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.

• Judicial Appointments Commission – Head of Operational Delivery (Grade 7)

Are you an experienced senior Operational Delivery manager looking for a leadership challenge in an independent public body? Do you want to play a pivotal role in ensuring a high quality, independent judiciary? Are you excited by the chance to lead a complex and varied operational function as part of our Senior Leadership Team? If so, you could be exactly who we are looking for.

The Role

We’re looking for a Head of Operational Delivery to lead the delivery of our judicial recruitment processes across England and Wales.

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. We also participate in the selection of senior judicial office holders such as the Lord Chief Justice, the High Court Heads of Division, the Senior President of Tribunals and Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal. 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, fair, and accessible to candidates from the widest possible backgrounds so that our judiciary can reflect the society it serves.

Our Head of Operational Delivery plays a vital role in enabling the organisation to achieve that vision. They provide strategic oversight and leadership of our operational delivery teams which consist of around 60 members of staff, ensuring that our busy programme of judicial selection activity is run smoothly, effectively and in line with our statutory responsibilities. They also oversee our robust quality assurance processes, driving a culture of continuous improvement while ensuring our operational activities comply with our policies and are executed to a high standard.

As part of our senior leadership team, the Head of Operational Delivery also works closely with a range of senior stakeholders. This includes senior members of the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, JAC Commissioners and other key interested parties including a cadre of selection panel specialists.

This is a key role in a vital public body that delivers complex and constitutionally sensitive work at pace. It would be particularly suitable for someone seeking an interesting and complex Grade 7 role which offers a wide variety of responsibilities.

Main Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of Operations and Digital, the Head of Operational Delivery is responsible for the delivery of the selection exercises, and the selection tools that support those exercises, to enable us to meet the needs of the courts and tribunals.

Responsibilities include:

• Leading our Operational Delivery function of around 60 staff.

• Alongside the Head of Operations and Digital, oversee the delivery of the JAC’s selection exercise programme to overall published performance standards with effective resource planning and allocation.
• Effective leadership and line management of 6 selection exercise teams, consisting of around 40 members of staff, including their performance and development to ensure they meet the needs of the Commission and our business objectives.
• Oversight of selection exercise issues, acting as the first port of call for queries from selection exercise teams; leading on briefing of senior leaders on selection exercises; ensuring escalation of issues as appropriate. This includes acting as Head of Operations and Digital in their absence.
• Oversight of selection exercise governance through sitting as the operations representative on a cross-department board providing governance to selection exercise and policy decisions. This includes providing strategic direction and leadership to selection exercises and ensuring appropriate governance and oversight of selection exercises processes.
• Leadership on quality matters for the JAC operations team, including oversight of the Quality Assurance Managers and their work; quality assuring outcome and other customer letters.
• Ensuring the high quality of papers and panel reports made to the Commission Board, and Selection and Character Committee (SCC), including checking SCC papers for accuracy and compliance with policy.
• Acting as the main point of contact between Operations and the Diversity and Equality Team and Selection Policy Team – this includes building effective relationships with Policy colleagues to ensure the smooth introduction of new policies and that operations concerns are taken account of in the development of policy proposals.
• Act as the Operations Lead on providing support to Panel Members, including sitting on the Panel Member Engagement Group, ensuring Operations issues are flagged as part of this group.

Essential Criteria

• Outstanding leadership demonstrated through a history of empowering and motivating others to deliver high quality services.

• Excellent attention to detail in relation to operational delivery.

• A good understanding of how operational delivery, quality assurance, governance and policy are co-dependent functions in a delivery organisation.

• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to prioritise effectively, deliver on time and to a high quality even in ambiguous circumstances.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective stakeholder relationships at all levels.

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:

Making Effective Decisions

Delivering at Pace

Leadership

Communicating and Influencing

Working Together

In addition to these behaviours, your experience will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Application Process

To apply for this role, you will need to provide:

• Your CV
• A statement of suitability explaining why you are interested in the role and how you meet the essential criteria for the role (500 words)
• Written evidence of the 3 core behaviours for this role: Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, and Leadership (250 words for each behaviour).

Sift

Applications will be sifted based on the CV, statement of suitability and evidence of the three behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, and Leadership.

If a large number of applications are received, candidates may be sifted on their CV, statement of suitability and lead behaviour Making Effective Decisions.

Interview

At interview you we will assess you against the 5 behaviours for this role: Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, and Working Together. You will also be asked about your experience.

Applicants invited for interview may be required to undertake either a presentation or 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 either late February or 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 Robert Aldridge, Head of Operations and Digital, at Robert.Aldridge@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 Division: 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.