Senior Technical Writer
Location: National*
Closing Date: 1st July
Interviews: after the 14th of July
Grade: 7
(MOJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)
Salary**:
London: £63,343 - £70,725
National: £58,511 - £65,329
Working pattern: Full-time, part-time, flexible working
Contract Type: Permanent
Number of vacancies: 1
Vacancy number: 18910
*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP
Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital, Data and Science, the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade, E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ.
Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance. Please click on the link for details.
We’re recruiting for a Senior Technical Writer (Grade 7) here at Justice Digital, Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) team.
This role will be based in OCTO’s Data Platform Services - a multidisciplinary team of about 40 digital and data professionals who develop and support a suite of data-centric services.
These services support MOJ’s data strategy and our ambition to become a truly data-led organisation. They provide the critical infrastructure for 600+ data and analytical staff, enabling them to securely access, analyse, and explore data from across the department.
One of the priority services that we’re currently developing is the ‘Justice Data Platform’. This is a next generation data and analytics platform designed to meet the growing needs of data professionals across the department. We’re looking for a Senior Technical Writer to help us deliver this ambitious project.
This role aligns against the technical writer role level on the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework
You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:
A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work-life balance.
Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MOJ Justice Digital, Data and Science please take a look at our blog.
Lead the creation, maintenance and continuous improvement of technical documentation for the Justice Data Platform and closely related services
Produce clear, accurate and usable content for defined user groups including data professionals, support teams and operational users.
Work closely with engineers, data specialists and architects to understand complex technical systems and translate them into documentation that supports real user tasks, decisions and troubleshooting.
Line manage mid-level (SEO) technical writers, providing clear direction, feedback and support to help them deliver high-quality documentation and develop their technical writing practice.
Contribute to the development and improvement of shared documentation standards, templates and publishing practices, working within Justice Digital and OCTO guidance.
Apply agreed standards, adapting them where needed to meet user needs and service context.
Use, monitor and improve existing technical documentation publishing platforms and workflows, helping teams adopt good practice and reduce duplication or outdated content.
Working with user researchers and directly accessing web analytics, use evidence to understand how well technical documentation helps users complete tasks, where content is confusing or incomplete, and how to prioritise improvements that reduce support burden.
Communicate clearly with service owners and senior stakeholders about documentation risks, user needs and improvement priorities, using evidence to influence decisions and build agreement.
If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!
Essential:
Ability to create clear, usable technical documentation that helps people complete real tasks.
Strong user-centred approach to technical writing.
Ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical colleagues.
Experience supporting and developing other technical writers through line management or mentoring.
Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for SC clearance.
We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.
Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Base salary for this role is from £58,511 to £65,329 (National) or £63,343 to £70,725 (London).
New entrants to the Civil Service joining the MOJ are expected to start at the minimum of the pay band.
Existing Civil Servants moving on a level transfer will retain their current base salary or move to the minimum of the pay band for the role, whichever is higher.
Existing Civil Servants who are promoted will either move to the bottom of the new grade’s pay band or receive a 10% uplift, whichever provides the greater increase.
In Justice Digital, Data and Science, we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We shall assess a combination of your Experience, Technical skills and Behaviours during the assessment process.
Stage 1 - Application and sift:
To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application:
A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Person Specification of this advert.
A Personal Statement (no more than 750 words) which should outline your experience and skills, giving clear examples of work undertaken. It should specifically address the following 4 criteria listed below (250 words each).
Ability to create clear, usable technical documentation that helps people complete real tasks
Strong user-centred approach to technical writing
Ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical colleagues
Experience supporting and developing other technical writers through line management or mentoring
A diverse sift panel will review the information in your CV and Personal Statement to assess the sift criteria specified above. We operate an anonymous shortlisting process. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement do not include your name or any other identifying details.
Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on the criterion ‘Ability to create clear, usable technical documentation that helps people complete real tasks‘ will be conducted before the sift.
Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance
Stage 2 - Interviews:
Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a panel interview held via Microsoft Teams. At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements - Experience, Technical and the following Behaviours:
Seeing the big picture
Changing and improving
Communicating and influencing
Developing self and others
As part of your interview, you will be asked to deliver a 10-minute presentation which will assess “Ability to create clear, usable technical documentation that helps people complete real tasks". Further details will be provided if successful at sift.
Appointments are made strictly in merit order. In the event that two or more candidates receive identical interview scores, the Seeing the big picture will be applied as the primary lead criterion to determine the final merit order.
Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk