OFFICIAL

LAA Job Description Template V7

Job Title & Grade:

Head of Secretariat, SEO

Contract Type:

Permanent

Salary range (depending on location):

National - £41,463 to £45,276

London - £47,657 to £52,040

Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.

Location:

National (any LAA office in England & Wales); minimum weekly attendance required at base location. Some travel between offices will be required and should be expected.

Directorate:

Corporate Services

Team:

Corporate Assurance, Risk & Secretariat

Working Pattern:

The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely (as part of hybrid working), part time or as part of a job share etc.

If applying for the role on a part-time basis, please note that the minimum number of hours that could be accommodated is 32 over a minimum of four days.

To meet legal requirements, if you are between the ages 16-18 and you are a successful candidate, you will be required to complete an apprenticeship after your initial on the job training.

Reporting to:

Head of Governance, Risk & Assurance

Closing date for applications

3^rd January 2025

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We are responsible for operationally administering the legal aid fund to provide criminal and civil legal aid advice to people in England and Wales.

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service.

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and 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.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.

The LAA’s goal is to build an organisation that is open and inclusive and truly values and celebrates the diversity of its workforce. One that reflects and understands the needs of the diverse society we serve. This is regardless of social background, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, beliefs, disabilities or long-term illness or caring responsibilities.

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long-term condition (for example dyslexia, anxiety, autism, a mobility condition or hearing loss) and need us to make any reasonable adjustments to support you through the recruitment process, please let us know by adding the information to the applications system or emailing LAARecruitment@justice.gov.uk after you have applied so that we can discuss options with you.

Corporate Services

The Corporate Services team helps shape and enable the priorities of the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team to be delivered.

Corporate Assurance, Risk & Secretariat

This role sits within the Secretariat team, which primarily supports the LAA’s key senior governance forums such as the Board and ELT.

Secretariat sits alongside the Risk & Assurance team, reporting to the G7 Head of Governance, Risk & Assurance, working collectively to strengthen governance, assurance and risk management strategies across the LAA and ensure alignment with central MoJ. The wider Corporate Assurance, Risk & Secretariat team sits within Corporate Services, and also incorporates business continuity and resilience, information security, and health and safety.

Job Summary

The Head of Secretariat is a varied, high-profile and fast-paced role that operates at the heart of the Agency, leading a small team to enable the highest standards of governance and decision-making via the management of senior governance forums. The post-holder works closely with colleagues across the Agency and wider MoJ at all levels, building effective relationships with senior leaders and non-executive directors.

Key Responsibilities:

Leading the Secretariat team to provide high quality secretarial support for all LAA senior governance forums, including LAA Board
Acting as the primary point of contact for the non-executive board members (NEBMs), including leading on their recruitment, facilitating inductions and arranging briefings as required
Leading on annual effectiveness reviews of all senior governance forums, producing improvement plans and working with forum chairs to implement these
Working with the executive leadership team and LAA Board to design agendas and advise on corporate governance matters
Attending the Agency’s most senior governance forums, drafting minutes and presenting agenda plans
Having responsibility for team processes and documents (and awareness of these), including decision and action logs, the standard operating procedure, the agenda forward-look and committee paper templates
Drafting high quality briefings for forum chairs
Drafting and presenting papers to forums as required
Line managing the HEO and EOs and approving minutes drafted by more junior members of the team
Coordinating updates and reviews to committee terms of reference in line with expected timescales
Attending the MoJ Secretariat Network meetings as a member and sharing best practice with the team

Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills

Strong leadership skills, with proven ability to lead teams through change
Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills, with experience of building relationships at all levels, including with senior leaders
Excellent organisational and planning skills, including all aspects of meeting management and formal minute-writing
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to draft formal documents for senior audiences
The ability to demonstrate how your work fits into wider organisational objectives

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills

Knowledge of legal aid and of the Agency’s strategic and operational objectives
Experience working in an operational organisation
Experience of working within a secretarial role

Person Specification

Confident in managing others and a passion for building capability
A focus on collaborative working and building effective stakeholder relationships
Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and managing the team to meet multiple conflicting deadlines
Has a keen eye for detail and is comfortable in providing feedback to others
Confident to use own initiative
Willing to consider, develop and adapt to alternative ways of working

Assessment approach

Application Process

To apply please provide a statement of suitability showing how you meet the essential criteria in no more than 1,000 words.

Your statement should demonstrate your ability to meet all of the essential criteria listed. Using examples can help strengthen your application.

Please note we do not require a CV.

Interview / assessment Process

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview / assessment centre in person or via Microsoft Teams where you will be assessed against the following:

Strengths relevant to the role
Some or all of the following Behaviours:
- Communicating and influencing
- Managing a quality service
- Delivering at pace
- Seeing the big picture

Your experience relevant to the role via a short presentation, the details of which will be shared in advance of the interview

Your experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy.

Diversity is the presence of difference, this can include one or more of the protected characteristics (Gender, Age, Race, Disability etc.) or it can be about working patterns, whether we like to jump into a task or reflect on it before acting. Inclusion is how we welcome, value, and celebrate diversity, giving everyone a voice, tapping into ideas, and enabling everyone to be themselves at work and achieve their potential.

For this grade/ role we would expect the candidate to demonstrate understanding of the terms Diversity and Inclusion and be able to explain why they are important in a work environment. We would also expect examples of action they have taken to embrace diversity (e.g., increasing understanding for self or others) or improve inclusion at a team or wider group level.

Communicating and Influencing

Examples of communicating and influencing at HEO and SEO grades or equivalent are when you:

communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner - choosing appropriate styles to maximise understanding and impact
encourage the use of different communication methods, including digital resources and highlight the benefits, including ensuring cost effectiveness
ensure communication has a clear purpose and takes into account people’s individual needs
share information as appropriate and check understanding
show positivity and enthusiasm towards work, encouraging others to do the same
ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders respectfully, taking into consideration the diversity of interests

Managing a Quality Service

Examples of managing a quality service at HEO and SEO grades or equivalent are when you:

develop, implement, maintain and review systems and services to ensure delivery of professional excellence
work with stakeholders to set priorities, objectives and timescales
successfully deliver high quality outcomes that meet the customers’ needs and gives value for money
identify risks and resolve issues efficiently
involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements
establish ways to find and respond to feedback from customers about the services provided

Delivering at Pace

Examples of delivering at pace at HEO and SEO grades or equivalent are when you:

show a positive approach to keeping the whole team’s efforts focused on the top priorities
promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation
ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively
regularly monitor your own and team’s work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks
act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance
allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility

Seeing the Big Picture

Examples of seeing the big picture at HEO and SEO grades or equivalent are when you:

understand the strategic drivers for your area of work
align activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities
remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area
seek out and share experiences to develop knowledge of the team’s business area
understand how the strategies and activities of the team create value and meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders

Shortlisting is planned for week commencing 6^th January 2025.

Interviews are planned for week commencing 27^th January 2025.

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact - Nicola Murchie, Head of Governance, Risk & Secretariat: Nicola.murchie@justice.gov.uk or Gary Winter, Head of Governance: gary.winter@justice.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAARecruitment@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days.

OFFICIAL