Principal Adviser - Business Architecture
Grade 7
The Business Architecture Team is recruiting permanently for up to four Grade 7 roles. This campaign is open to current civil servants and external candidates.
Background
We are recruiting for multiple Principal Advisers - Business Architecture roles. They will work to Grade 6’ Heads of Business Architecture, focusing on portfolios supporting the Department around its core workforce, infrastructure, skills and capability needs in the long term, and work on the development of an organisational strategy to support and guide decision making of Ministers and senior leaders. The role will have line management responsibility, oversight of work and projects, and contribute to the development of the team culture and performance - including corporately.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is responsible for everything that goes into running the UK’s criminal and civil justice systems, creating the foundations for a safe, fair and prosperous society. We are one of the largest government departments with around 90,000 staff based across England and Wales. We are responsible for 500 courts and tribunals, 122 prisons, the policies underpinning the system and much more.
What we do
The Business Architecture and Transformation (BAT) Directorate sits at the heart of MoJ within the People & Capability Group. It supports and works closely with the MoJ leadership team, and in turn advises ExCo, on the people, skills, capability, resilience and infrastructure needed across the department to put us in the best possible place to deliver for the current and future Governments. We will work in partnership with the MoJ Chief Operating Officer (COO) Group, and closely alongside other functions and teams to ensure the machinery of the department is efficient but maintains a strong ‘people first’ culture.
The Business Architecture division is a core part of the BAT Directorate that helps identify opportunities and in turn formulate a strategy to improve the way services are delivered, the organisation is structured and ensure we invest in the right skills and capability for our future workforce. We work hand in hand with colleagues across the department, and closely with core People, Policy, Strategy and Strategic Finance colleagues in the preparation, delivery and implementation of fiscal and political events for the MoJ through the lens of people, infrastructure and capability.
Principal Adviser - Business Architecture - job description
This is an exciting opportunity to be a key player in the leadership of the Business Architecture division. You will be responsible for (among other things):
Working across the MoJ, its agencies and arms length bodies (ALBs), and other key stakeholders internally and externally, to drive forward the agenda for pan-MoJ Business Architecture ambitions
Leading and contributing in major change projects, focused on department-wide Organisational Transformation, and on more bespoke or ad-hoc and high priority organisational issues
Contributing to the development of the MoJ organisational strategy, owning one or more specific thematic area/s, that sets out the department’s future workforce, skills, capability and infrastructure agenda
Owning and nurturing relationships with key stakeholders across people, strategy, strategic finance and others to ensure that cross-department ambitions are aligned to the future organisational strategy, decisions made by the department and senior leaders are informed by this, and that we are progressive in organising ourselves according to our necessary future departmental capabilities
Being an active contributor in the preparation, delivery and implementation of fiscal and political events for the MoJ through the lens of your thematic area/s
Building and leading your team, providing coaching and support to potentially multiple SEOs and ensuring quality work is progressed within your portfolio
Being an active leader, engaging across the directorate and the group corporately, and assisting in setting up and maintaining corporate culture across the team.
More generally, you will be expected in your role to:
Build strong relationships across the department and balance competing interests to ensure advice and decisions are based on an understanding of the whole picture
Play a leading role in developing and communicating the organisational strategy for the department in line with senior leaders and ministers’ priorities, and the key strategic challenges the department faces
Lead your team effectively, demonstrating best practice in line management, overseeing and providing strategic input into their work, and supporting their development
Convene policy, strategy, functional and operational teams across the department to coordinate future work
Act as an advocate for the MoJ and build effective relationships with critical partners across the department and externally.
In practice, this can include a wide range of activities - such as drafting clear advice to ministers or senior officials to enable decisions to be taken; running workshops with policy, strategy, functional and operational teams across the department; preparing papers or slide packs to support discussions; presenting your work at meetings; briefing ministers or senior officials in person or in writing; or scoping and delivering projects to help the department answer important strategic questions about our future as an organisation.
Person specification
These Grade 7 roles will be a central part of the Business Architecture Division management, working alongside Grade 6s and the Deputy Director. We are looking for people who are highly motivated in leading teams and building capability, with demonstrable experience operating and delivering in a large scale and complex organisation where transformation and change are prioritised.
Essential
The ability to develop an understanding of how your work fits into the department’s priorities and provide strategic insight, drawing on your understanding of the wider context to ensure your work is clear, effective and relevant.
Strong problem-solving skills, bringing structure to complex issues and able to draw sound conclusions.
Confidence in drawing on a range of evidence and analysis to deliver high-quality, innovative and inclusive advice.
Strong prioritisation skills and the ability to make effective decisions on how to structure your work to make best use of your resources.
The ability to impose structure on complex problems, allocate scarce resources in the context of the department’s strategy and political direction, and set-up and lead teams and bring colleagues together to reach your end goal.
Excellent stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to build and maintain strong relationships, and influence across the department and beyond to ensure that the work of your team has maximum impact.
Openness to challenge and able to effectively navigate conflicting priorities.
Desirable
Experience working in a strategy, or strategic finance function within government or in the private sector
Experience working in the field of business architecture within government or the private sector
Please note that whilst we don’t assess or score ‘desirable’ criteria, we may consider evidence provided that demonstrates meeting the desirable elements of the role, only after essential criteria is assessed and where there is a need to differentiate between closely scored candidates.
Location
National.
MOJ employees based in a MoJ building should be attending the office a minimum of two days a week. You will be based at one of our 37 JCCs/JSOs nationwide, but travelling to see your team to one of our clustered sites (London, Leeds, Cardiff, Newbold Revel and Manchester) around twice a month will be expected. This, alongside any other travel to different sites will be classed as a day’s office attendance.
Ways of Working
At the MoJ we believe in 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
Application process
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.
You will need to submit an anonymised CV and Statement of Suitability as part of your application. You will also be required to provide a behaviour example, for the lead behaviour of Seeing the Big Picture.
Your CV should be no more than 2 pages long and should show us your work history and previous experience. It should be well structured, succinct and written in clear language.
Your statement of suitability should be no more than 750 words. Please use your statement to explain how you are the right person for this role linking it to your skills, experience and any evidence in relation to the behaviours and essential criteria that has been outlined.
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade (Grade 7):
Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK
Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the statement of suitability. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.
Candidates invited to Interview
During the interview, we will be assessing you on your Experience, Behaviours and Strengths from the success Profiles framework.
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework at interview stage, with a focus on your experience and the following behaviours:
Seeing the Bigger Picture (lead behaviour)
Communicating and Influencing
Working together
Changing and Improving
You will be required to give a five-minute presentation at interview. Details of this will be sent to those candidates who are invited for interview.
Please note that interviews may be carried out remotely.
Contact information
Candidates are encouraged to get in touch to find out more about the role, the team and the wider ambition of the Business Architecture division.
If you have any enquiries please contact Holly.Hobart@justice.gov.uk.