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.
Death Management, Miscarriages of Justice, Inquiries and Coroners Division (up to 4 posts available)
EO
The Death Management, Miscarriages of Justice, Inquiries and Coroners Division is recruiting permanently for 4 Band D (EO) roles. This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria.
Location:
Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:
- 102 Petty France, London
- 5 Wellington Place, Leeds (occasional travel between Leeds and London may be required post Covid-19)
In order for Policy Group to meet its evolving business needs and for us to continue to progress towards our pre-pandemic levels of attendance, all Policy Group staff are expected to attend their base location (102 Petty France or 5 Wellington Place Leeds) at least 2 days a week. This hybrid working arrangement is not contractual and as a result staff could be asked to attend their base location more frequently.
Ways of Working:
At the MoJ we believe and promote alternative ways of working, these roles are available as:
- Full-time, part-time or the option to job share
- Flexible working patterns
- Flexible working arrangements between base locations, MoJ Hubs and home.
If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition. Candidates who do not meet the requirements for the Band D role may be offered a role at a lower Band should a role be available.
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 (MoJ):
MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 80,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
The Work of the Death Management, Miscarriage of Justice, Inquiries and Coroners Division:
This is an exciting opportunity to undertake a key role in a fascinating, sensitive and often high-profile area of the MOJ’s portfolio. The Death Management, Miscarriages of Justice, Inquests and Coroners Division (DMIC) delivers a wide range of high-profile policy and complex statutory casework on behalf of the Lord Chancellor. MoJ is the lead on burial, cremation and coroner law and policy, although other departments also have a direct interest. We are also responsible, together with the Cabinet Office, for policy on public inquiries. We also lead on the complex and sensitive miscarriages of justice policy, royal prerogative of mercy and casework. We therefore work with a number of government departments and a wide range of external stakeholders. The roles will also involve regular liaison with lawyers, analysts, ministers and their private offices as well as colleagues in other government departments, in particular the DHSC, Home Office and Cabinet Office
The posts combine representing the department through regular interaction with stakeholders and the public with undertaking important statutory functions on behalf of the Secretary of State. The work can be challenging but the team is very supportive, and the post provides excellent opportunities to gain experience and develop expertise in an unusual combination of policy, operational, legal and communication skills.
The team has around 26 staff and sets the policy and strategic direction for Death Management, making an important contribution to the MoJ’s objectives:
- Recover the justice system
- Rebuild public confidence
What the roles will be doing:
Working to the Band C lead, the post holders will provide advice to the Head of Team and senior officials on a variety of aspect aspects of coroner, burial and cremation policy or as a caseworker.
This includes:
- Work closely with internal stakeholders – analysts, lawyers, parliamentary branch and the legislation team on various pieces of policy
- Lead on parliamentary and press engagement, which will include preparing timely and accurate advice on a wide range of ministerial correspondences, PQ, press enquiries and FOI requests.
- Provide high quality advice, briefing, correspondence and policy recommendations to ministers and senior officials.
- Provide support to the Grade 7 and wider team as and when required.
Skills and Experience:
All roles will call for a wide range of skills. The work will require liaising with OGDs, coroners and their staff, other burial and cremation stakeholders, and bereaved people (who may be distressed). They will require the thorough prioritisation of workloads which may at times be heavy. It will also require consultation with colleagues such as lawyers, analysts, and press office as necessary. The work may involve developing knowledge and information management processes, creating an online and IT presence for the division.
Essential:
- Excellent written communication and oral communication/interpersonal skills
- Excellent stakeholder management skills
- Excellent organisational and workload management skills and the ability to simplify processes using technological solutions
- Ability to interpret and apply legislation and regulations appropriately in given circumstances – for example in handling complex casework.
- Ability to be self-starting, to prioritise competing demands and to work proactively in a small team bringing energy and drive to your workload
- Ability to take responsibility for solving problems and using those solutions to develop and improve your own and the team’s ways of working.
- Lead on parliamentary and press engagement, which will include preparing timely and accurate advice on a wide range of ministerial correspondences, PQ, press enquiries and FOI requests.
- Provide high quality advice, briefing, correspondence and policy recommendations to ministers and senior officials.
- Provide support to the Grade 7 and wider team as and when required.
- responding to telephone, email and other written enquiries; and sharing with the other Band D and Band Es maintenance of the team’s logs and databases, email inboxes and incoming post tray
Desirable:
- Knowledge of Office 365 applications
- Knowledge of advising, briefing and drafting Policy
- Understanding the Parliamentary system, including PQs, secondary legislation, public appointments etc.
- Awareness of the government’s priorities
Application process:
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.
Experience
You will be asked to provide a CV during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
Behaviours
During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviour (see Annex A for more information):
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Delivering at Pace. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.
Candidates invited to Interview
Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.
During the interview, we will be assessing you on Behaviours and Strengths from the success Profiles framework.
You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)
You will also be asked about Strengths which are not notified in advance. You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Interviews are expected to take place in December 2022.
The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.
Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.
Contact information
Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team. Please contact Duncan Turton (Duncan.turton@justice.gov.uk
Annex A - The STAR method
Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.
Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.
- Where are you?
- Who was there with you?
- What had happened?
Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.
- What was the task that you had to complete and why?
- What did you have to achieve?
Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.
Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.
- What results did the actions produce?
- What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
- Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?
Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.
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