Team Leader, Recall Policy,
Youth Justice and Offender Management (YJOP)
G7
The YJOP Directorate is recruiting permanently for a Grade 7 Recall Policy Team Leader. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.
Location:
Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:
102 Petty France, London
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
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
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
Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.
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 over 133 prisons in England and Wales.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
The Work of Prison Demand and Release Unit
The Prison Demand and Release (PDR) Policy Team, which is situated in the Youth Justice and Offender Management (YJOP) Directorate, is at the heart of plans to help tackle the prison capacity challenge. We work closely with HMPPS, other policy teams and legal and analytical teams to give ministers robust options.
This team’s remit includes helping the department to manage the recall population.
Within this context, we are looking for a motivated policy professional to join a welcoming and supportive team on a temporary basis to help address this challenge. The role is fast paced, intellectually challenging and exciting, and will give the successful candidate the opportunity to work on an area which will make a real difference to how offenders are dealt with by the criminal justice system for years to come.
Recall Policy Team Leader - the role
Leading policy work on recall, including delivering the recall measures in the Sentencing Act and helping to reform the recall process. Collaboration will be crucial, working in a seamless way with HMPPS, legal experts and analysts.
We are looking for leaders who enjoy supporting and helping junior colleagues, and the busy nature of the role means a serious focus on well-being is crucial: we are determined to remain a friendly and kind team even when things are busy
The successful candidate will line manage at two colleagues and work flexibly across the division on an agenda that often evolves.
Skills and Experience
The postholder will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:
Essential:
Self-starter who is comfortable creating a program of work, identifying specific milestones and delivering against the plan.
Strong collaborative skills, able to quickly build robust relationships with colleagues in HMPPS, legal teams, analytical teams and other policy colleagues, creating a ‘one team’ dynamic to get the best possible advice to Ministers.
Excellent analytical skills, able to quickly get to grips with a complex policy area, understanding the complexity but able to distil the key points for Ministers and others
Excellent written and oral communication skills, able to confidently brief senior colleagues and produce high quality written reports that meet the needs of the target audience.
Desirable:
Experience of working on criminal justice or related issues, in particular policy related to the recall of offenders on licence.
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 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.
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 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.
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):
Leadership
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 via Teams.
During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of.
Leadership
Delivering at Pace
Communicating and Influencing
Working Together
Interviews are expected to take place in early March 2026.
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. Please contact: harlyn.collins@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.