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About the Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is one of the largest government departments, employing around 70,000 people and with an annual budget of approximately £9 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services, including at 500 courts and tribunals and 133 prisons in England and Wales. Our principal role is to uphold the rule of law, the cornerstone of the British way of life, and we deliver services which are some of the most fundamental in a democratic society. MoJ supports the Secretary of State for Justice, who is also the Lord Chancellor, and his ministerial team to deliver the Government’s priorities. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society.

Both roles sit within the Judicial and Legal Services Policy Directorate. The Lord Chancellor, departmental ministers and the judiciary take a keen interest in our work, making the roles available interesting and with genuine opportunities to develop skills and knowledge. We are a sociable and motivated directorate that puts a premium on providing a quality service. We encourage a flexible working culture, including working from home, condensed hours and part-time working, and we welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates. We also have a strong emphasis on continuous learning and development.

Both roles require the ability work at pace and to develop a good overview of the work of the judiciary and to take account of political and other sensitivities as you prepare advice and briefings for ministers and senior officials. You may have direct line management responsibilities and you will be expected to task manage other staff and to play an active role in the leadership of the team and the directorate.

Core Judicial Pensions Policy

The Core Judicial Pensions Policy team deals with policy issues and delivering required changes to judicial pension schemes and their underpinning regulations. In particular, the team is developing proposals to amend the Fee-Paid Judicial Pension Scheme to provide benefits for eligible office holders required by judgments in the O’Brien and Miller litigation. We liaise closely with colleagues who are working on separate, but interacting, remedies required by the McCloud judgment, and on reforms to support a future judicial pension scheme. The work of the team also includes working with other MoJ teams and external stakeholders to ensure that judicial pension schemes can operate effectively and provide a high-quality service to members; responding to enquiries on judicial pension policy matters; and horizon scanning to anticipate future pension policy concerns.

Judicial Resourcing Policy

The role is in the Judicial Engagement and Resourcing Strategy Team which that leads on supporting the Lord Chancellor’s important strategic relationship with the judiciary, advising the Lord Chancellor on his statutory role to uphold judicial independence, maintain constructive working relationships with the judiciary and provide the support necessary for the judiciary to perform their functions, including having sufficient judges. This requires close working with partners to ensure that our strategy supports the department’s wider objectives in relation to the judiciary.

About the roles

Judicial Pensions Policy:

You will be our policy lead for developing and implementing remedies for the O’Brien and Miller litigation. You will play a leading role in progressing the public consultation on the remedy proposals, which will include reviewing the consultation responses we receive and preparing the Government response. You will also work with lawyers and other relevant experts, such as government actuaries, to give effect to the agreed remedy by means of amendments to the regulations that underpin the judicial pension schemes. In addition, the role will involve:

• developing an overview of the work of the judiciary and taking account of political and other sensitivities associated with judicial pension policy;
• providing policy briefings, including to steering groups and policy boards;
• interpreting complex information and carrying out desk research to address policy questions;
• providing policy expertise on judicial pension scheme matters and leading associated discussions at briefings and meetings;
• working with team colleagues to handle pension policy enquiries efficiently;
• managing other aspects of a varied workload to deliver results in a timely manner; and
• generally supporting achievement of the objectives of the directorate and the MoJ.

Criteria for role

• Excellent team working and stakeholder management skills, building trust and good rapport with internal and external stakeholders.
• Confidence, clear leadership on areas of responsibility and strong communication skills, with the ability to influence others to make progress on shared priorities.
• Strong organisational skills, with attention to detail and the ability to plan and deliver outcomes according to agreed priorities for the team.
• A highly motivated self-starter, able to quickly get to grips with the detail in a complex and evolving environment and make sound recommendations.
• Excellent drafting skills with sound judgement and the ability to provide well-articulated and evidenced advice.

Judicial Resourcing Policy:

You will be the policy lead for judicial resourcing. You will work closely with HMCTS, Judicial Appointments Commission, Judicial Office and private offices, lawyers, analysts and policy teams across the MoJ.   You will provide excellent advice to the LC and wider MoJ on options for a strategy to resource the judiciary. This will include:

• Leading, or contributing to, policy reviews that impact on judicial recruitment and retention.
• Develop policies and if required coordinate with lawyers and bill teams to develop legislative provisions for flexible judicial deployment.
• Provide critical challenge to ensure the development of the judicial supply and demand model will support robust analysis of judicial resourcing plans.
• Work with analysts, finance and HMCTS colleagues to ensure that the effects of government priorities, court and tribunal reform and other factors on the supply of judges are understood and factored into decision-making.
• Provide problem solving support where required to resolve blockages in the agreeing the judicial recruitment programme and escalate issues as required.
• Be a source of subject matter / policy expertise 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.
• Deliver key policy products, including regular briefings to ministers and senior officials, answers to parliamentary questions and correspondence about judicial resourcing.
• Analyse trends in recruitment outcomes.

Criteria for role

• Excellent team working and stakeholder management skills, building trust and good rapport among delivery partners and with stakeholders;
• Confidence, clear leadership on areas of responsibility and strong communication skills, with the ability to influence others to make progress on shared priorities;
• Strong organisational skills, with attention to detail and the ability to plan and deliver outcomes according to agreed priorities for the team;
• A highly motivated self-starter, able to quickly get to grips with the detail in a complex and evolving environment;
• Excellent drafting skills with sound judgement and the ability to provide well-articulated and evidenced advice.

Applications

If you would like to apply for the post, please provide examples of how you have demonstrated each of the required ‘Behaviours’ on the application form provided.

The ‘Behaviours’ that you are required to demonstrate

1. Communicating and Influencing

2. Making Effective Decisions

3. Seeing the Big Picture

4. Working Together

The criteria for each ‘Behaviour’ can be found at this link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf. The relevant level is Level 3: HEO/SEO.

Please note that if we receive a high volume of applications, the initial sift will be based on:  1. Communicating and Influencing.

Additional Information

Work location: The post is based in London as the work primary location: Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ. The department operates a flexible working policy where remote working is encouraged. We also have offices in Canary Wharf and Leeds and preferences for those locations will also be considered.

Start date: We are looking for the successful candidate to start as soon as possible. The start date will be agreed with your existing employer/manager. Before submitting your application, please ensure that you have discussed this with your employer/manager.

Selection Process: Suitability for the post will be determined by a paper sift (to take place in w/c X XXX) followed by interviews (in w/c XX and XX XXX) following the Success Profiles framework.

Reserve list: If you meet the Band B/SEO standards but are not successful for these roles, we may offer you an alternative policy role in the wider Judicial and Legal Services Policy Direcotrate.