Ministry of Justice

Job Title        Civil & Structural Engineer
Grade    SEO
Business Group    Chief Operating Officer / People Group (delete as applicable)
Contract Type    Permanent
Directorate    Property Directorate
Team    Prisons Infrastructure
Location    National

Property Directorate Overview 

The MoJ Property Directorate is a customer focused organisation that exists to enable our customers to perform to their very best.  We do this by providing high quality, easy to use services, and working environments that our customers want to work in, which support them to deliver their individual outputs efficiently.  Our job is to manage one of the most diverse and complex estates in Government – hosted by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).  The MoJ Property Directorate brings together a property portfolio including Prisons, Probation, and MoJ HQ and Arm’s Length Bodies.  We also provide property services on behalf of the Home Office.

MoJ Property provides specialist services including facilities management, health and safety, fire safety and security, technical design expertise, and sustainability.  We also have business management teams who support the entire Directorate and each of our partners is supported by account management teams.  We are responsible for a great deal - our portfolio consists of properties valued at £8.5bn for the MoJ alone.  We are part of the Government Property Profession (GPP) and through active membership and engagement we will work with the Office of Government Property to develop the maturity of the profession and also encourage our people to join the GPP. We continue to build our capability through training and recruitment, aspiring to be the best that we can be as individuals and as a directorate.

We continue to deliver new ways of working across our portfolio – leading on the scale and pace of activity for central government – proposing ways to achieve, and then providing more dynamic and flexible workspace, while driving down the cost of the estate.

Team Overview

The Technical Services Team ensure that all new build and refurbishment construction projects conform with technical, Health, Safety, Security and Legislative requirements that are not mandated elsewhere, or where our specific build type has a slightly different requirement. The team works closely with stakeholders and leading industry experts to develop our standards - continuously changing, innovating and improving standards to align with MoJ policy, sustainability objectives, operational requirements and modern construction practices.

This in an exciting time to join the team as we grow significantly in order to meet the demands of our ambitious estate expansion programmes worth over £2.5 billion in value. The successful candidate will use their engineering expertise to support and improve these programmes which, due to their scale, have the potential to influence the entire UK construction industry. As a result of this rapid expansion of the team and the Estate, there are excellent opportunities for career development and advancement within the property profession.

The successful implementation of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) - including Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Platform Design for Manufacture and Assembly (PDfMA) - is critical as part of the Cabinet Office’s implementation of Government Construction Strategy. As a pathfinder organisation, the development of digital construction capability is highly visible at Cabinet Office level and informs the digital construction and BIM strategy of other Government and non-government organisations. MoJ is quickly emerging as a leader in MMC and the Structural & Civil Engineer role is key to this success. 

The post holder will support the Senior Standards and Assurance Manager in their work linking the Property Directorate and other parts of the Cluster and Other Government Departments.

 Job Description, Duties and Responsibilities 

The Civil/Structural Engineering responsibilities include the following: 

•    Lead on the production and updating of Civil and Structural Technical Specifications and provide support to the Civil and Structural aspects of Design Guidance, Technical Specifications and drawings, pulling-in other Team members to contribute their expertise as necessary.
•    Represent Shared Estate interests and support other Government departments on cross-Government working groups.
•    Deliver projects to maintain and develop the BIM technical standards library, aiming at continuous improvement in construction standards.
•    Dealing with queries on Technical Specifications and Design Guidance from any source, including supply chain, manufacturers, members of the public, lawyers, etc.
•    Deliver Government Soft Landings interventions and Post Occupation Evaluation reports.
•    Manage construction technical enquiries put to the Technical Standards Team.
•    Contribute to advice, guidance and support on construction technical standards matters across the Shared Estate and to other Government departments (OGDs).
•    Present papers to the Property Standards Governance Board as required.
•    Consider the content of Derogation Requests within your area of expertise and provide written recommendations for consideration by the Senior Standards & Assurance Manager.
•    Draft Estates Technical Notices as directed by the Senior Standards & Assurance Manager.
•    Contribute to advice, guidance and support on construction technical standards matters across the estate managed by MoJ Property and to OGDs.
•    Assist with the testing and approval of products and elements unique to the estate that are Civil and Structural elements.
•    Assist with ensuring that technical standards are being applied to all estates-related works within the MoJ estate.
•    Provide comment on Civil and Structural aspects of mandates, business cases, RFIs and Notices of Change for compilation by the Senior Standards & Assurance Manager.
•    Monitor developments and innovations in the Civil and Structural practices and advise of adoption where appropriate.

Expectations of post holder in executing the role 

•    Post Holders are expected to display a commitment to Continuous Improvement, leading change, and improving performance. All those appointed to new roles in the team must be wholeheartedly committed to these principles and evidence this in their application.
•    Effective communication is a critical element of this role, as is the ability to prioritise and manage a workload, analyse complex information, present recommendations and make effective decisions. 
•    Post Holders must provide clear direction and focus, visibly championing the changes which deliver greater efficiencies. 
•    The Senior Leadership Team expects all leaders with the team to operate in a culture of openness and honesty, demonstrating a commitment to change through involvement and empowerment, and by delivering results. 

Additional Information
•    The post holder must have or be happy to apply for an enhanced CTC level of security clearance.
  
Skills and Experience 

Essential
 

• You must have knowledge and experience in a technical construction environment – assessed via statement of suitability (SoS)
• You must have strong written and oral communication skills - assessed via SoS
• You should have good stakeholder management skills and be able to confidently deal with senior management, delivery colleagues and supply chain representatives - assessed via SoS
• You should have the ability to use evidence to make decisions - assessed via behaviour Making Effective Decisions
• You should have experience of analysing a range of complex data - assessed via behaviour Making Effective Decisions
• You should have the ability to work collaboratively - assessed via behaviour Working Together

Qualifications

•    A recognised qualification at degree level or equivalent, in a Civil or Structural Engineering related discipline.

Desirable Criteria

•    Experience of working in a digital construction/BIM environment would be an advantage.

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. 

Government Property Profession (GPP) Technical Skills 

The GPP Framework is aimed at staff working in property or property-related roles and consider property to be their career anchor profession. This usually encompasses posts where professional qualifications and experience are directly relevant to the work being undertaken. However, it is also applicable to those who are currently not qualified property practitioners but wish to make this their profession of choice. Those with a property background at any level are encouraged to register with the GPP, which exists to support property practitioners at all levels. Details of the GPP Career Framework can be found at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-government-property-profession-career-framework--2

This role falls under Practitioner Level – Property & Construction Projects the following Technical Skills will be tested during the selection process (via SOS at sift and via experience questions at interview):
•    Property Professional Expertise – P
•    Property Programme and Project Management – E

Application process

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

Sift

Behaviours – Please provide 250 word examples for the following behaviours, with reference to the related essential criteria listed above:
•    Seeing the bigger picture (lead behaviour)
•    Making Effective Decisions
•    Working together
Experience – please provide:
•    Anonymised CV
•    750 word Statement of Suitability with reference to the essential skills and experience, and GPP Technical Skills as set out above. Property professional expertise will be assessing your experience in Civil and Structural engineering. Property Programme and Project Management will be assessing your understanding of how construction projects are managed, and your experience in planning and delivering work, and transitioning projects to business as usual.

Technical – Qualification eligibility question – Candidates must hold a recognised qualification at degree level or equivalent, in a Civil or Structural Engineering related discipline. Evidence will need to be uploaded as part of the application process.

If we receive a large number of applications, we will carry out an initial sift on the lead behaviour, Seeing the Big Picture.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely via MS Teams. During the interview, we will be assessing you on the Behaviours listed above and Strengths from the Success Profiles framework. You will also be asked Technical questions relating to the GPP Technical skills:

•    Property Professional Expertise – P
•    Property Programme and Project Management - E