Senior Policy Advisor Closed Material Procedure

SEO

International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate

The International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate is recruiting permanently for a Senior Policy Advisor at SEO level. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Security Clearance

The post is open to all staff who currently hold valid DV clearance. Applicants invited to interview will be required to provide their DV clearance reference number, together with the commencement and expiry dates of their clearance, which can be found on your clearance confirmation letter. In addition, applicants must meet the minimum UK residency requirements set by the Cabinet Office, which vary according to the security level required for the role.

United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The vetting charter - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Location:

This position is based at 102 Petty France, London.

We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location.

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 multiple suitable candidates 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 133 prisons in England and Wales.

Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

The work of the International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate 

The International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate (IRCPD) is a busy directorate with a wide-ranging policy portfolio covering human rights, international justice, devolution, the Crown Dependencies, and the wider corporate functions for the MoJ’s Policy Group. We have responsibility for the international work of the department, including setting the direction and priorities for MoJ’s international work. We have responsibility for the human rights framework in the UK, and internationally in relation to our human rights obligations with the United Nations and the Council of Europe. We also have responsibility for constitutional policy, which includes managing our relationships with the Crown Dependencies and the devolved administrations.   

The Rights and Public Law Division (RPLD) has policy responsibility for the UK’s human rights framework, both domestically through the Human Rights Act, and internationally through the European Convention on Human Rights, and a number United Nations conventions. The Division also oversees justice business in the Council of Europe, acting as a centre of excellence for the department. The CMP Policy team sits within the RPLD.

Closed Material Procedure Policy 

Closed Material Procedure (CMP) is a process that allows senior courts across the UK to consider sensitive material whilst protecting that information. CMP operates within several different jurisdictions including the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), the Employment Tribunal, the Parole Board and certain civil proceedings. CMP in a civil context was reviewed by Sir Duncan Ouseley, former High Court Judge, and his report (the Ouseley report) was published in November 2022. The previous Government responded to this review on 29 May 2024 and accepted a number of Sir Duncan’s recommendations to improve the CMP system.  

Following this a new team was established to take on responsibility for CMP policy and deliver the recommendations from the Ouseley report accepted by the current Government. This is a high-profile area with a high level of Ministerial interest and a complex wider context involving national security considerations, legal challenges and handling sensitivities. 

CMP policy team - Senior Policy Advisor 
We are recruiting for an SEO to join the team, and to establish a merit list to provide further resilience. The successful candidate would work on implementing the Ouseley report recommendations and the further development of the team’s role as the owner of CMP policy within Government. The post holder will play a crucial role in delivering improvements to the CMP system, working with a range of internal and external partners and stakeholders. This is a varied role involving a range of elements of the policy-making process, including policy development, implementation, litigation, stakeholder engagement and project management. 

This is a challenging and rewarding opportunity to work on a high-profile and sensitive area of policy at a critical time in its development. We are looking for candidates with strong communication skills, personal resilience, and a proven track of working proactively and delivering with others. The work will be fast moving, and we are looking for individuals who are motivated team players with a willingness to flex across role requirements according to business need.  

This is a team that supports people to develop in their careers and is an open, inclusive and enjoyable place to work.  

In order to build a strong and productive team we would encourage people from a range of backgrounds to apply, including those outside of traditional policy work with experience and/or an interest in this area.  

Key responsibilities of this role may include the following: 

• Ongoing engagement with key stakeholders such as: Special Advocates, the Special Advocate Support Office and Government departments (including FCDO, Home Office, MoD) as users of CMP.

• Implementing recommendations made by Sir Duncan Ouseley, as part of his independent review into CMP. This may include;

  • Delivering on the Government’s commitment to establish a Closed Judgment database.

  • Working with the judiciary to make changes to the Civil Procedure Rules.

  • Improving and publishing the Annual Report on CMP.

  • The establishment of a Special Advocate Support Office in Northern Ireland and capability to run CMP cases in Scotland.

• Responsibility for maintaining the cross-Whitehall funding arrangement which supports CMP, through the oversight and transaction of payments with suppliers and the user departments of the system.

• Looking across the range of regimes in which CMP is currently used including the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), the Employment Tribunal, the Parole Board, the Security Vetting Appeals Panel, Civil and Family jurisdictions, exploring what, if any, policy interventions might be needed to ensure the system can operate effectively and consistently.

• Updating existing guidance and working with parliament, private office and press to ensure we are telling the story of our work on CMP and providing accurate and timely advice to Ministers on emerging issues.

• Other policy and engagement tasks as required, including drafting briefings and submissions for Ministers, dealing with Parliamentary Questions and correspondence, providing input for project documents. 

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Ability to work independently with strong planning and organisational skills, with excellent attention to detail. 

• Strong communication and drafting skills, including the ability to understand complex issues and communicate them effectively to a range of audiences.

• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment and prioritising effectively while delivering high quality work.

• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships and influence across Government.

• Ability to make sound judgments and provide well-articulated advice. 

• Applicants must be sure that they hold active DV clearance - we recommend you speak with your department’s security lead to confirm before making an application to ensure its still active.

Desirable:

• Experience of project delivery and governance. 

• Experience of civil procedure and/or national security issues.

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 example, 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 Work History 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, outlining your motivation for seeking the role, and how your skills and experience would contribute to the roles and responsibilities outlined.  

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):

• Communicating and Influencing  

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

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Communicating and Influencing. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely and prior to the formal start of the interview you will be asked to provide confirmation of your active DV clearance status.   

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role.

You will be asked by the interview panel to provide examples of how you meet the following behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing 

• Changing and Improving

• Delivering at pace

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Interviews are expected to take place towards the end of April 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. CMP Project Team leader: Elspeth Rainbow, elspeth.rainbow@justice.gov.uk. Or through our shared email address: closedmaterialprocedure@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.