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
The Ministry of Justice Policy Correspondence Team is responsible for drafting replies to the majority of letters the department receives from MPs, external organisations and members of the public. It is key to the department’s success in communicating with the outside world.
Members of the team work closely with MoJ policy teams to make sure the policy position is reflected accurately in correspondence, and with ministers’ private offices to make sure responses are drafted in line with ministerial preferences.
There is now an opening in the team for a HEO team leader, who will be responsible for managing a team comprising of EO drafters. The role will require the post-holder to manage the team’s work, ensuring the relevant targets are met. This is an excellent opportunity for those wishing to develop their policy skills, as the post-holder will have to agree policy lines that satisfy both the relevant policy team and the minister, which can be challenging when confronted with complex cases.
This role is ideal for a talented and enthusiastic individual wanting to develop their existing people management and leadership skills.
You will need to be highly organised, and in possession of excellent written and oral communication skills. You will need to keep your team briefed and motivated, allocating work to make the most of their strengths, while ensuring they are stretched, coached and that they continue to develop.
Person specification
- Excellent communication skills – essential;
- a keen eye for detail – essential;
- comfortable using Excel to record data – essential.
Key Responsibilities
Roles in the Policy Correspondence Team are challenging and fast-paced. Post holders will need to be adaptable and resilient, ready to undertake a diverse range of tasks. Specifically, the post-holder must be able to:
- Grasp the essentials of various policy areas in order to quality review drafts.
- Maintain close and effective working relationships with policy teams, executive agencies, ministers’ private offices and other colleagues to ensure policy briefing is suitable for correspondence purposes.
- Work collaboratively with other team members to meet relevant targets while working to challenging deadlines. At all times support team members to develop and improve practice, including encouraging creativity in drafting where possible.
- Provide support to policy teams to produce new lines for correspondence purposes, ensuring that the message is compelling, persuasive, relevant and accurate.
- At all times seek to deliver clear, empathetic, respectful and timely responses to queries which address correspondent concerns, clarify policy and contribute to the overall smooth handling of departmental public communications.
- Monitor the service provided to ministers’ private offices and policy teams, and make improvements where required.
Application
We recruit using Success Profiles and CV. We will assess your application against the behaviours below. Please provide examples (detail the situation, your action and results) of how you have met each one of these behaviours.
- Leadership
- Delivering at Pace
- Developing Self and Others
- Managing a Quality Service
You can find a definition of these Behaviours here. We will be looking at how you meet the expectation for the grade of role you are applying for: Level 3 - HEO or SEO equivalent.
Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour - Leadership.
Interview
The interview will be a blend of questions about Strengths and Behaviours needed for the role. For Behaviours, use the link above to understand the expectations at the grade of role you are applying for: Level 3 - HEO. You can find out definitions of Strengths here.
You will be required to complete a test prior to your interview. Details of this will be sent to those candidates who are invited for interview.
If you are interested in finding out more about the role, please contact Diana Opoku at Diana.Opoku@justice.gov.uk
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