About the job

Job summary

The Government Legal Department is the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters that are frequently scrutinised in Parliament and the media. Our work includes:

• Developing and drafting legislation
• Providing legal advice on policies
• Securing our economic and trade relationships
• Ensuring value from commercial contracts worth billions of pounds
• Providing the Civil Service’s employment law advice

We are at the heart of delivering the Government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department, sponsored by the Attorney General. We are headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary and employ nearly 3000 people, including over 2000 legal professionals. Our offices include London, Leeds, Bristol, Croydon and Manchester as well as overseas. We provide specialist legal services including Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law as well as advising most Government Departments on the policies and services they deliver.

GLD also depends on a range of vital corporate services. These are essential to the smooth and efficient running of the Department and provide the foundation to enable GLD to deliver outstanding legal services. Our corporate functions include Strategy, HR, Finance, Digital, Data and Technology, Communications, Security, Commercial and Project delivery. 

Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential. This is an exciting time for GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.  

To find out more about what we do visit the Government Legal Department’s webpage or have a look at this short film which showcases the breadth of work government lawyers and legal trainees are involved in.

About the Strategy Team

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is the largest provider of legal services across government, working with all the main Whitehall Departments.   From roads to rivers, and health to human rights, our work touches on most aspects of public life. 

The department has more than 14 client-facing advisory teams who provide legal advice on the development, design and implementation of government policies and decisions, draft secondary legislation and work with Parliamentary Counsel on primary legislation.  Our cross-cutting expert service groups for Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law provide specialist legal services to a wide range of government departments and public bodies. 

We are a non-ministerial government department with more than 2,300 employees, around 1,800 of whom are solicitors or barristers. The department is based in London with teams in Croydon, Bristol, Manchester, and Leeds.  

Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and also a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfil our potential. The Strategy, People & Culture directorate supports and enables GLD to help the government to govern well within the rule of law. 

Strategy, People & Culture is made up of a wide range of teams and professionals, who together support GLD to deliver a brilliant legal service for our clients across government. There are five principal teams – Project Delivery, Communications, Strategy & Business Management, Private Office & Governance, and Human Resources. 

The work of the Strategy Team supports the Board, Committees and the Strategic Leadership Group to provide strategic direction for the department, and to deliver GLD’s Strategy effectively. We ensure that GLD’s work is aligned to government priorities and that senior leaders have the insights they need for GLD to deliver its key priorities within the department and across government. Our developing role is one designed to sharpen senior leaders’ strategic vision, supporting oversight, and informing decision-making. We highlight the achievements and challenges that GLD faces. This work helps our senior leaders scrutinise GLD’s performance.

We undertake strategy development and projects to support GLD, with a renewed focus on the longer term, as well as ensuring the department can respond rapidly to emerging or urgent issues. We are a friendly and busy team, working closely with senior leaders across GLD. 

Job description

The Role

There are currently three vacant roles in the team. Whilst they have their own focus and specialism, the team works in an agile and flexible way, especially during times of peak activity, and provide resilience by way of being able to cover the full spectrum of work undertaken within the team.

This role will focus on the delivery of the Department’s strategic ambition through defining, establishing and implementing robust planning and reporting regimes. In 2024 GLD will launch a new strategy and underpinning corporate plan. The strategy is an evolution of our current business plan and the Executive Team’s ambitions to move the Department from great to outstanding.

The strategy team has delivered this strategy working closely with the GLD Board, Executives, and Law Officers, defining what the GLD of the future will look like. With the launch of this new strategy in the new year, the team’s focus is now turning to enabling the Department to deliver its ambitions and monitoring that delivery to provide assurance to the senior leadership that GLD is on track to achieve its vision.

We will do this by continuing to work closely with the Board, Executive Team, and Law Officers to develop the required planning and reporting mechanisms, ensuring programmes of work deliver our ambitions. We will also work across the department, with colleagues in both the corporate and legal professions to monitor delivery of the services required to move the organisation from great to outstanding.

As Strategic Planning and Reporting Lead you will be leading your small team of professionals to achieve team objectives in supporting our senior leadership. The below covers some of what you can expect to do in this role, but is not exhaustive:

• With the Head of Strategy, lead your team in setting work/resource plans.
• Defining objectives for your team and individuals to ensure timely delivery of the annual planning cycle and supporting reporting cycles.
• Work directly with the Head of Strategy and the Deputy Director to provide corporate and annual plans, monthly and quarterly reports, supporting papers and briefs to the Permanent Secretary, Executive Committee, Board and Ministerial Board and Law Officers.
• Provide appraisal of GLD performance against annual business plan as required, including being responsible for input into the Annual Report and Accounts.
• Promoting the benefits of diversity and champion inclusion to work with your team to achieve outstanding performance and recognise and reward as appropriate.
• Manage office attendance and outcome delivery in line with policy including reasonable adjustments, flexible working, compressed hours and hybrid working patterns.
• Build networks across the corporate and operational functions to work together and influence the delivery of GLD ambitions through planning and reporting regimes.
• Prepare and provide material for organsation wide engagement through multiple channels on the strategy launch, implementation and realisation. Engaging with staff at all levels and including the Trade Unions and Diversity and Inclusion networks.
• Ensure the GLD Purpose is embedded, communicated effectively and evaluated across the organisation using creative approaches
• Support the Strategic Planning process and delivery of the GLD Annual Business Plan
• Support Strategic Performance to collect and analyse performance data on key projects and performance indicators to produce key reports for committees, senior civil servants and Ministers.
• Use data and other information to draft reports and briefings to senior leaders and Ministers on a variety of policy and strategy areas.
• Work across the organisation to develop best practice in strategic planning and performance, working towards an outcome focussed culture - from the identification of priorities to the achievement of desired outcomes
• Support GLD business planning process, working closely with Finance and other corporate service functions.
• Supporting the Strategy Team and wider Corporate Functions with ad hoc requests to support senior stakeholders and Ministers.

Person specification

Behaviours - Essential

Below are details of the Success Profile that make up this role.

You will be expected to provide evidence to show how you meet the criteria at interview and/or selection stage.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead Behaviour)
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Leadership
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Essential Criteria

• We are looking for people who can research, bring creativity, bigger picture and structured thinking skills to the team. You may have transferrable skills that you can bring across.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skill.
• Experience of working effectively across organisational boundaries.
• Good team player, with willingness to flex and support priority work as required.
• Strong organisational skills.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft applications, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Experience - Desirable

• Writing and delivering annual business plans.
• Designing, implementing, and delivering strategic reporting regimes.
• Working with seniors.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,769, Government Legal Department contributes £14,247 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.

Application

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process. This should be completed no later than Monday 15th January 2024 at 12:00 noon and will involve completing the sections in the online application outlined below:

During the application stage you will be assessed against the skills and experience outlined below.

To apply for this position, candidates are asked to submit an online CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, experience and achievements – this will be scored.

Please provide examples (in no more than 250 words) for each behaviour listed against the person/specification essential criteria.

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead Behaviour)
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Selection Process

After the closing date, the appointing panel shall assess candidates’ suitability for the role based on evidence provided in their application against the behaviours and experience outlined in the person specification.

Please note, if large number of applications are received, we will sift on the Lead Behaviour alone.

Interview

Should you be successful in being invited to interview, you will be assessed on your performance in all essential criteria as listed in the Person Specification/Essential Criteria and strength-based questions.

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead Behaviour)
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Interviews will probably take place remotely via video conference, full details of the interview format will be provided to shortlisted candidates prior to interview. The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Offer

Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible after the final interview.

We appoint in strict order of merit. If you meet the minimum criteria for this position but are not successful for a post, you will be placed on the reserve list for 12 months.  We then may contact you to see if you are interested in a post at the same, or a lower grade, in GLD should one arise.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.