We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity
Overview
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
The role of Senior Policy Adviser is based at the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The Public Guardian’s responsibilities include registering lasting powers of attorney, supervising the work of deputies and guardians of missing persons, and protecting people who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Public Guardian’s responsibilities extend across England and Wales.
This role will be vital in the delivery of policy changes that support the Public Guardian’s statutory duties and in taking forward the OPG's transformational activity, ensuring that policy changes are properly evidenced, have ministerial support and meet strategic goals.
The successful candidate will be part of a policy team, and within a function alongside colleagues working on content and guidance design and publication, and stakeholder engagement. The role is responsible for initiating, evidencing and delivering policy changes that enhance or expand the Public Guardian’s role. The role will lead key areas of transformation, working in multi-disciplinary teams on project delivery to ensure business changes are coordinated.
The role will also provide advice and guidance to the business on operational policy matters as required, supporting business delivery.
They will work collaboratively with operational staff within OPG and with wider policy colleagues across MoJ and the wider civil service on shared agendas.
There may be a requirement to line manage staff as part of this role.
Some travel will be required to fulfil the requirements of this role.
Job Description, Duties and Responsibilities –
The role provides an incredible opportunity to shape the future of the Office of the Public Guardian. The role will involve working closely with stakeholders, users and across government to develop proposals that will affect millions of people in England and Wales.
You have a ‘can do - will do’ approach to your work and pride yourself on your attention to detail. As an amazing communicator, you will confidently deliver messages in a clear and concise manner to a range of stakeholders applying a tailored approach to your audience, offering pragmatic advice when required.
The post holder will be responsible for identifying customer impacts, promoting good policy design and customer centricity. This will also involve making sure that customer insight that has been gathered is used and fed back into the policy design so that OPG can show stakeholders we have understood what they are telling us and that we have used what they have told us to deliver a better outcome for them.
Key Accountabilities:
1. Effectively communicate the conclusions of their analysis to Senior Officials, Ministers, and other partners, influencing the direction of OPG/MoJ policy.
2. Lead and support policy development, scoping out and planning new projects, identifying the best policy development tools, the key deliverables and outputs, and prioritizing work streams with the greatest impact to improve OPG’s understanding of an issue and inform policy advice.
3. To manage the timely dissemination of policy and guidance to OPG business areas and stakeholders.
4. To consult and work effectively with internal and external colleagues to ensure that development and implementation processes are efficient, effective, provide value for money, and support OPG in complying with its legislative duties.
5. Become an ambassador for OPG and supporting colleagues and senior management to ensure the relevant teams can effectively operate, and influence OPG policy and decision-making.
6. Shape the culture of OPG through contributing to corporate work streams, which aim to make OPG an excellent place to work.
7. Collaborate with other teams in the department on ad-hoc urgent pieces of work.
8. Provide prompt and high-quality responses to requests for information, including internal and external queries and briefings to senior managers.
9. Provide advice and recommendations to colleagues on the detail of policy to support the delivery of OPG activity.
10. To be a senior leader of the organisation, demonstrating the values and behaviours expected and to partake in relevant activity to demonstrate OPG’s leadership, both internally and externally.
This is an overview of the role and is not exhaustive. OPG reserves the right to assign other duties commensurate with the B grade as required.
Skills & Qualifications
Essential criteria:
• Experience of either working within a policy role, or, working closely with devising policy.
• Experience of working autonomously, using initiative to deliver outcomes.
• Experience of personally delivering against stretching deadlines, managing conflicting priorities.
• Experience of leading others, using excellent communication to build relationships.
• Experience of challenging with confidence, influencing others to keep work on track.
Desirable criteria:
• The ability to develop and produce policy statements/work.
• The ability to brief stakeholders and build relationships.
• The ability to lead a team to deliver against core business objectives.
• The ability to organise systems to manage and prioritise a portfolio of work.
Application process
This vacancy is being advertised using Success Profiles. Candidates will be expected to provide a CV (2 pages of A4 maximum, preferably 12pt Arial) plus a supporting Personal Statement of Suitability of no more than 1000 words providing evidence against the key accountabilities in job description, and against the essential and desirable criteria as listed on the Job Description.
Strengths based analysis
If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview which will follow the Success Profiles process. At interview candidates should expect Strength-based questions and questions relating to the below Civil Service Behaviours:
Changing and Improving – Level 3
Making Effective Decisions – Level 3
Communicating and Influencing- Level 3
The individual will also be required to complete a presentation at interview, which will test the following behaviour:
Seeing the Big Picture – Level 3
Salary, Working Arrangements and Benefits
The starting salary for this post is £30,989 per annum.
Annual Leave
Generous allowances for paid holiday starting at 25 days per year, and rising as your service increases to 30 days after 5 years. There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to 3 days annual leave each year. Additional paid time off for 8 public holidays and 1 privilege day per year. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis. Requests for part-time contracts will be considered in line with business needs.
Pension
The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.
Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.
Training
OPG is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities:
2-year Apprenticeships (up to 50 hours study per year on full salary) leading to industry-recognised qualifications. Up to 50 paid Learning Hours per year.
Mentoring. Secondments.
Flexible benefits
• Reward & Recognition scheme.
• Salary sacrifice arrangements for childcare vouchers.
• Travel permits, bicycles and voluntary benefits such as retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• Cycle to Work Scheme hire a bike and safety equipment, tax-free, if you use it to get to and from work.
• Salary advance for annual travelcards.
• Free flu jab and annual sight tests.
• Free access to an Employee Assistance Programme which provides legal advice, counselling, mediation services etc.
Benefits to enhance 'work/life balance’
• Standard 37 hour working week.
• Weekday working only (no mandatory weekend shifts).
• Flexible working arrangements (reduced hours and/or days) available, subject to business needs.
• Flexi time – start between 7am and 10am and finish between 3pm and 7pm, Core hours being 10am to 3pm.
• OPG encourages smarter and remote working for some roles.
• Generous paid paternity, adoption, maternity and sickness leave.
• Up to 5 days paid Special Leave per year for voluntary service.
• Job-share scheme.
• Career Break or Sabbatical leave of up to 5 years.
• Onsite kitchen facilities.
• Bike storage facilities.
• 6 months probation period for all new entrants.
Requests for part-time contracts will be considered in line with business needs. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity
Alternatively state “please see our Candidate information Pack for full details”.
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