The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country.
How we are structured
Our ministers set the priorities for the department.
Our executive committee and non-executive board members are responsible for the management of staff and all business functions.
We are governed through boards and committees which are responsible for oversight.
Our senior leaders lead director general areas, and directorates. These are made up of sub teams and a network of overseas posts. View our full organisational structure on People Finder, or our DBT organisation chart.
Staff from professions recognised by the Civil Service work in the department. They report to line management and to their head of profession.
Secretary of State’s priorities
The Secretary of State's priorities are:
* Industrial Strategy
* The plan for small businesses
* Trade Strategy
* Make Work Pay
How DBT develops and manages its staff
Our People Strategy sets out framework and actions needed to make DBT an outstanding and inclusive place to work.
The annual people survey captures staff views on what it's like to work in DBT, what we need to improve and what is going well. The survey results inform the priorities of the people plan.
Our networks offer peer support, raise awareness of the needs of staff, influence departmental policy and coordinate issues that cut across the diversity agenda.
HR works with 3 recognised trade unions on issues relating to the workplace to promote good industrial relations.
DBT Champion Awards
The DBT Champion Awards happen each year to recognise committed and passionate individuals or teams, and to celebrate our achievements.
DBT's Outcome Delivery Plan 2024 to 2025
The full Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP) sets out the department's strategic context. This includes detailed delivery plans for each of the priority outcomes.
DBT Values
This page sets out the Department for Business and Trade’s values and includes information about activities to support their embedding.
Our ministers
Find out about our ministers and their portfolios.
Professions
The Civil Service professions have their own competency frameworks, a Civil Service head of profession and a departmental head of profession. Professions offer learning and development opportunities that can help you progress in your career. Find out more on this page.
Trade unions
Trade Unions recognised by DBT and the union reps for PCS, FDA and Prospect
This is an exciting time to join the Department for Business and Trade and work on the Secretary of State’s priority area - Make Work Pay plan.
You will have the opportunity to gain strong insight into the policy design process and make a real-world impact on millions of workers and employers. This is a great opportunity for an analyst to work at the heart of legislative change in a high profile, fast-paced environment and develop skills such as leadership and communicating and influencing.
Key responsibilities include:
* Managing the Behavioural Insights Programme feeding into strategies to reduce labour market inactivity. This includes managing a large-scale Randomised Control Trial on providing HR support to parents on parental leave and a process study to improve job applications on the Indeed recruitment website.
* Designing and leading large-scale cross-cutting projects within the Employment Rights portfolio (e.g., improve our understanding of how policies in MWP will impact employer behaviour across key employment stages).
* Develop the Directorate’s research strategy enabling evidence-based policy making to support the objectives of MWP. You will need to work closely with senior leaders and the analytical and policy community as well as building a research network across Whitehall and external organisations/academics.
* Leading and managing the research programme across the wider Competition Markets and Regulatory Reform group ensuring it is aligned to Departmental priorities and takes into consideration broader HMG objectives. As part of this, you will manage a budget of over £1m, ensuring you minimise over/underspends, identify efficiencies and monitor risk.
* Being the expert on social research, working closely with the Central Analysis Team to share best practice (e.g., develop guidance on procurement, research methods, standardised survey/consultation questions etc) as well as ad-hoc support when required.
* Line management of a Senior Research Officer.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .