Candidate Information Pack

Deputy Director, Financial Strategy and Planning

Ministry of Justice

SCS Pay Band 1

Closing Date: 23:55 22^nd March 2026

CONTENTS

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in this exciting role with the Finance Strategy and Partnerships Directorate

The Finance Strategy and Partnerships Directorate holds a unique place in the Department. We are responsible for leading the Department through Spending Reviews and other fiscal events; and are responsible for overseeing the work of the Court Funds Office and the c.£4bn of funds that it holds. We are also the Finance Business Partners for the MoJ's HQ functions, supporting financial management of a combined budget of over £3.5bn across our corporate services including our property and digital portfolios

You join the directorate a significant moment for the Department: following publication of David Gauke’s independent Sentencing Review, the Government will be undertaking a significant overhaul of sentencing policy with the aim of putting the prison population on a sustainable footing; Sir Brian Leveson has recently published the first part of his Independent Review of Criminal Courts, which recommends a substantial overhaul of the court system to help deal with the record caseload in the Crown Court; and we have recently concluded our Spending Review negotiations with HM Treasury, which has set out budget for the next three years.

The directorate has a critical role in all of these. In particular, the spending review settlement we have negotiated will be fundamental in delivering the recommendations from both David Gauke and Sir Brian Leveson, and the reforms these two reviews recommend cannot be delivered without the support of our Arm’s Length Bodies.

For the right person, this role presents an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of this historic change.

Best wishes,

Farhad Chikhalia

(Interim) Director, Finance Strategy and Partnerships

About the Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice is a major government department at the heart of the justice system. We deliver some of the most fundamental public services including courts, tribunals, prisons, legal services, youth justice, probation services, and attendance centres.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) works to protect and advance the principles of justice. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society.

The justice system plays a crucial role in our success as a nation - keeping people safe, emphasising fairness, guaranteeing individual rights and giving businesses confidence to flourish.

The delivery of our three strategic outcomes are central to doing this:

Punishment that cuts crime: to rebuild confidence in the criminal justice system by protecting the public and reducing reoffending with a sustainable and effective prison and probation service.

Swifter justice for victims: to rebuild confidence in the criminal justice system by ensuring timely, just outcomes for victims and defendants through a modern and efficient criminal courts system.

A beacon for justice and the rule of law: to uphold the rule of law at home and abroad; promote our world-leading legal services, which contribute to economic growth; and deliver accessible and timely civil, family and administrative justice.

For more information on who we are and what we do, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

About the role

Job Title

Deputy Director, Financial Strategy and Planning

Location

London.

Due to the nature of the role the successful candidate will need be based in London.

Please note the requirements for travel and level of flexibility available as set out in the FAQs section.

Salary

£81,000 - £117,800.

Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the Civil Service pay rules in place on the date of their appointment.

Contract Type

This role is being offered on a permanent basis.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years - in line with the deliverables identified. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by.

The Role

As Deputy Director for Finance Strategy and Planning, you will lead a team of c.25 people and directly line manage 4 G6s. These G6s manage the respective branches of the team:

Finance strategy - responsible for setting the overall financial strategy for MoJ, as well as leading on the department’s relationship with HMT and negotiations at key fiscal events.

Financial planning - responsible for ensuring that the financial strategy for the department is underpinned by high-quality data and rigorous analysis. Also responsible for running the department’s annual budget setting process (i.e. the ‘allocations’ process).

Income - responsible for overseeing the c.£2bn of income that MoJ receives annually from fees and fines.

Policy FBP - responsible for providing the Finance Business Partnering function to the Policy Group in Ministry of Justice. This involves overseeing budgets of c.£425m expenditure and c.£105m income.

The role will put you in a unique position - it is critical to the business of the Department, spans breadth of the organisation and is key to ensuring that the business of the Department is aligned to the broader financial landscape of both the organisation and the Government. In particular, the postholder will play a critical role in ensuring that the Accounting Officer duties of the Permanent Secretary are fulfilled and that the Department’s spending is at all times in line with the principles of Managing Public Money.

This role will require collaborative working with colleagues in every area of the department and across Whitehall at every level, to make sure that finance is at the heart of decision making, and that when developing strategic plans, you understand and have gained buy-in from policy, operational and corporate colleagues. As Deputy Director for the team, you will play an important role in this - you will need to build and maintain well-developed relationships with the Directors General in MoJ, HMPPS and HMCTS and use these to navigate tough negotiations with HMT and No.10.

The work of the teams is often fast paced, high priority and strategic, regularly reporting directly to ExCo, the Permanent Secretary and the Secretary of State, and influencing all areas of departmental planning. However, it is important that the postholder is also able to prioritise longer-term work, such as on: the role of AI and technology on the services that MoJ delivers, and how they can be used to improve productivity of the department; the opportunities for increasing income generation for MoJ, and the impact on economic growth of doing so; and, the health of key MoJ provider markets.

This role is a great opportunity for policy professionals to get finance and strategy experience - and for finance professionals to gain a more strategic overview of the department and across Whitehall. You will gain unrivalled insight into the interaction of financial planning with policy and operations.

Key Responsibilities

• The postholder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

• Working closely with Directors General, the Permanent Secretary and Ministers on the key financial issues facing the department. This will include during setpiece fiscal events, such as the Spending Review, as well as the annual budget setting process.

• Maintaining a high-quality, collaborative relationship with the HMT Spending Team, No.10 and Cabinet Office.

• Leading on fiscal events for the Department and leading the annual budget setting process for MoJ (i.e. allocations), working collaboaratively across the Department to ensure that trade-offs and risks are exposed and resolved.

• Ensuring that there are robust plans in place to deliver efficiency targets, and that progress is monitored and reported on a regular basis.

• Overseeing the c.£2bn of income that MoJ receives annually from fees and fines, including working with policy colleagues to explore opportunities to increase income, whilst considering the broader impacts, such as on access to justice and economic growth, of doing so.

• Providing a high-quality finance business partnerting service to Policy Group. This involves overseeing budgets of c.£250m, and working closely with the two Policy Directors General to ensure that they have a clear understnding of their budgets and spend throughout the year.

• Building strategic, financial capability and understanding across the department, through outreach and engagement at all levels of seniority.

Person Specification

It is important through the recruitment process that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential and desirable criteria.

Later on in the pack you will be told what is being assessed at which stage of the process.

Essential Experience:

• Able to work independently, proactively, passionately, and confidently on high-profile areas across the Department and lead others to achieve quality and on time delivery of outputs.

• Comfortable and confident in working at pace to manage a full workload with conflicting short and long-term priorities.

• Able to build positive relationships with partners in other teams and departments, and to use those relationships to influence others through excellent interpersonal and communication skills, tailored to the recipient. This includes the ability to critically consider and confidently challenge stakeholders regarding their delivery or information and translating across functions to obtain a joined-up approach.

• Confident working closely with senior officials and Ministers on tricky finance or policy issues.

• Strong negotiation skills, with the ability to remain resilient in the face of substantial and sustained challenge.

• Capable of fostering and leading a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration between policy, programmes, the business, finance, and other corporate services

• Experience leading policy development and making decisions in complex policy areas, using analytical and finance skills and different evidence sources to provide Ministers or senior officials with high-quality advice

Desirable Experience:

CCAB or CIMA qualified accountant (or on route to achieving qualification in near future)

MoJ SCS Pay Band 1 Behaviours

You will also be assessed against the following Behaviours during the Recruitment Process:

• Leadership

• Communicating and Influencing

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Delivering at Pace

• Making Effective Decisions

Read more in the Civil Service Success Profiles Section.

Civil Service Leadership Statement:

All leaders within the Civil Service are expected to demonstrate the qualities within the Civil Service Leadership Statement during their Staff Engagement Exercise.

The Recruitment Process

The selection process will be chaired by Farhad Chikhalia, Finance Director for Finance Strategy and Partnership, SCS2. The other panel members will be:

Support during the selection process

If you need any support or have any questions during any stage of the selection process, please contact the SCS Recruitment Team scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk.

Stages of the selection process

Internal Stakeholder Conversations

You are invited to arrange an informal discussion with Farhad Chikhalia to learn more about the role and the organisation before applying. This is not part of the assessed elements of the selection process.

Application

You will need to complete the online application process accessed via the advertisement for this role.

This should be completed no later than 23:55 on 22^nd March 2026. As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

1. Responses to the eligibility questions to check you are eligible to apply for the role.

2. A response to whether you would like to request reasonable adjustments during the selection process. The Disability Support section explains how adjustments can be made to the selection process to accommodate a disability.  

3. You will also need to complete a CV and Statement of Suitability. It is important that your CV and Statement of Suitability give evidence and examples of how you meet the essential experience set out on page 8. The Statement of Suitability should be no more than 10 words.

Find out more information about our application process here.

After the Application Stage

You will be advised whether your application has been shortlisted for the next stage of the selection process. If you are shortlisted, we will contact you to arrange the next stage of the selection process.

Unfortunately, due to the anticipated number of applicants for this role, we are unable to provide feedback to those not successful at shortlist stage. Candidates who are shortlisted and attend an interview will be offered verbal feedback from a member of the interview panel.

Other Assessments

Staff Engagement Exercise

The Staff Engagement Exercise or SEE is an opportunity to engage in a two-way discussion on a set topic area with a group of staff from the organisation. The topic area will be shared with you in advance. An Occupational Psychologist will brief you before the assessment, observe the assessment and debrief you. They will facilitate a discussion to seek feedback from the staff, which will be considered alongside their own observations

What is being assessed?

The Civil Service Leadership Statement

Panel Interview and Presentation

You will be invited to attend an interview and presentation with the selection panel. You will be asked to prepare a verbal 5-minute presentation based on a topic that will be provided in advance. The interview and presentation will last for approximately 45 minutes.

What is being assessed?

Behaviours, as listed on page 9 and strengths. You will be informed which strengths you will be tested on at interview stage.

After the Panel Interview

Following the interview, the performance of all candidates will be reviewed, and the successful candidate identified. All candidates will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible after the conclusion of all interviews. If you are not the successful candidate but you meet the standard required, you may be invited to have your details retained on a merit list to be considered for future SCS roles.

Civil Service Behaviours

What are Behaviours?

The Civil Service recruits using Success Profiles and Behaviours are an element of Success Profiles used to see whether candidates are able demonstrate specific Behaviours associated with the role they are applying for during the selection process.

In this process the below Behaviours are most relevant to this role and will be assessed during the interview stage of the process. The definitions of Behaviours are set out below:

Leadership

You visibly demonstrate the organisation’s values in all your activity, leading authentically. You seek to engage staff in the aims of the organisation and communicate the organisation’s strategy in an inspiring way. You create an inclusive and fair culture which creates a sense of belonging by treating staff as individuals and actively valuing diversity within the organisation. You empower teams and individuals to excel by creating a shared vision and objectives and demonstrate trust in staff by giving autonomy.

Communicating and Influencing

You communicate clearly and with confidence, both verbally and in writing. You are open, honest and transparent in your communications. You communicate effectively with internal and external senior stakeholders to present information in a convincing and influential manner. You tailor your communication methods and content to the audience, simplifying strategic messages.

Seeing the Big Picture

You understand the wider context of the organisation’s work, considering the political, social, economic, and technological environment both currently and in the future. You create and implement strategies to achieve the organisation’s aims and meet the needs of the public. You promote the organisation externally, advocating positive outcomes for the sector you operate within. You motivate staff by ensuring they understand how their work fits into the big picture.

Delivering at Pace

You translate organisational strategy into clear objectives for activity within your area of responsibility. You promote this amongst staff and ensure teams take responsibility for delivering against objectives. You prioritise competing or conflicting demands, and are able to decisively adjust activity based on changing requirements. You manage resource effectively to enable those in your area of responsibility to deliver. You delegate effectively, managing any risks associated with doing so.

Making Effective Decisions

You make defensible, objective and fair high-impact decisions, considering the impact on the service user and wider organisation. You are willing to take ownership of your decisions, being transparent and open about the reasons for them. You effectively analyse data to make evidence-based decisions, whilst being comfortable taking considered risks based on the best evidence available. You consult with others to incorporate views and professional expertise, ensuring appropriate individuals are involved in the decision-making process.

Please click here or more information on Behaviours and Success Profiles.

Guidance for writing your Statement and CV

As part of the application process, you need to submit a Statement and CV. Both your Statement and CV should demonstrate how you meet the essential experience outlined in the Person Specification section.

Ensure you read through the role information thoroughly and identify the essential criteria for each area. You should ensure you provide evidence for each of the essential experience which are required for the role in your Statement and CV. You may not be progressed to the next stage of the assessment process if you do not provide this evidence.

When structuring your Statements try to:

• Group evidence of the same experience skills together by using subheadings and paragraphs. This will help to ensure you are writing about the experience that is directly relevant for the role you are applying for.

• You should ensure that you detail recent and relevant examples of the essential experience required for the role and describe the outcome that came from this.

Using AI in your application

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Providing a name-blind CV and Success Profile Statements

In both your CV and Success Profile Statements please remove references to any personal information that could identify you. For example:

• Name and title

• Educational institution names

• Age and gender

• Email address

• Postal address and telephone number

• Nationality and immigration status.

This will help us to recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not on your background, gender or ethnicity. Recruiting this way is called name-blind recruitment.

For more information on how to write your Statement and CV please visit the Civil Service Careers Website

For more information on how to write your Statement and CV please visit the Civil Service Careers Website

Expected Timeline

We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, in order to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates may be subject to change.

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing Date

23:55 on 22^nd March 2026

Outcome of CV and Statement of Suitability

Week commencing 6^th April 2026

Assessments

Week commencing 15^th April 2026

Panel Interview and Presentation

Week commencing 27^th /28^th April 2026

Working for the Ministry of Justice

Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing

Our departmental values - purpose, humanity, openness and together - are at the heart of our commitment to create a culture where all our people are able to thrive and flourish in the workplace.

We want to attract and retain the best talent from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. We want everyone to be the best of themselves, to feel supported and have a strong sense of belonging in the workplace. Our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce is reflected in all of our people policies and strategies.

Benefits

As a Ministry of Justice employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits which include but are not limited to:

Pension

The Civil Service Pension Scheme is one of the best workplace pension schemes in the UK public sector. Visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk for more details.

Generous Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance

25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays. This will be complemented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday.

Flexible Working

While not every type of flexible working will be suitable for every role and business area, flexible working can take many forms and The Ministry of Justice is committed to delivering its business effectively and sustainably by creating modern and inclusive workplaces that enable smart, flexible and hybrid working.

For more information on our amazing benefits including our Civil Service Pension Scheme, annual and special leave, and our Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing schemes please visit our Senior Civil Service website.

Disability Support

What reasonable adjustments can be made if I have a disability?

We are committed to supporting all candidates to take part in the recruitment process. This includes supporting individuals who have a disability by making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

If you feel you require any kind of support and/or would like to discuss this with someone, please indicate 'yes' to requesting reasonable adjustments in your application form and ensure that you respond to the Reasonable Adjustments Scheme team by email.

How we can support you

There are many types of reasonable adjustments that can be made during assessment processes.

Examples of some types of adjustments include:

• Extra time to complete assessments.

• Providing a break within an assessment.

• Providing interview questions in a written format at the interview as well as orally.

• An interview at a certain time of day.

This is not an exhaustive list but rather some examples of how we can support you during the SCS Recruitment Process.

Whilst we aim to confirm all adjustments requested, there may be occasions where this isn't possible. If an adjustment cannot be provided, the reasons for this will be explained to you.

Help with your application

It is important you contact us as early as possible by email if you would like to request reasonable adjustments so that the recruitment process runs smoothly for you.

If you do decide during the process that you do require adjustments and you have not completed all your assessments, please contact the SCS recruitment team in advance of your next assessment.

If you have any questions in advance of making your application regarding reasonable adjustments please contact the SCS recruitment team at scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk.

Do you offer a Disability Confident Scheme for Disabled Persons?

As a Disability Confident employer, the MoJ offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. This could be in terms of the advertised essential skills and/or application form sift criteria. Within the application form, you will be asked if you would like to be considered for an interview under this scheme, so please make us aware of this when prompted.

FAQs

Can I apply if I am not currently a civil servant?

Yes.

Is this role suitable for part-time working?

This role is available for full-time or flexible working arrangements (including job shares). To discuss your needs in more detail please get in touch with the SCS Recruitment Team.

Where will the role be based?

If successful you will be based in London. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

Can I claim back any expenses incurred during the recruitment process?

Unfortunately, we will not be able to reimburse you, except in exceptional circumstances.

Am I eligible to apply for this role?

For information on whether you are eligible to apply, please visit Gov.UK.

Is security clearance required?

Yes. If successful you must hold, or be willing to obtain, security clearance to SC level. More information about the vetting process can be found here.

Will this role be overseen by the Civil Service Commission?

No. However, the recruitment process will still be governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

What do I do if I want to make a complaint?

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on 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 and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order.

To Shared Service-Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 08.00 - 18.00) or e-mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com

To Ministry of Justice Resourcing resourcing-services@justice.gov.uk

To the Civil Service Commission https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/

What should I do if I think that I have a conflict of interest?

If you believe that you may have a conflict of interest you must declare it by contacting SCS Recruitment on scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk before submitting your application.

Data Sharing

We will ensure that we will treat all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018.

To process your application your personal data will be shared with the Ministry of Justice SCS Recruitment Team, campaign Panel Members and anyone else necessary as part of the recruitment process.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is:

Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. Personal data are processed in the public interest because understanding civil servant experiences and feelings about working in the Civil Service can inform decision taken to improve these experiences, and ultimately organisation performance.

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is:

Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department: it is important to know if groups of staff with specific demographic characteristics have a better or worse experience of working for the Civil Service, so that appropriate action can be taken to level this experience;

Processing is of a specific category of personal data and it is necessary for the purposes of identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with a view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained.

Please note if you are successful in your application your sensitive personal data will be used as part of the on-boarding process to build your employee record.

For further information please see the GDPR Privacy Notice

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent where it is found. To learn more, please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy

Contact us

Should candidates like to discuss the role in more detail before submitting an application, please contact SCS Recruitment on scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk.