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.

Senior Policy Adviser in the Tribunals, Legal Support, Dispute Resolution and Fees Division (up to 4 posts available)

SEO

Access to Justice Directorate

The Tribunals, Legal Support, Dispute Resolution and Fees division in Access to Justice Directorate is recruiting permanently for up to four SEOs to work as senior policy advisers. This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria in the wider advert within Civil Service Jobs.

Location:

Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:

1. 102 Petty France, London
2. 5 Wellington Place, Leeds

Occasional travel between the two locations may be required.

In order for Policy Group to meet its evolving business needs all Policy Group staff are expected to attend their base location (102 Petty France or 5 Wellington Place Leeds) at least 2 days a week.  This hybrid working arrangement is not contractual and as a result staff could be asked to attend their base location more frequently.

Ways of Working

At the MoJ we believe and promote alternative ways of working, these roles are available as:

• Full-time, part-time or the option to job share

• Flexible working patterns
• Flexible working arrangements between base locations, MoJ Hubs and home.

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum of the pay range. 

If you are already a civil servant and are successful in an external recruitment competition for a role with us, your starting pay will be the better of:

• promotion terms or transfer terms, as appropriate; or
• pay on appointment arrangements (minimum of pay range)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MoJ is the largest government department, employing over 90,000 people with a budget of approximately £10 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.

Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

The work of the Access to Justice Directorate

The Access to Justice Directorate consists of separate Deputy Director-led divisions including: Civil Justice and Law; Death Management, Inquests and Coroners; Tribunals, Legal Support, Dispute Resolution and Fees; and Legal Aid.

As a directorate we develop policy and deliver services to ensure that every person has equal opportunity to seek justice. We pursue fairer outcomes and strive to prevent problems from escalating. To deliver a system which is fair, accessible and resilient, we work collaboratively with others and respond to the diverse needs of users. We proactively engage with economic and societal changes and technological advances, taking an innovative and evidence-based approach to deliver access to justice for all.

We work routinely with a huge variety of cross-government and external stakeholders including HM Courts and Tribunal Service, the judiciary, legal profession, business, the enforcement industry, the third sector and numerous other government departments. Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

We are also key contributors to a broad and ambitious vision for the future of civil, family and tribunals justice. The aim is to make it easier for people experiencing legal problems to access high quality information and support at the right time and in the right way. This will allow them to understand their options and to take the right steps to prevent their problems from escalating. We want to enable people to resolve their problems earlier and at less cost, for example through mediation or online dispute resolution. They should be safe in the knowledge that if this is not successful, it will be straightforward to take the next step of seeking judicial determination through the courts or tribunals. We will encourage and build online and offline connections between different parts of the system to achieve solutions.

Senior Policy Adviser - the role

The Tribunals, Legal Support, Dispute Resolution and Fees division covers a diverse range of policy areas that help to shape a user’s experience of the civil justice system, from the inception of a legal problem through to its resolution. The advertised roles offer a fantastic opportunity to be at the heart of re-shaping the justice system to better meet the changing needs of the population of England and Wales as part of a broad and ambitious transformation programme. It is also a vibrant and friendly division, with passionate and supportive colleagues, and an open and welcoming team culture. 

There are four vacancies in the division: two in Legal Support policy; one in Administrative Justice policy; and one in Fees policy.

Activities and responsibilities applicable to all the available roles

You will:

• Be confident in contributing significantly to a policy area, including the gathering of other’s views and evidence from stakeholders, frontline providers and service users.
  
  
• Build collaborative, trusting, and productive relationships, including with external stakeholders, Arm’s Length Bodies and delivery agencies across the department.
  
  
• Develop high-quality and deliverable policy recommendations and ministerial advice and briefings, at pace.
  
  
• Work collaboratively with other policy areas, analysts, lawyers and operational colleagues to develop robust and evidence-based solutions to policy problems with a clear understanding of its impacts on users.

Essential skills and responsibilities applicable to all the roles:

• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Further detail on the specifics of each role is set out below.

Administrative Justice Policy

We are looking to fill one SEO role in the Administrative Justice Policy team.  The primary focus of the work of the successful applicant will be the Employment Tribunals (ETs).  They will take forward existing work programmes, including legislation to transfer ET procedure rules to the Tribunal Procedure Committee, as well as developing further options and introducing reforms to support the continued recovery of the ETs.  They will also lead on the programme of work to devolve responsibility for the reserved tribunals to Scotland. 

Main Activities/Responsibilities

Specifically, you will:

• Work as part of a team to drive forward the administrative justice agenda. Using policy and project management tools you will contribute to significant pieces of policy-making, including early-stage policy development; working at the interface between policy and operations.
• Work with stakeholders, including the judiciary, HMCTS and the Department for Business and Trade, including attending meetings, briefings and developing policy in concert with the department’s over-arching strategy.
• Enjoy working at pace, by forward planning the stages of the project and delegating tasks appropriately to other colleagues.
• Facilitate scoping workshops with policy owners and operational leads to explore the context of the issue/subject are and build a consensus around the scope of future policy.
• Communicate clearly and persuasively to stakeholders, using excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Contribute to one of our corporate roles (e.g. smarter working, staff wellbeing, finance or recruitment etc.), by learning key processes and supporting colleagues to incorporate and engage with the corporate role area.

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Experience of using data to support the development of evidence-based policy making.

Desirable

• Previous experience of working in a policy environment in relation to the court and tribunals system would be an advantage but not essential.

Legal Support Policy

We are recruiting for two roles as a senior policy advisor in the Legal Support Team. The Legal Support Team is responsible for delivering changes to enhance the breadth of legal support available for everyone in society, helping people to get the support they need with their legal problems, and empowering them to navigate a solution. Roles in this team are ideal for candidates with an interest social justice, social welfare, and in supporting the most vulnerable people in society to access justice. The Team has delivered a wide range of measures outlined in the Government’s Legal Support Action Plan (Feb 2019), and we are also currently developing our long-term strategy.

The first role is in the Legal Support Strategic Projects Team and will entail working on long term strategic issues impacting the advice sector, and ensuring the work the legal support team is appropriately aligned with that of other teams working on related areas.

The second role is in the Advice Sector and Partnerships Team and will involve helping to shape and deliver MoJ’s role in Health Justice Partnerships and/or similar settings across England and Wales.

Our policy areas have the potential to impact and make a real difference to everyone in society, as well as having significant interest from legal professionals, justice stakeholders and the third sector.

The roles may include:

• Working closely with senior stakeholders, other Government Departments, and third sector organisations.
  
  
• Strategic policy development, including consideration of big-picture challenges and opportunities for improving how we ensure access to legal support.
  
  
• Manage national, regional, and local grant funding.
  
  
• Shaping the delivery of pilots aimed at improving Legal Support services.
  
  
• Implementing complex policy with delivery partners to required timescales.
  
  
• Working closely with analytical, legal and operational teams.
  
  
• Problem solving and unblocking a variety of issues.

Skills and Experience

Essential:

• You will display creativity, confidence, and have strong leadership potential.
• You will be able to analyse and interpret information clearly and concisely in a way that enables effective decisions to be made.
• You will be proactive, organised, and work collaboratively to reach your end goal.
• You will have good political awareness and understand the wider departmental, government, societal, financial and parliamentary context. Your advice will also be able to take account of the existing legal and regulatory frameworks.

Court and Tribunal Fees Policy

We are recruiting for one SEO in the Fees Policy Team. You will be supporting the development and delivery of our fees strategy, which is critical to the Lord Chancellor’s key duty to ensure the effective funding of our courts and tribunals system, all the while upholding the Department’s aim to protect access to justice. You will be joining the team at an exciting time following the completion of a wide-scale Strategic Review of the fees system and will have the opportunity to play a leading role in developing and delivering its recommendations, alongside other important projects. 

As a Senior Policy Advisor in the Fees Policy Team you will:

• Lead or support the delivery of numerous fast paced fee policy projects in priority areas for the Department, including the production of consultations and the development and implementation of secondary legislation.
  
  
• Keep abreast of departmental priorities and external developments to inform your strategic approach to different projects.
  
  
• The post will involve line management responsibility for at least one Band C/HEO with a strong focus on developing and coaching staff to reach their full potential; and
  
  
• Actively help create and develop an engaging, diverse and inclusive workplace across the directorate.

Skills and Experience

• Strong collaborator with excellent relationship management skills and the ability to interact confidently, communicate complex areas clearly, and build trust with stakeholders both across, and external to, government;
  
  
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to plan and deliver outcomes according to agreed priorities;
  
  
• Excellent strategic thinking skills – you can see patterns and trends in evidence, especially where this evidence may be incomplete, and identifying links across government to help achieve our strategic aims.
  
  
• Confidence to act independently, being comfortable picking up new challenging subject areas and able to master detail quickly.

Desirable skills/expertise

Familiarity with working in a policy environment as well as developing and implementing secondary legislation would be desirable, but not essential.

Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.

The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.

Application process

You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.

Experience

You will be asked to provide a CV during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviour (see Annex A for more information):

• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the big picture
• Leadership
• Making effective decisions

Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Communicating and influencing. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role.

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details:  Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Interviews are expected to take place March 2024.

Contact information  

Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team.

Edward.sharpe@justice.gov.uk – Legal Support Strategic Projects

Anna.Ellis-Rees@justice.gov.uk – Court and Tribunal Fees

Bill.Dowse@Justice.gov.uk – Administrative Justice

 

Annex A - The STAR method

Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.

Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.

• Where are you?
• Who was there with you?
• What had happened?

Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.

• What was the task that you had to complete and why?
• What did you have to achieve?

Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.

Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.

• What results did the actions produce?
• What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
• Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,868, Ministry of Justice contributes £10,804 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.