquisitions of large firms.
Present a cause: Present the motives and objectives of a certain cause, such as a charity cause or political campaign, to individuals or larger audience in order to gather support for the cause.
Promote free trade: Develop strategies for the promotion of free trade, open competition between businesses for the development of economic growth, in order to gain support for free trade and competition regulation policies.
Create cultural venue outreach policies: Draw up outreach policies for the museum and any art facility, and a programme of activities directed at all target audiences. Set up a network of exterior contacts to relay information to target audiences to this end.
Evaluate cultural venue programmes: Assist with the appraisal and evaluation of museum and any art facility programmes and activities.
Liaise with event sponsors: Plan meetings with sponsors and event organisers to discuss and monitor upcoming events.
Liaise with cultural partners: Establish and maintain sustainable partnerships with cultural authorities, sponsors and other cultural institutions.
Coordinate events: Lead events by managing budget, logistics, event support, security, emergency plans and follow up.
Work with cultural venue specialists: Call upon the competence of other professionals and specialists, from within and outside the organisation, to contribute to activities and provide documents to improve public access to collections and exhibitions.
Work within communities: Establish social projects aimed at community development and active citizen participation.
Build community relations: Establish affectionate and long-lasting relationships with local communities, e.g. by organising special programms for kindergarden, schools and for dissabled and older people, raising awareness and receiving community appreciation in return.
Analyse market financial trends: Monitor and forecast the tendencies of a financial market to move in a particular direction over time.
Observe new developments in foreign countries: Observe political, economic and societal developments in the assigned country, gather and report relevant information to the relevant institution.
Develop organisational policies: Develop and supervise the implementation of policies aimed at documenting and detailing the procedures for the operations of the organisation in the lights of its strategic planning.
Establish collaborative relations: Establish a connection between organisations or individuals which may benefit from communicating with one another in order to facilitate an enduring positive collaborative relationship between both parties.
Advise on economic development: Advise organisations and institutions on the factors and steps they could take which would promote and ensure economic stability and growth.
Develop educational resources: Create and develop educational resources for visitors, school groups, families and special interest groups.
Ensure information transparency: Ensure that required or requested information is provided clearly and completely, in a manner which does not explicitly withhold information, to the public or requesting parties.
Enable access to services: Enable access to the different services which may be available to people with precarious legal status such as immigrants and offenders on probation in order to secure their inclusion in a facility or program, and communicate with the service providers to explain the situation and convince them of the advantages of including the individual.
Keep task records: Organise and classify records of prepared reports and correspondence related to the performed work and progress records of tasks.
Inspect government policy compliance: Inspect public and private organisations to ensure proper implementation and compliance with government policies which apply to the organisation.
Manage cultural facility: Manage the daily operations of a cultural facility. Organise all activities and coordinate the different departments functioning within a cultural facility. Develop a plan of action and arrange the necessary funds.
Oversee quality control: Monitor and assure the quality of the provided goods or services by overseeing that all the factors of the production meet quality requirements. Supervise product inspection and testing.
Analyse economic trends: Analyse developments in national or international trade, business relations, banking, and developments in public finance and how these factors interact with one another in a given economic context.
Promote human rights implementation: Promote the implementation of programs which stipulate agreements, binding or non-binding, concerning human rights in order to further improve efforts to decrease discrimination, violence, unjust imprisonment or other human rights violations. As well as to increase efforts to improve tolerance and peace, and better treatment of human rights cases.
Analyse foreign affairs policies: Analyse the existing policies for the handling of foreign affairs within a government or public organisation in order to evaluate them and search for improvements.
Develop promotional tools: Generate promotional material and collaborate in the production of promotional text, videos, photos, etc. Keep previous promotional material organised.
Promote cultural venue events: Work together with museum or any art facility staff to develop and promote its events and programme.
Promote agricultural policies: Promote the inclusion of agricultural programmes on a local and national level, in order to acquire support for agricultural development and sustainability awareness.
Monitor company policy: Monitor the company’s policy and propose improvements to the company.
Establish relationship with the media: Adopt a professional attitude to respond effectively to the demands of the media.
Attend parliament plenaries: Assist and provide support in the parliament plenaries by revising documents, communicating with other parties, and ensuring an smooth running of the sessions.
Show intercultural awareness: Show sensibility towards cultural differences by taking actions which facilitate positive interaction between international organisations, between groups or individuals of different cultures, and to promote integration in a community.
Analyse education system: Analyse various aspects of the school and education system, such as the relation between the cultural origin of the students and their educational opportunities, the apprenticeship programmes or the objectives of adult education, in order to make recommendations to education professionals and decision makers.
Promote environmental awareness: Calculate the carbon footprint of business processes and other practices in order to promote sustainability and to raise awareness for the environmental impact.
Conduct educational activities: Plan, perform and supervise educational activities for a variety of audiences, such as for school children, university students, specialist groups, or members of the public.
Fix meetings: Fix and schedule professional appointments or meetings for clients or superiors.
Develop cultural activities: Develop activities adapted to the outreach and/or audience. Take into account difficulties and needs observed and identified from the perspective of enhancing curiosity and general capability to access to art and culture.
Investigate competition restrictions: Investigate practices and methodologies used by businesses or organisations which restrict free trade and competition, and which facilitate market dominance by a single firm, in order to identify the causes and come up with solutions in order to ban these practices.
Develop immigration policies: Develop strategies for improved efficiency in immigration and asylum procedures, as well as strategies aiming to end irregular migration and establishing sanctions for those facilitating irregular migration.
Develop professional network: Reach out to and meet up with people in a professional context. Find common ground and use your contacts for mutual benefit. Keep track of the people in your personal professional network and stay up to date on their activities.
Develop media strategy: Create the strategy on the type of content to be delivered to the target groups and which media to be used, taking into account the characteristics of the target audience and the media that will be used for content delivery.
Advise on government policy compliance: Advise organisations on how they may improve their compliance to the applicable government policies they are required to adhere to, and the necessary steps which need to be taken in order to ensure complete compliance.
Prepare government funding dossiers: Prepare dossiers to request government funding.
Perform project management: Manage and plan various resources, such as human resources, budget, deadline, results, and quality necessary for a specific project, and monitor the project’s progress in order to achieve a specific goal within a set time and budget.
Liaise with politicians: Liaise with officials fulfilling important political and legislative roles in governments in order to ensure productive communication and build relations.
Present reports: Display results, statistics and conclusions to an audience in a transparent and straightforward way.
Develop cultural policies: Develop programmes which aim to promote cultural activities and cultural engagement in a community or nation, and which regulate the organisation of cultural institutions, facilities and events.
Provide improvement strategies: Identify root causes of problems and submit proposals for effective and long-term solutions.
Assess risk factors: Determine the influence of economical, political and cultural risk factors and additional issues.
Analyse irregular migration: Analyse and assess the systems which are involved in organising or facilitating irregular migration in order to develop strategies to end irregular migration and sanction those facilitating it.
Analyse goal progress: Analyse the steps which have been taken in order to reach the organisation’s goals in order to assess the progress which has been made, the feasibility of the goals, and to ensure the goals can be met according to deadlines.
Foster dialogue in society: Foster intercultural dialogue in civil society on a variety of controversial topics such as religious and ethical issues.
Build international relations: Build positive communication dynamics with organisations from different countries in order to build a cooperative relationship and optimise information exchange.
Advise on foreign affairs policies: Advise governments or other public organisations on the development and implementation of foreign affairs policies.
Supervise advocacy work: Manage the aim to influence political, economic and social decisions. Make sure ethics and policies are followed.
Perform resource planning: Estimate the expected input in terms of time, human and financial resources necessary to achieve the project objectives.
Analyse community needs: Identify and respond to specific social problems in a community, delineating the extent of the problem and outline the level of resources required to address it and identifying the existing community assets and resources that are available to address the problem.
Conduct public presentations: Speak in public and interact with those present. Prepare notices, plans, charts, and other information to support the presentation.
Perform market research: Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.

ISCO group and title

2422 – Policy administration professionals

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Policy officer – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022