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General Information

Salary
The national salary range is £41,463 - £45,276, London salary range is £47,657 - £52,040. Your salary will be dependent on your base location
Working Pattern
Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Location
Leeds, London
Region
London, Yorkshire and the Humber
Closing Date
24-Jan-2025
Post Type
Permanent
Civil Service Grade
SEO
Number of jobs available
1
Job ID
1422

Descriptions & requirements

Job description

Head of Policy Correspondence Team

SEO

Policy Group, Ministry of Justice

 

The Performance and Business Support Team (PBST) is recruiting permanently for an SEO Head of Policy Correspondence Team. 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.  We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location (102 Petty France or 5 Wellington Place Leeds) Ways of Working.


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 PBST
PBST sits at the heart of the Policy Group and is responsible for a broad range of corporate functions. This includes supporting our Director General and running his Private Office, alongside the drafting of correspondence. In addition, the team, manages our budgets and spend, workforce data and estates. PBST also has a governance function which includes supporting our Group’s Senior Management Team, overseeing information assurance and communications, not to mention developing a first-class learning and development offer. 

The Role
The MoJ Policy Correspondence Team is responsible for drafting replies to the majority of letters the department receives from MPs, external organisations and members of the public. It is key to the department’s success in communicating with the outside world.

Members of the team work closely with MoJ policy teams to make sure the policy position is reflected accurately in correspondence, and with ministers’ private offices to make sure responses are drafted in line with ministerial preferences.

As Head of the Policy Correspondence Team you will provide leadership to a team of 12 staff and have direct line management of 3 drafting team leaders. You will ensure that resources are managed flexibly, that performance delivers corporate objectives in line with departmental and cross Whitehall targets, and that risks are identified and managed. 

The post holder will manage the effective delivery of a correspondence service ensuring all outgoing drafts are to a high standard and will review and improve processes to ensure correspondence is dealt with effectively. 

The post holder will be responsible for maintaining close and effective working relationships with ministerial private offices and policy teams. This requires excellent stakeholder management skills and the ability to build and maintain good working relationships even in challenging circumstances, and to provide a high quality and responsive service. 

Skills and Experience

Essential:

  • Excellent written and oral communication skills, with experience of being able to confidently adjust tone and content to suit different audiences
  • Excellent attention to detail, with the ability to understand and present information and data from a wide range of sources in a succinct manner
  • Confidence in decision-making, exercising sound judgement, and the ability to challenge others in a constructive manner appropriate to the situation;
  • Strong interpersonal skills, with a proven track record of successful internal and external relationship management skills and the ability to build and maintain good working relationships at senior level

Key Responsibilities

·       Grasp the essentials of various policy areas and be able to provide wider media and political contexts that might impact and influence the appropriate policy response when quality reviewing cases. 

·       Maintain close and effective working relationships with policy teams, executive agencies, ministers’ private offices and other colleagues to ensure policy briefing is suitable for correspondence purposes. 

·       Demonstrate a clear understanding of the MoJ’s current strategic objectives, and ensure that the objectives of the team are aligned with these and towards a goal of achieving the team’s core objectives of timely, high quality responses. 

·       At all times ensure your team seek to deliver clear, empathetic, respectful and timely responses to queries which address correspondent concerns, clarify policy and contribute to the overall smooth handling of departmental public communications. 

·       Promote the credibility of the Policy Correspondence Team through MoJ wide visibility and performance excellence. 

·       Overall responsibility for the Learning and Development offer on the team, and for supporting training and coaching for the team members to deliver continuous improvement.

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

You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

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.

You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words outlining why you believe you are a suitable candidate for the role. We will particularly be looking to see references to how you demonstrate the Behaviours: 

  • Leadership
  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Working Together 

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 

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

During the interview, we will be assessing you on Behaviours and Strengths from the success Profiles framework. The Behaviours assessed at interview will be:

  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Leadership
  • Working Together

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, experience question 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 February 2025.

Contact information

If you are interested in finding out more about the role, please contact Tim Gower at tim.gower1@Justice.gov.uk 

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.  

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.

All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Support

  • A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
  • Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
  • For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www.GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
  • Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
  • Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please see our Disability Confident Scheme Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Contact Information
If you require any assistance please call 0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com.
 

Contact information

If you are interested in finding out more about the role, please contact Tim Gower at tim.gower1@Justice.gov.uk

Application form stage assessments

Statement of Suitability
Guidance for the Statement of Suitability
Please upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words outlining why you believe you are a suitable candidate for the role. We will particularly be looking to see references of how you demonstrate the Behaviours:

- Leadership
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
Evidence of Experience
CV or Work History, Experience Questions, Statement of Suitability

Interview stage assessments

Behaviours
Managing a Quality Service
Leadership
Working Together
Experience
Your Experience for this role will be assessed at interview. To learn more about Experience and how they are assessed please click here.

We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
CV or Work History, Experience Questions, Statement of Suitability
Strengths
Strengths will be assessed but these are not shared in advance. To learn more about Strengths and how they are assessed please click here.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)
You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
Level of security checks required
Baseline Personnal Security Standard (BPSS)