Job Description Overview
A key role of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is to uphold the rule of law; the cornerstone of the British way of life. It delivers services that are some of the most fundamental in a democratic society. In doing so the MoJ has responsibility for a number of the key elements of the justice system, including prisons, courts, tribunals, legal services, youth justice and the probation service.
The Judicial and Legal Services Policy Directorate is offering a fantastic opportunity for three high-performing individuals to be at the centre of some of the department’s most interesting policy areas.
The roles are a great opportunity for the right candidates to stretch themselves and play an integral part in delivering one of MoJ priorities: supporting our world-class judiciary.
We are a friendly team who support each other and are committed to providing our people with a broad range of interesting work and development opportunities. We are looking for people to join us who are enthusiastic team members, flexible and keen to contribute to the wider directorate and department, and who are committed to supporting the MoJ’s wider values of purpose, openness, humanity and working together.
Role 1: Judicial Engagement and Resourcing Team
As a part of the Judicial Engagement and Resourcing Team you will work closely and support senior officials, ensuring that the Department discharges its responsibilities in relation to the judiciary. The post-holder will help maintain the Government’s positive working relationships with the judiciary, and assist the Lord Chancellor in providing the necessary resources to support the judiciary in delivering justice.
The post-holder will be required to draft policy briefings and submissions for Ministers; liaising with a range of stakeholders and other MoJ teams including legal, finance and analytical experts to ensure that advice and briefings are clear and accurate. You will also become familiar with aspects of judicial resourcing strategy and will keep Ministers and seniors updated on the progress of the judicial recruitment programme. This role provides an excellent opportunity for you to gain experience in working with senior leaders; developing your drafting skills on a wide range of policy products; presenting your ideas to seniors and gathering feedback to help develop your work. There will also be opportunities for you to get involved in other aspects of judicial policy work.
Role Description:
This Band C policy post plays an important role in the fast-paced policy environment of delivering and implementing key policy proposals, based in MoJ HQ in central London. You will be an effective team-player, being versatile and supporting colleagues to deliver ministerial priorities. You will need to be collaborative and comfortable working with others and be able to work under pressure to meet short deadlines.
Duties may include, but are not limited to:
- Providing high quality written and oral advice, briefing, correspondence and policy recommendations to Ministers and senior officials on issues such as judicial independence, rule of law, proper engagement with the judiciary, judicial training and accountability
- Engaging with stakeholders and working collaboratively with colleagues in delivering strategic judicial engagement, including drafting a weekly forward look to share with the directorate
- Assisting with the coordination of briefings between senior officials and the senior judiciary, as they are assigned to colleagues from the wider team
- Engaging with the Judicial Office to organise informative judicial seminars for MoJ employees
- Providing secretariat support to MoJ’s engagement with judicial associations
- Delivering regular briefings to ministers and senior officials, answers to parliamentary questions and correspondence about judicial resourcing
- Becoming a source of subject matter on the LC’s role and the legislative framework for judicial recruitment and provide a point of contact for other recruitment strategy queries as they arise
- Providing support to other members of the team as required on wider judicial policy issues
Additional Information:
You will be line managed by the Judicial Engagement Senior Policy Adviser with additional task management provided by the Judicial Resourcing Senior Policy Adviser. You will receive support to line manage and develop skills and experience of the Policy Apprentice, and will also be expected to play an active role in the leadership of the wider team.
The Judicial and Legal Services Policy Directorate is based in 102 Petty France, but remote working is also possible when agreed in advance with your line manager.
Roles 2 and 3: Judicial Pay and Pensions
The Judicial Pay and Pensions team advises the Lord Chancellor on judicial remuneration. This includes determining the level of judicial pay and – specifically in relation to the roles advertised here – driving progress on judicial pension reform. To support this important work, we want to recruit two Higher Executive Officers (Band C/HEO) to lead on aspects of policy development.
The post-holders will join the team at an exciting time as we respond to high-profile litigation and develop proposals for reform of the judicial pension with the aim of ensuring that we continue to attract – and retain – the brightest and best candidates for judicial office.
Role Description
The post-holders will play a key part in delivering consultations on our proposals to i) provide an appropriate remedy to recent litigation and ii) design a reformed pension scheme in line with government objectives. This will involve close work with operational, legal and finance colleagues, and government actuaries, to develop proposals that achieve our objectives. The successful candidates will have the opportunity to gain experience of the entire policy development process, through to legislation and implementation.
Duties may include, but are not limited to:
- Coordinating the consultation exercise and supporting preparation of the Government response;
- Working closely with analytical and legal colleagues to assess the equalities and economic impacts of proposals;
- Working closely with colleagues in MoJ and across Whitehall (especially HM Treasury) to ensure policy development is evidence-based, accurate and delivered on time;
- Leading on external engagement and correspondence, providing high quality advice on the implications of policy proposals;
- Supporting the development of primary and secondary legislation;
- Providing briefings to senior officials in preparation for engagement with the judiciary on sensitive pensions issues;
- Supporting other projects related to judicial remuneration and wider judicial policy.
For all 3 roles, you should have:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Sound judgement and the ability to provide well-articulated advice
- The ability to form and maintain productive relationships with stakeholders and colleagues
- The ability to assimilate quickly complex technical and legal information, and to convey that in simple language
- The ability to manage a varied workload, and to identify priorities proactively
Start Date:
The post-holders would be expected to take up the position as soon as possible, at the beginning of July at the latest.
For internal applicants the start date will be agreed in consultation with the existing business area and your line manager.
Selection Process:
For internal applicants, this opportunity is open to substantive Band Cs / HEOs, and staff at other grades on promotion.
This vacancy is being advertised using the Success Profiles Framework. Suitability for the post will be determined by a paper sift (based on assessment of Behaviours only) followed by an interview (based on assessment of both Behaviours and Strengths). In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift based on the lead Behaviour, ‘Delivering at Pace’. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview, by request.
Behaviours
We will assess you against the following behaviours, at Level 3:
Delivering at Pace
Working Together
Making Effective Decisions
Seeing the Big Picture
Communicating and Influencing
Strengths
We will assess your Strengths that are relevant to the role, particularly those that map into the key Behaviours applicable to the role.
Before submitting your application please ensure that you have discussed this with your current line manager.
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