About the job

Job summary

This is a great opportunity to work in a friendly and diverse team at the heart of the Ministry of Defence, working on a range of fascinating challenges relating to the department’s engagement with legal processes. The Directorate for Judicial Engagement Policy (DJEP) is headed by Peter Ryan as Director and sits within the Security Policy and Operations area of the MOD. We lead on the MOD’s response to judicial challenges related to military operations. The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in complex legal claims and police investigations, and past operations in Northern Ireland continue to pose challenges for Defence and its people, including for veterans.

This is a Fixed-term Appointment as a Case Manager in the Disclosure Coordination Unit, Directorate of Judicial Engagement. Your responsibilities will be as described in this job advert. The reason why you are appointed for a fixed period is due to the duration of the public inquiry. This post will therefore begin on your appointment and end 23 months after that date. You should be aware that when your Fixed-term Appointment at MOD comes to an end, arrangements will be made in line with the FTA policy.

If you are a permanent MoD civil servant and are found successful for an advertised Fixed-term Appointment (FTA) you should move into the post under a Temporary Transfer (for up to a maximum of 23 months). At the end of the posting, you will return to your previous MoD Business area. If this posting is at a higher grade, your promotion will be temporary, and you will return to your substantive grade at the end of the Temporary Transfer. If a Temporary Transfer cannot be agreed between all parties, then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA and Change of Work Location in the UK policy for further information.

If you are transferring to MoD from another government department (OGD) you should join the MoD on an inward loan. At the end of the loan, you will return to your home (OGD) department. If a loan cannot be agreed between all parties, then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA policy for further information.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The Disclosure Coordination Unit (DCU) is responsible for all complex, sensitive disclosure of MOD material to the Courts, including civil litigation relating to recent operations and Northern Ireland legacy cases. 

As one of the Case Managers you will have responsibility for individual cases, developing the approach taken to disclosure activity, identifying resourcing needs and managing demanding deadlines. This role will require: significant stakeholder engagement activity and effective working through others both in your team and more widely; good attention to detail to ensure consistency of approach in the treatment of sensitive material disclosed to the Courts; and, strong communication skills. You may be required to travel to Northern Ireland which is determined by case or role specific. You will have line management responsibility for a small number of staff.

Person specification

Person specification:

• Strong attention to detail is vital in the role.
• Ability to work at pace to meet fixed Court deadlines, while maintaining high standards.
• Ability to effectively communicate and influence stakeholders (internal and external).

You will have ownership of the disclosure processes for complex operational claims and inquests

• Manage the review, application and recording of sensitive and national security redactions and coordinate the disclosure of documents to the Courts, Coroners, or Public Inquiries. This includes setting parameters for searches, commissioning searches for documents, negotiating timescales and priorities with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).
• Engage constructively with Subject Matter Experts to consider sensitivity issues, identifying where information needs to be protected from disclosure.
• Be involved with Closed Material Proceedings (CMPs) and engage with Ministers and stakeholders for Public Interest Immunity (PII).
• Lead on Judicial Review disclosure exercises
• Attend case conferences where appropriate, in respect of all matters relating to the disclosure of material.
• Providing quality assurance for a dip sample of case diaries including the use of the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) with oral/written feedback to the caseworker/Portfolio Manager.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,290, Ministry of Defence contributes £9,528 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

The roles require a minimum SC clearance. In addition, applicants should note that successful candidates will be asked to undergo the Developed Vetting process upon taking up the role. Successful candidates will be expected to stay in role for a minimum term of 18 months. It should be noted that the roles require British nationality, but dual nationality is not an automatic bar. If you have any concerns about this requirement, please speak to the designated contact.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. If there is a high volume of applicants, we will sift on the primary Civil Service behaviour, which is Leadership

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and previous skills and experience.  

We will assess you against these behaviours during sift and interview:

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Working Togethe
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making effective decisions

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk . 

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.  

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.