Executive Officers/Personal Assistants to Deputy Directors across the Justice portfolio (up to 7 posts available)

Executive Officer (EO)

Policy Group

Policy Group is recruiting permanent Executive Officers/Personal Assistants to support Directors and Deputy Directors across the Justice portfolio. We currently have several vacancies, and this campaign is open to existing civil servants seeking a level transfer, as well as suitable candidates looking to apply on promotion.

Justice Policy sits at the heart of the Ministry of Justice, and its work reflects the priorities of the Government and Lord Chancellor to implement and improve a justice system that is fair, resilient, open, and equitable.

We are a collaborative, friendly, high-performing group that brings together people from a wide range of different backgrounds. We make a real difference: our policies have a tangible impact on the services provided for people who encounter the justice system.

For more information about working in Justice Policy please crtl+click this link: Justice Policy.

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 133 prisons in England and Wales.

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

Job Title

You will work in a fast-paced and exciting environment where you will need to anticipate and resolve issues, prioritise competing demands and successfully support your director or Deputy Directors so they are able to deliver their responsibilities. Primarily by managing a busy diary and providing administrative support.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Management of the Deputy Director’s diary and inbox, including arranging all internal and external meetings and travel, dealing with conflicting engagements and finding ways of resolving competing priorities
• Ensuring all meeting papers/materials etc are in relevant folders in the inbox or printed, ensuring he/she has all relevant material sufficiently in advance of meetings
• Confidently and accurately relaying the views and opinions of your Deputy Director and other staff within the Directorate
• Building and maintaining excellent relations with other PAs across MoJ and externally, and with other staff within the Directorate and wider MoJ
• Supporting staff with administrative and logistical processes such as ordering new IT

This list is not exhaustive, and the role and responsibilities will develop over time.

Skills and Experience

The postholder will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:

Essential

• Proficient in Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and MS Teams
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent organisational, time management and task management skills
• Ability to be proactive and forward plan
• Highly resilient and takes “can do” attitude to resolving issues
• Can work well within a team and alone

Desirable

• Experience of working in an office/organisational environment and familiarity with Business Support functions 
• Experience providing support to Senior Leaders/Deputy Directors/Directors

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.

You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.

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 behaviours (see Annex B for more information):

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating & 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 Statement of Suitability and the lead behaviour of Making Effective Decisions. 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.

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.

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 Civil Service Strengths dictionary for more details:  Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Interviews are expected to take place in late April or early May 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. PolicyGroupRecruitment@justice.gov.uk.

Annex A - Directorate Summaries

Criminal Justice System (CJS)

The Criminal Justice System Strategy, Reform and Implementation Directorate is being set up to strengthen the Department’s capacity to work cross-system on CJS reform.

Sir Brian Leveson was clear that a lack of system-wide join-up has hampered performance across the CJS, and that stronger, more collective leadership of the system is needed, convened by the MoJ. The creation of this new directorate responds to that and will build on the strong foundations we already have as the department who regularly acts as the convenor across the CJS, both through the Criminal Justice Board and also through the good work we do every day throughout the Group with partners across the system.

The new directorate will ensure that there is sufficient capacity to lead work across Government to deliver reform, efficiency and leadership across the system. It will comprise the existing CJS Strategy and Governance Division as well as a new Division: the CJS Reform and Implementation Division.

Youth Justice and Offender Policy (YJOP)

The Probation and Reducing Reoffending Directorate (PRD) was set up in February 2025 and is led by Director Adam Bailey.

We lead on policy development and strategic initiatives to strengthen probation services, tackle the drivers of offending and support rehabilitation, ensuring safer communities and better outcomes for offenders. Our work spans three core areas: probation policy, reducing reoffending policy and reducing reoffending analysis, where we use data, research and evaluation to understand what works, assess impact and shape evidence-based policy, in close partnership with operational colleagues.

Policy areas include, but not limited to, electronic monitoring, intensive supervision courts, employment, family ties, children impacted by parental imprisonment, probation reform, and offender mental health and drug recovery.

Justice, Law, Sentencing & Policy (JLSP)

JLSP Directorate plays a unique and pivotal role in managing the complex and vital interaction between the Government and the judiciary. It supports the Lord Chancellor in fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities and oversees the policy relating to judicial and magistrate workforce issues, strategic judicial reform, judicial pay, pensions and diversity alongside negotiating the Courts and Tribunal Services financial settlement through the concordat process.  The Directorate also has oversight of the legal services sector, including its link to economic growth and trade and work to support the domestic rule of law.  JLSP works closely with the senior judiciary, the courts service, senior legal service partners and industry to progress its agenda and therefore suits those who like to work across systems to deliver.

Prison Directorate (PD)

The Prison Directorate leads strategic policy across the prison estate, working with HMPPS to deliver safe, decent, secure and rehabilitative prisons. The portfolio includes estate and capacity planning, operational policy, safety and workforce issues. PD is a fast‑moving, dynamic area providing direct insight into some of the most challenging and high-profile policy issues in government.

Civil, Family, Tribunals, and Administration of Justice Directorate (CFTAJ)

The CFTAJ Directorate is responsible for wide-ranging policy areas that include the Civil Courts, its procedures and rules, as well as civil law itself. The Directorate is also responsible for court fees and Tribunals, death management, Coroners and inquests, including funeral sector regulation, digital justice and irregular migration. Family justice policy and system improvement also sit within the Directorate.

Analysis Directorate – PRD/PD Embedded Teams

Analysis across the Department in both the Analysis Directorate and in embedded Policy Directorates helps to ensure that strategic, policy, finance, corporate and operational decisions are based on robust evidence. We are passionate about improving justice outcomes through innovative research and analysis. This role offers a unique perspective on how policy and analysis interact at the heart of government to guide decision making.

Annex B - 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.