Capability Lead
Location: National*
Closing Date: 02 April 2026
Interviews: from 15 April 2026
Grade: 7
(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)
Salary: London: £63,343 - £70,725; National: £58,511 - £65,329
Working pattern: Full-time, part-time, flexible working
Contract Type: Permanent
*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP
We’re recruiting for a Capability Lead here at Justice Digital, to be part of our warm and collaborative Capability, Digital & Data Enabling Services team.
Your main priority will be to lead Justice Digital’s Government Digital and Data (GDD) Assessment and Allowances team who look after the enabling processes to access GDD Pay. As Lead you will set the strategy and objectives for the team and define what good looks like. Applying your leadership skills and using your experience and expertise you will lead a small team to equip them to provide effective advice and assure the pay scheme as well as making sure continuous improvement (CI) happens and that CI continues to be a key part of the team’s identity.
There will be opportunity to build on your skills in researching, designing and delivering enduring products or services that can be refined and upgraded. We want to focus even more on developing our capability through our assessment results given the amazing insights they provide. Over time, our efforts to automate and innovate will also mean your focus might also shift to include other capability priorities in our Talent Strategy. We want to further develop our skill assessments for all, alongside the amazing learning opportunities we provide, the professional frameworks we curate and the talent pipeline we fill. We have many great things to do, and you will be able to shape and deliver them.
Working closely with others internally, for example communities of practice and their Heads of Profession, will enable you to drive further value into our work. A strong relationship with MOJ HR is established and you will work closely with colleagues there to continue our commitment to ensuring governance and rigour. You will also work with Government Digital Service (GDS) on their central effort to improve the GDD profession on behalf of MoJ and bring back knowledge and information to add value from your relationships across government.
We pride ourselves on what the Capability Team has achieved to date and want to share our experience and promote our achievements with colleagues across our and in other departments. And then deliver more so we can continue to attract, develop and retain the best talent for the happiest team in government delivering the best public services.
To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital please take a look at our blog.
End to end management of Government Digital and Data capability assessments in Justice Digital providing access to GDD pay frameworks where relevant. Ensuring the right allowances can be paid in a timely manner and owning processes and systems that are robust, scalable and repeatable.
Leading and directing on a day-to-day basis, providing guidance and support to manage a high-performing, confident and collaborative team.
Keeping accurate user records and handling queries and escalations as they arise.
Analysing skills assessment outputs and providing usable insights
Getting messages out; communicating and engaging. We are committed to engagement so that individuals and the department understand and benefit from the GDD Profession.
Working with GDD professional communities of practice to provide clear direction and structure.
Working closely with GDS via their Working Groups to add departmental value and bring back improvements for our projects and products.
Leading and managing stakeholder and partner relationships for example with Heads of Profession, MOJ Reward, HR, SSCL, GDS and Users.
If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!
37 hours per week and flexible working options including working from home, working part-time, job sharing, or working compressed hours.
A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best in class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
Staff have 10% time to dedicate to develop & grow.
Generous civil service pension based on defined benefit scheme, with employer contributions of 28.97% from April 1st 2024 (Contribution Rates).
25 days leave (plus bank holidays) and 1 privilege day usually taken around the King’s birthday. 5 additional days of leave once you have reached 5 years of service.
Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
Wellbeing support including access to the Calm app.
Nurturing professional and interpersonal networks including those for Carers & Childcare, Gender Equality, PROUD and SPIRIT.
Bike loans up to £2500 and secure bike parking (subject to availability and location).
Season ticket loans, childcare vouchers and eye-care vouchers.
5 days volunteering paid leave.
Some offices may have a subsidised onsite Gym.
Essential
Managing an autonomous, high performing team to deliver excellent and timely results. Providing advice, guidance and support as well as project management approaches and methodologies, e.g. Agile
Keeping up to date with latest cross-government and industry themes to inform your approach to delivery and excellent results
Ability to make effective evidence-based decisions, informed by insights from data and stakeholders, to maintain and strengthen robust products and services
Experience of capability development or related discipline
Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for BPSS clearance
We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.
Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.
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 D&I Strategy.
Candidates must submit a CV and Personal Statement (up to 500 words) which describes how you meet the requirements set out in the Person Specification above.
The Personal Statement will be used to assess your application against the following criteria:
Experience of capability development or related discipline
Delivery at Pace
Application Guidance
Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply and how to complete a Personal Statement
Application Guidance
In Justice Digital, we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We will assess your Experience, Technical Skills and the following Behaviours during the assessment process:
Delivery at Pace
See the Bigger Picture
Making effective decisions
A diverse panel will review your application against the Person Specification above.
Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a 1-hour panel interview held via video conference.
Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
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.
Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk