About the job

Job summary

This position is based nationally

Job description

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.

Commercial & Contract Management Directorate

The breadth and depth of the work of the Ministry of Justice Commercial Function is significant.  Each year we spend circa £3.2 billion on an expansive range of goods and services.  In addition, we support some of the most innovative commercial work in government, and our Directorate’s work is crucial to the successful delivery of prison reform and court reform programmes.

The Commercial Operation portfolio support the commercial function to enable it to meet its strategic and operational objectives. This includes approximately c400 commercial staff based in London, Leeds Manchester and beyond. We also support a Transport and Logistics function employing around 70 staff based in the Midlands.

Contribution to a strong team ethos as well as commitment to continuous improvement, collaboration and knowledge sharing are essential. 

Job Purpose

The post holder is accountable for leading workforce capability, organisational development communication and engagement within the Commercial Directorate. This is a wide portfolio covering a range of corporate functions for the commercial directorate with a team split over London, Leeds and Manchester and national based staff.

The post-holder will own the capability, talent and development strategies for the Commercial Directorate and will have a lead role in creating and delivering the wider People Strategy these feed into.

The post is also responsible for defining the commercial capability pipeline and grow our own agenda  to deliver the pipeline of commercial activity over the next 3-5 years through employee engagement, and  talent management.

The post holder will also be responsible for a lead role in the Our People workstream.

Responsibilities

The job holder will be responsible for ensuring workforce capability, communications and engagement, and learning and development areas are adequately provided to the entire commercial directorate.

• Lead and develop a current team of 9 (3 direct reports),
• Support talent, capability and engagement across the directorate.
• Developing and delivering a capability pipeline, development and talent plan that supports the commercial blueprint and strategy and enable appropriately skilled staff to be in place to deliver the pipeline of commercial work.
• Have a lead role in the People Strategy of the Commercial Directorate.
• Leading on talent management, retention and succession planning within the commercial function.
• Supporting organisation design for the directorate.
• Lead the coordination of employee engagement (including the Diversity and inclusion agenda) managing this across MoJ and Government Commercial Function.
• Accountable for the Communication plans
• Accountable for People survey implementation alongside our Strategy and engagement Manager
• Work collaboratively with MoJ and GCO L and D and talent teams to deliver the suite of learning solutions for our workforce
• Budget responsibility for L and D budget line.
• Lead Change within the Directorate including change readiness and continuous improvement.

Essential Criteria

• The post holder must be able to think and act strategically, develop practical and innovative solutions, and recognise potential risks and opportunities.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, evidence of influencing senior leadership to deliver effective change and working across organisations to deliver results are desirable.
• Experience and knowledge of talent and development approaches and challenges is essential.
• Experience and knowledge of HR policy and process and CIPD L and D or similar qualification would be beneficial.
• Most importantly we are looking for people with the right personal qualities – enthusiasm, energy, proactivity, prepared to work under their own initiative and to be flexible and adaptable in a demanding environment.

Application stage (Sifting):

An initial sift will be performed against the following elements: 

Experience

• CV
• Statement of Suitability (500 words)

Behaviours

• Delivering at Pace

If shortlisted, you’ll be invited to an interview and will be assessed on the selected success profile elements at the interview stage. Please carry a valid proof of Id that has your photo on it (passport, BRP, driving licence etc) at the interview. 

Interview stage: 

There is one interview stage for this vacancy and as part of the interview process you will be required to provide evidence on the following:  

Behaviours

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Developing Self and Others
• Changing and Improving

Strengths may also be assessed at the interview.

Please use STAR approach to structure your examples.

• Situation – Describe the situation you found yourself in and what happened.
• Task – The Hiring Manager will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation that you found yourself in.
• Action – What actions did you take and how did you do it. Make sure to use “I”, not “we” to explain how your actions lead to a result.
• Result – Use facts and statistics to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.

Further information on the Success profile elements can be found on Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £66,314, Ministry of Justice contributes £18,501 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, Strengths and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.