About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

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.

Are you looking for an exciting and challenging role leading a multi-disciplinary team? Are you passionate about diversity, inclusion, and communication? Do you recognise the importance of policies and processes that are fair, accessible and engage the widest possible audiences? If the answer is yes, you could be exactly who we are looking for to join our Senior Leadership team. 

The Role 

We’re looking for a Head of Diversity, Engagement & Communication to lead our work to widen the pool of high calibre judicial applicants, ensure our processes are fair and free from bias, and lead our communication and engagement activity with candidates, stakeholders, and partners. 

As an independent public body, the Judicial Appointments Commission is responsible for designing, planning, and running recruitment campaigns to select judges in the courts and tribunals, up to and including the High Court, as well as non-legal tribunal members. You can read more about our work on our website: http://judicialappointments.gov.uk 

With a new recruitment campaign launched every couple of weeks, and statutory responsibilities to make sure we select candidates on merit and through fair and open competition, it’s essential that our processes are robust, inclusive, and attractive to candidates from the widest possible backgrounds. It’s also essential that our audiences understand the judicial application and selection process, and our partners are engaged in actively collaborating with us to support a diverse judiciary that represents the society it serves. 

Our Head of Diversity, Engagement & Communication plays a vital role in enabling the organisation to achieve that vision. They provide strategic oversight and leadership on our candidate outreach and engagement strategies, monitor our policies and processes, and lead our vital stakeholder engagement work with partners across the judicial system including the legal professions and judiciary. They also provide strategic oversight and leadership of all JAC communication activities, ensuring our processes are understood and our audiences have confidence in our approach to meri-based selection. 

This is a key role in a vital public body that delivers complex and constitutionally sensitive work at pace. It also has responsibility for providing strategic advice and guidance on diversity, stakeholder engagement, and communication matters to the JAC Chair, Chief Executive and Board, as well as management responsibility for a small multi-disciplinary team of diversity and communication practitioners. 

Main responsibilities 

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Executive your main responsibilities will be to: 

• Develop and lead the JAC’s strategy to widen the pool of high calibre candidates for judicial appointment, thereby supporting greater judicial diversity. 

• Lead the JAC’s candidate attraction strategy, evaluating candidate outreach and engagement activities to ensure it is targeted and effective while also exploring new opportunities to engage potential applicants. 

• Provide strategic oversight of JAC policies and selection processes ensuring they are fair, free from bias, and compliant with relevant equalities legislation. 

• Lead the JAC’s stakeholder engagement strategy, identifying opportunities for more effective collaboration and working with partner organisations to support programmes aimed at developing potential judicial applicants. 

• Deliver strategic support to the Judicial Diversity Forum - a group of leaders from across the legal sector which is chaired by the Chair of the JAC. 

• Strategic oversight and leadership of the JAC Communication strategy, ensuring our approach to communication addresses the needs of internal and external audiences and supports our commitment to be a centre of excellence for merit-based selection. 

• Lead briefing activity for the JAC Chair, Chief Executive, Commissioners, selection panels, senior staff and operational teams on issues concerning diversity, engagement, and communication. 

• Monitor the progression of target groups through JAC selection exercises, working with analysts to support the compilation and publication of diversity statistics, and analysing information so that lessons are learnt and the barriers to successful application are understood. 

• Represent the JAC at candidate outreach and engagement events 

• Direct line management of two SEOs (a Senior Diversity Manager and a Senior Strategic Communications Manager) and strategic leadership of the Diversity and Engagement team. 

Essential Criteria 

• experience of policy development and implementation
• experience of stakeholder engagement and working with partners to achieve shared objectives
• An understanding of strategic communications and experience of providing communications advice and guidance to senior stakeholders.
• a good knowledge/understanding of equality and diversity legislation.
• understanding of the judicial diversity agenda, with emphasis on recruitment
• strong analytical skills to assess how candidates progress during the JAC selection processes
• Line management experience 

What we can offer you 

We offer a range of benefits including an attractive annual leave allowance, flexible and hybrid working opportunities, and choice of pension schemes. We actively encourage all staff to undertake learning and development as part of their personal objectives. 

While the JAC is an independent executive non-departmental public body, we are considered an arms-length body of the Ministry of Justice and share many of the same policies, processes and terms and conditions as Civil Servants employed directly by the MoJ. This includes being part of the MoJ pay remit, enabling transferees from other government departments to retain their continuity of service and Civil Service Pension arrangements. 

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 postholder to work at the JAC location regularly to support business need. 

Recruitment process 

We will assess you against these behaviours during the recruitment process: 

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving 

Application Process 

• Your CV
• A statement of suitability detailing the relevant experience and skills you have that would make you suitable for the post (500 words max).
• Written evidence of the 4 core behaviours for this role: Seeing the Big Picture

Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, and Changing and Improving (250 words max for each behaviour). 

Sift

Applications will be sifted based on the CV, Statement of Suitability and the 4 behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, and Changing and Improving 

Interview

At interview you we will assess you against the 4 behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, and Changing and Improving. You will also be asked about your experience. 

Applicants invited for interview may 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. 

Interviews are expected to take place in late February/Early March 2024. 

Interviews may be conducted face -to-face or remotely via MS Teams. More information on the arrangements will be provided to candidates invited to interview. 

Reserve List

As well as appointing to the vacancy listed above, we may place other candidates on a 12-month reserve list for future vacancies.

Further Information

If after reading this job description you require any further information, please contact Jessica Prandle, JAC Deputy Chief Executive at 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 team at Recruitment@judicialappointments.gov.uk.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,847, Ministry of Justice contributes £16,418 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.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.