Senior Policy Advisor in the Victim and Witness Funding Projects and Remote Services Team

SEO

Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate


The Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate is recruiting permanently for an SEO Senior Policy Advisor in the Victim and Witness Funding Projects and Remote Services Team.


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:


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:


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 Work of Victims and Witnesses Commissioning and Implementation Unit

The Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate (CCVD) sits at the heart of MoJ’s policy agenda, working to reform complex systems that deal with some of the most vulnerable members of our society. We work closely with Ministers, No10, the Senior Judiciary, as well as a wide range of other Whitehall departments, to tackle a range of complex issues. Everything the team does to deliver our wide-ranging portfolio of work is uniquely focused on supporting those that need it most.


Sitting within the CCVD is the Victim and Witness Commissioning and Implementation Unit, that focuses on systemic, multi-agency reform work to improve support and outcomes for victims and witnesses, to help them cope and recover from the impacts of crime and enable better justice outcomes. The Commissioning and Implementation Unit leads on the critical work to commission and fund quality and effective support services for victims and witnesses both nationally and locally, via local Police and Crime Commissioners.  We use data and evidence to demonstrate the impact of these services and use this information to improve and influence the system through setting standards, building capability and capacity, and making evidence-driven policy decisions.


The Commissioning and Implementation Unit is currently working collaboratively to lead a major piece of policy work to reform local victims commissioning in the light of the Home Office’s decision to abolish the role of Police and Crime Commissioners in May 2028.


VWCI is a friendly unit with a strong emphasis on ensuring team members feel happy, supported and engaged in their work.


The Role - Senior Policy Advisor in the Victim and Witness Funding Projects and Remote Services Team


The Victim and Witness Funding Projects and Remote Services team in the VWCI Unit leads the unit’s strategic projects function, providing a flexible priority project support function across the unit and leading on cross-government engagement; as well as overseeing national remote victim support services grants and leading MOJ’s response to victim support for major criminal incidents.


As a Senior Policy Advisor, you will play a central role in delivering and shaping a transformation in how victim and witness services are funded and commissioned, in line with the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy. You will lead on the management of grant funding for support services, working closely with delivery partners and using data and evidence to assess impact, inform strategic decisions, and strengthen future commissioning models. You will build strong networks across Government to increase our impact on the whole HMG ‘offer’ to victims, ensuring MOJ’s work is driving and improving our collective response.


The role also includes supporting the response to major criminal incidents, working closely across government and with external stakeholders - including local commissioners and national charities - to ensure victims and witnesses are supported and to support the unit, and local areas, to prepare and respond.


This is an exciting role in the centre of the unit that offers the opportunity to influence policy and commissioning at a national level. It would suit a proactive and strategic thinker who is confident working across complex systems, building strong relationships, and using evidence to drive meaningful change for victims and witnesses.


The post holder will be required to:



Skills and Experience


Essential:



Desirable:


Additional Information

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 upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 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 behaviour(s) (see Annex A for more information):



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

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK


Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the Statement of Suitability and the lead behaviour of Seeing the Big Picture. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.


Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.


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:



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:   


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 via this link Success Profiles: Strengths - GOV.UK


Interviews are expected to take place 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. Alice Jones (alice.jones3@justice.gov.uk) or Bethany Henderson (bethany.henderson@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.



Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.



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.



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.