Senior Policy Advisor - International Criminal Justice

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International, Rights and Constitutional Policy

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

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

The International Criminal Justice team 

The International Criminal Justice team is part of the International Justice Policy Division in the Ministry of Justice. Working in a dynamic international-facing environment, the team is responsible for international criminal justice matters in both our bilateral relationships and multilaterally, engaging with EU and Rest of World partner countries and multilateral organisations including the Council of Europe and the UN.

One of the team’s principal priorities is negotiating new Prisoner Transfer Agreements (PTAs), which enable Foreign National Offenders to be transferred out of UK prisons, and back to their country of origin to serve their sentence, for release and rehabilitation. We also work on wider international criminal justice issues ranging from removal policy and mutual recognition to VAWG and serious organised crime in prisons. We work collaboratively across the MOJ, with operational partners and across government to enable us to build strong criminal justice relationships and arrangements with our key partner countries and maximise our impact in international fora, to deliver good justice outcomes for citizens.

We are a supportive and encouraging team with a commitment to development and a positive corporate environment. The post holder will report to a G7 team leader.

International Criminal Justice Senior Policy Advisor - the role

Strategy:

• Identifying policy levers to progress objectives bilaterally and/or multilaterally, applying an understanding of the wider international and criminal justice landscape

• Planning, preparing and participating in bilateral and/or multilateral negotiations  

Policy:

• Ownership of MoJ’s policy in relation to prisoner transfers, as well as other international criminal justice issues.

• Commissioning, drafting and briefing seniors and Ministers on policy priorities

• Working collaboratively with policy and operational colleagues within MOJ and across government to further MOJ objectives and solve complex policy issues

Engagement:

• Building relationships with UK diplomatic missions and counterparts in partner countries

• Responsible for progressing criminal justice objectives with a portfolio of priority countries and / or multilateral organisations.

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Highly organised and efficient, able to plan complex deliverables and keep self and colleagues to task;

• Experience of working with the Criminal Justice System and/or in an international / EU-facing context

• Experience of diplomatic or stakeholder contexts with excellent inter-personal skills

• Excellent attention to detail

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, able to produce high quality briefing and reports and synthesise complex topics for the target audience

• Experience leading multiple priorities over a period and keeping to fast-paced deadlines

• Proactive attitude, proven ability to come up with ideas and use initiative

• Experience working with / analysing complex policy and legal texts

Desirable

• Foreign Language skills

• Experience of and interest in international / EU relations

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

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 750 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 A for more information):

• Communicating and Influencing (Lead)

• Delivering at Pace

• Seeing the Big Picture

Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

CS Behaviours 2018

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the Statement of Suitability and Lead Behaviour which is Communicating and Influencing. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Interviews will be carried out in person, in London (102 Petty France).

You will be assessed against the following behaviours at the interview stage where you will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated them. In addition, you will also be asked strength-based questions.

Behaviours:

The following Behaviours will be tested at Interview:

• Communicating and influencing

• Delivering at Pace

• Seeing the Big Picture

It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:   

• WHO - What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? Or

• STAR - What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take?  What were the Results of your actions?

Strengths:

It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this. Further information on Civil Service Strengths can be found here.

Experience

You will also be asked to give a presentation to test your Experience, the subject of which will be communicated to candidates invited to interview.

Interviews are expected to take place in July 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. Anna.wardell@justice.gov.uk, Cameron.Crabtree1@justice.gov.uk; Thibault.Dufetel@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.