The Future Role of Policy Engineers

After this lesson, the reader should understand:

• 01Describe the competencies of a policy engineer.
• 02Locate the role within existing institutional structures.
• 03Identify the professional standards the field still lacks.

Where does the role sit?

Legal, engineering, or a function of its own?

Placed under legal, the role tends to produce documents. Placed under engineering, it tends to produce systems that quietly make policy. The productive placement is adjacent to both, reporting to whoever holds the authority being compiled — because the defining act of the role is not writing structure, it is forcing the authority holder to answer questions the prose allowed them to avoid.

• Should policy engineering be a certified profession?
• What liability attaches to a badly compiled artifact?
• What training route produces this competency today?

Write the job description.

1. 01State the purpose of the role in one sentence.
2. 02List five responsibilities.
3. 03State who the role reports to and why.
4. 04List the competencies you could not currently hire for.

• Professionalisation of emerging technical roles.
• Legal engineering and legal design practice.
• Competency frameworks in public administration.