We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.
About the JAC
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent public body, established in April 2006, to select judges in the courts and tribunals, and non-legal tribunal members. The JAC selects judicial candidates through fair and open competition, encouraging a wide range of quality candidates to apply for the posts that it advertises.
The JAC is responsible for designing, planning and running recruitment campaigns to select judicial office holders up to and including High Court Judges. We have a statutory duty to select solely on merit, while keeping our selection processes open to the widest range of applicants. We are committed to attracting applicants from as wide a field as possible and work closely with a range of organisations to promote vacancies to eligible candidates. We launch a new campaign for judicial posts every one to two weeks. These range from high volume campaigns for ‘entry level’ posts, attracting upward of 2,000 applicants, to small campaigns for senior roles, attracting a handful of highly qualified people.
Though located at Clive House, Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ JAC staff are currently working in a hybrid way with some days in the office and some days working remotely. It will be necessary for the successful postholders to work at the JAC location regularly to support business need.
We offer a range of benefits including an attractive annual leave allowance, flexible working and choice of pension schemes. We actively encourage all staff to undertake learning and development as part of their personal objectives. More is on our website: http://judicialappointments.gov.uk
The Role
We are looking for a Senior Stakeholder Engagement and Diversity Manager (SEO) to join the Diversity and Engagement team within the Strategy and Policy division. This is a key role in a vital public body that delivers complex and constitutionally sensitive work at pace. You will support the Commission to select new judges of the highest quality, from a wide range of backgrounds by:
- coordinating effective engagement with the full range of JAC stakeholders
- working directly with our partner organisations to develop a strong and diverse candidate pool
- ensuring that selection processes are fair and free from bias, and
- monitoring and providing insight into the progress of target groups who are currently under-represented among the judiciary.
Main responsibilities
This role works with colleagues across the Diversity and Engagement (D&E) Team to support the creation of a judiciary that better reflects the society it serves. The role is exciting and varied and the successful candidate will work with senior members of the JAC including the Commission Board members as well as our key external partners and stakeholders in the legal sector. Reporting to the Head of Diversity and Engagement, your responsibilities will include:
- Work with communications colleagues and stakeholders to support the development and delivery of a programme of outreach, ensuring that activity is appropriately targeted, effective and attracts a broad range of high-quality candidates
- Provide briefings and draft correspondence on diversity matters for Commissioners and the Chief Executive
- Work with partners in the legal professions and Judicial Office to support a coordinated approach to candidate development programmes and other diversity initiatives, and with JAC colleagues to develop new resources for potential candidates to familiarise themselves with the selection process
- Provide secretariat and policy support – including drafting policy papers - to the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF), chaired by the JAC Chairman Lord Kakkar and attended by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice.
- Work, in conjunction with the policy team, to quality assure selection exercise materials for all selection exercises by ensuring that they are fair and accessible to candidates from all backgrounds
- Work with the Head of Diversity and Engagement to develop and implement policies and approaches to promote diversity within the judiciary, taking a lead on specific projects. Work with the HR team to promote equality and diversity for JAC staff.
- Oversee liaison with external stakeholders to arrange JAC attendance at outreach events, draft content for outreach briefings, prepare materials for use at outreach events and deliver presentations where appropriate
- Oversee analysis on the progression of target groups through the selection process, and support the publication of annual JAC candidate diversity data in an annual statistical report
- Sharing best practice and other information about judicial appointments with stakeholders such as the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) and international jurisdictions, working alongside judicial statisticians
- Line Management of one member of staff
Recruitment process details
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the recruitment process:
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Bigger Picture
You should have experience in the following areas:
- Experience of engaging and communicating confidently with senior staff and stakeholders, building constructive relationships with a variety of internal and external partners and other stakeholders
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to target communications to a range of audiences
- Strong attention to detail
- Experience of diversity policy development and implementation and a commitment to the JAC’s principles aimed at promoting equality and diversity
Desirable criteria
- Strong IT skills, especially MS Word, MS Teams and Excel and the ability to quickly develop the skills to work with new IT solutions.
- Knowledge of the legal sector and the diversity issues affecting the judiciary and legal professions
- Experience of diversity monitoring data collection and analysis
Application process
You need to provide:
- Your CV
- A statement of suitability detailing the relevant skills and experience you have (500 words max).
- Written evidence of the 2 core behaviours for this role: Working Together and Communicating and Influencing
Sift
Applications will be sifted based on the CV, Statement of Suitability and the 2 behaviours ‘Working Together’ and ‘Communicating and Influencing’.
Interview
Interviews are expected to take place in the weeks commencing 25 April and 2 May 2022. Interviews may be conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams or face-to-face. More details on the arrangements will be provided to candidates invited to interview.
At interview you we will assess you against 3 behaviours: ‘Working Together’, ‘Communicating and Influencing’ and ‘Seeing the Big Picture’. We will also assess you against two strengths: Challenger and Networker. You can find out more about Civil Service behaviours and strengths here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles
Applicants invited for interview will be required to undertake a brief work exercise either before or on the day as part of the selection process. More details will be provided if you are invited to interview.
If after reading this job description you require any further information, please contact Jessica Prandle, Head of Diversity and Engagement:
Jessica.Prandle@judicialappointments.gov.uk
If you have any questions about the recruitment campaign, or any terms and conditions relating to the role, please contact the JAC HR Division:
Claire.Thurlow@judicialappointments.gov.uk
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