Ministry of Justice

Job title:  G7 Strategy Lead 

Directorate: Strategy and Analysis  

Workstream: Business and User Strategy Division 

About us  

Courts and tribunals underpin justice and affect the lives of millions every year. We process more than four million legal cases a year, ranging from serious crimes to traffic offences, civil claims and family law cases as well as appeals against decisions made by employers, public bodies and other organisations. We are exceptionally proud of the services we provide and of the important part they have played in our history as a nation founded on justice, human rights and fairness. We are transforming to meet the changing demands of the population and to respond to the technological opportunities of the 21st century, making sure our justice system continues to lead the world. You can find out more about what we do and how we work here About us - HM Courts & Tribunals Service - GOV.UK. 

The Business and User Strategy Division sits at the heart of HMCTS, working across the whole organisation to use expert insight on the needs of our users and business, the policy context, operational priorities and wider strategic trends to develop and drive organisational strategy and strategic decision making. We work with senior leadership and engage with colleagues across HMCTS, the Ministry of Justice and wider justice system to help the organisation to meet strategic challenges and innovate.   

The work of the Strategy Unit includes: 

• Working with senior leadership to set out future priorities and shape the strategic vision and direction of HMCTS in the medium to long-term.   

• Leading HMCTS engagement on judicial strategy and policy development. 

• Carrying out research and generating insight on both domestic and international trends that may impact on the future shape and direction of the justice system and feeding this into strategy development and decision making.  

• Working with analytical colleagues to understand and use data in driving decision making across a wide range of topics including capacity, performance and productivity. 

• Developing relationships across the justice system to ensure that HMCTS is engaged in policy and legislative development that may impact delivery of services.  

About the role 

We are looking for an ambitious policy or strategy professional to join the HMCTS Strategy Unit. The successful candidate will excel at working with and through others, have a good understanding of and interest in strategy and policy development, and can think strategically and analytically to proactively drive change. 

The postholder will be part of a small but high performing group of Strategy Leads within the Division, working to one of two G6 joint heads of the Strategy Unit and as part of a wider G7 leadership team covering business strategy, user inclusion and board governance. 

As a Strategy Lead within HMCTS, you will shape medium- to long-term priorities, ensuring alignment with overall strategy, operational delivery needs and judicial and ministerial objectives. This role drives strategic decision-making, influences senior stakeholders, and delivers high-impact projects that support HMCTS’s vision for a modern justice system. 

This is a varied role that combines research, engagement, analysis, strategy development, shaping and providing advice to senior audiences, and delivering your own projects. It will involve working closely with others – including Service teams who are responsible for the operational implementation of policy, MoJ policy teams, the Court and Tribunals Joint Unit, the Judicial Office, analysts and colleagues in the wider Strategy and User Insight Division. 

Main Activities/Responsibilities 

This role will primarily lead on priority projects and international insight, although we expect all our Strategy Leads to work flexibly across a range of priorities, and the postholders will need to be able to both apply data and insight to policy and strategic challenges and take a strategic approach to planning, often through convening teams across HMCTS and more widely.   

The job holder will be required to: 

• Lead on business-critical strategy projects for the division and wider Strategy, Analysis and Planning Directorate. Examples of projects could include working on future Spending Reviews, leading on innovation initiatives, scoping efficiencies productivity or coordinating the response to a ministerial or judicial asks. Such projects will be high profile and often undertaken at the direct request of ministers and/or the senior judiciary.  

• Lead HMCTS engagement with the Council of Europe’s Commission for the Efficiency of Justice, supporting the UK representative, bringing together stakeholders across HMCTS, MoJ and JO to ensure we appropriately, guide, influence, share and gain insight into CEPEJ and wider MoJ International and Rule of Law work programme priorities.   

• Operate at pace to respond to changing priorities and deliver high quality work at speed.  

• Build strong relationships with teams across the whole MoJ and Judicial Office, HMCTS operations and HQ colleagues, and with wider stakeholders 

• Work with analysts to interpret performance, capacity, and productivity data and apply data and research to identify trends and inform strategic decisions. 

• Drive high quality strategy implementation to support the HMCTS Board and executive team in delivering ministerial and judicial priorities. 

• Work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post. 

• Mentor junior colleagues and lead cross-functional teams to deliver strategic outcomes. 

Who are we looking for? (Person Specification) 

The ideal candidate for this position should demonstrate:  

Essential  

• Experience working in a policy and/or strategy context to lead the development of proposals for change, working with and through others to bring about new ways of working. 

• Very strong written skills, with experience producing policy papers, briefing and/or submissions for a senior/ministerial/judicial audience.  

• Strong relationship building and communication skills, both at senior and operational level. 

• A broad understanding of the policy environment and civil service and, if new to justice, a keenness to quickly develop your knowledge on courts and tribunals.  

• Confidence in working with data and analysis to draw out key insights, make reasoned recommendations and decisions and apply this to policy or strategic issues. 

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates  

Desirable Skills 

• Experience working at the interface of strategy and implementation. 

• An understanding of the policy context and challenges facing the justice system. 

How to apply  

Application Stage  

Please submit: 

• An anonymised CV. Please ensure your CV is uploaded in a simple format to prevent any formatting issues when it's downloaded or reviewed.  

 Your CV should: 

•             Be succinct and clear.

•             Be factually accurate – You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, is 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. 

•             Include your qualifications, highlighting any modules or accreditation relevant to the role.

•             Include your relevant experience, providing dates. 

•             Provide detail – we are interested in how your knowledge, skills, and experience demonstrate the capabilities we are looking for in this role.

•             Statement of suitability demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria (up to 1000 words).

o            Your Statement of Suitability should be no more than 1000 words and should give us real life examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role as set out in the person specification. Consider also evidencing any relevant experience you have in the area of key responsibilities. We recommend following the STAR format. 

•             You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, 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.  

Interview Stage 

If successful at sift, you will be invited to attend a remote interview, via Microsoft teams. 

During interview, candidates should expect questions relating to the following ‘success profiles’ Civil Service behaviours: 

• Seeing the Big Picture 

• Making Effective Decisions 

• Communicating and Influencing

Strengths will also be assessed however these are not shared in advance. 

Further information on Success Profiles and required standards for this post (Grade 7) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles    

Further details  

Travel requirements 

There will be an occasional requirement to travel to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ, as well as to other HMCTS sites, in line with business needs. 

Opportunities for development 

HMCTS is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities. 

About our benefits 

We reward our people for their hard work and commitment. We have a number of family 

friendly and flexible working polices that will help you achieve a healthy work-life balance. In addition, we offer a range of employee benefits which include generous annual leave, a highly competitive contributory pension scheme, childcare benefits, season ticket and bicycle loans. 

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.