Transformation Advisor (up to 7 posts available)

SEO

The Service, Strategy and Transformation Directorate is recruiting permanently for an SEO Transformation Advisor. This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria in the wider advert within Civil Service Jobs.

Location:

Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:

• 102 Petty France, London

• National

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

New entrants to the Civil Service should expect to join on the minimum of the pay range. 

If you are already a civil servant and are successful in an external recruitment competition for a role with us, your starting pay will be the better of:

• promotion terms or transfer terms, as appropriate; or

• pay on appointment arrangements (minimum of pay range)

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

This role sits within the Service Strategy & Transformation (SS&T) Directorate, within the Service Transformation Group (STG). 

STG is responsible for leading the transformation of the services the Ministry of Justice and its agencies deliver to the public. Our mission is twofold: to provide the best justice services in the world, powered by the happiest team in government.  

The SS&T Directorate works across the Group and wider MoJ to improve how justice services are designed and delivered, ensuring they deliver better outcomes for users and operate more effectively across complex systems. 

The directorate includes several complementary functions: 

• Service Transformation Strategy and Engagement: Working across Service Transformation Group, to understand and drive collaboration on current transformation and digital plans; bringing together all areas of STG to collectively create a clear and compelling strategy for delivery over the next 3-5 years; baselining and supporting performance and prioritisation across STG. 

• Transformation Office: Managing the transformation portfolio, including through the Transformation Committee (Director General level); analysing portfolio performance; building transformation programme capabilities; identifying cross-cutting opportunities and issues that block progress towards user outcomes; and recommending rebalancing efforts where needed. 

• Transformation Delivery: Providing end-to-end service transformation delivery support to embed best practice approaches; identifying, encouraging and delivering new ways of working; acting as a critical friend to delivery partners and collaborating with a wider range of stakeholders to improve user outcomes. 

• Innovation Engine: Accelerating systems-wide transformation through high-value investments in digital development and product innovation; piloting initiatives to test new ways of working in cross-functional teams to unlock value through innovation and create cutting-edge solutions to challenges in the justice system. 

Transformation Advisor - the role

We are looking for SEO Transformation Advisors to join the Transformation team. 

These roles will work across either the Transformation Delivery or Transformation Office parts of the team, supporting priority transformation initiatives across the Ministry of Justice. Applicants will be assigned to either part of the team based on team need and best-fit following the interview process.  

You will help teams make progress on complex transformation challenges by supporting delivery, analysis, coordination and problem-solving. This may include working alongside transformation programmes or service teams to strengthen delivery plans, improving visibility of portfolio performance, or supporting cross-cutting work to unblock barriers to progress. 

The roles operate at the centre of transformation activity in the department, working with colleagues across policy, operations, digital and analytical teams to improve how justice services are designed and delivered. 

This is an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to high-priority transformation work, work closely with senior stakeholders across MoJ, and contribute to improving outcomes for users of justice services. 

Key Responsibilities 

Responsibilities will vary depending on the specific role, but are likely to include: 

• Supporting transformation delivery: Support the delivery of transformation priorities by working with cross-functional teams to help diagnose problems, develop solutions and track progress against user outcomes. 

• Analysis and insight: Conduct analysis and gather evidence to help understand delivery challenges, assess progress and inform decision-making across transformation initiatives. 

• Portfolio and performance support: Support the Transformation Office in monitoring the transformation portfolio, preparing reporting and analysis to support governance forums and senior leadership discussions. 

• Problem-solving and coordination: Work with colleagues across SS&T, operational services and digital teams to identify issues affecting delivery and support efforts to address them. 

• Stakeholder engagement: Build strong working relationships with colleagues across the Ministry of Justice and its agencies, supporting collaboration across teams and disciplines. 

• Developing outputs and briefings: Prepare high-quality briefings, presentations and written outputs to support senior leaders in understanding progress, risks and opportunities. 

• Supporting capability building: Help promote and embed effective transformation approaches, including outcome-focused and cross-functional ways of working. 

Skills and Experience

The work of this team is fast-paced and often involves navigating complex systems and ambiguity.  

The work of this team is highly dynamic and requires a proactive approach. The successful candidate must demonstrate: 

• Exceptional flexibility and agility, with the ability to respond to new and changing strategic priorities. 

• This includes the ability to create clarity in ambiguity by working iteratively on proposals and solutions, often employing an agile approach. 

• We require strategic problem-solving skills to perform effectively in a complex environment. 

• A proven capacity for influencing and delivering through others to ensure we achieve our strategic objectives. 

 Successful candidates will demonstrate the following: 

Essential:

• Delivery and problem-solving: Experience supporting complex projects or change initiatives, with the ability to break down problems, analyse information and help develop practical solutions. 

• Analysis and structured thinking: Ability to analyse qualitative and quantitative information and translate it into clear insights and recommendations. 

• Stakeholder engagement: Experience building effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders and collaborating across teams to deliver shared outcomes. 

• Communication & Team Working: Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear briefings and presentations for senior audiences. A demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within cross-functional teams and contribute positively to team delivery. 

• Working in complexity: Comfortable working in environments with ambiguity and changing priorities, and able to manage competing demands effectively. 

Desirable:

• Experience working on transformation, service improvement or change programmes 

• Experience working with digital, data or operational teams 

• Experience supporting programme or portfolio management activities 

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.

Experience

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following role specific question:

“Please describe a time when you played a key role in supporting the delivery of a complex project or change initiative."

You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words stating how you meet the following essential criteria:

• Analysis and structured thinking: Ability to analyse qualitative and quantitative information and translate it into clear insights and recommendations. 

• Stakeholder engagement: Experience building effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders and collaborating across teams to deliver shared outcomes. 

• Communication & Team Working: Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear briefings and presentations for senior audiences. A demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within cross-functional teams and contribute positively to team delivery. 

• Working in complexity: Comfortable working in environments with ambiguity and changing priorities, and able to manage competing demands effectively. 

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the role specific question as set out above. A second sift on the personal statement may then take place if we still have a large volume.

Candidates invited to Interview

Candidates who are successful at sift will be invited to interview 1.

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

Interview 1 - We will invite candidates to a short (15 minutes) suitability conversation to understand more about your background and motivation at this stage. This will include strengths-based questions to 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 CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Interview 2 - Short-listed candidates will be invited to a 30-minute interview which will cover in depth experience-based questions to explore in detail how you meet the essential experience criteria.

Dates

Interview 1 is expected to take place on 6^th and 7^th May

Interview 2 is expected to take place on 18^th and 19^th May

Please note dates are indicative and subject to change.

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.