Family and Relationships Policy Adviser

SEO

Probation and Reoffending Policy Directorate

The Probation and Reducing Reoffending Directorate is recruiting permanently for an SEO Reducing Reoffending Senior Policy Adviser. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Candidates are reminded that to be eligible for this campaign; you must still be employed as a civil servant at the point of accepting the role. If you resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.

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, this role is available as:

• Full-time or established full-time equivalent established job shares (1.2 FTE). Due to the nature of the role it is not suitable for part-time working.

• Flexible working patterns

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 the Reducing Reoffending Team

The Reducing Reoffending team sits within the Probation and Reducing Reoffending Policy Directorate. We lead cross-government work to tackle the drivers of reoffending and improve outcomes for people in the criminal justice system, for example through providing access to mental health support and substance misuse treatment; maintaining family ties and securing accommodation; and helping them find employment.

This role is at the heart of the Government’s manifesto commitment to identify and support children affected by parental imprisonment. Currently, there is often no way for services to know when a child has experienced a parent going to prison, despite evidence that parental imprisonment can have lasting impacts on children’s wellbeing, education and future life chances.

We are now entering an exciting test-and-learn phase, working across government, local authorities, police forces and the voluntary sector to develop new approaches to identifying these children and connecting them to support. This is a unique opportunity to help shape a high-profile policy area and programme from the ground up and improve outcomes for a group of children who are too often invisible to the system.

This is a fast-paced and high-profile area of work with significant ministerial and parliamentary interest. Our team is friendly, supportive and high performing, with colleagues based in London, Leeds and Liverpool. We are looking for talented people who want to work on complex and meaningful challenges and make a real difference to children and families.

The Role

We are recruiting an SEO policy adviser in the Family and Relationships Policy team to play an integral role in delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to strengthen identification and support for children with a parent in prison.

You will help lead the policy development on children of prisoners as well as delivery of innovative test-and-learn pilots across local authorities and police forces, working closely with operational partners, analysts, legal colleagues, digital specialists and stakeholders across government and the voluntary sector. This is a high-profile and complex area of policy, requiring the translation of ministerial ambition into practical delivery, strategic thinking across teams and wider government, and close partnership working to ensure learning from the pilots informs future policy decisions. You will be responsible for building effective partnerships, coordinating activity across multiple organisations and departments, and providing high-quality advice to senior officials and ministers.

Alongside the pilot programme, you will lead on the wider Children of Prisoners policy agenda, including providing advice to ministers and senior officials, shaping future policy development, and working across government and with external partners to improve support for children and families affected by parental imprisonment and shape the long-term strategic direction of this important area of work. You will work at the intersection of family policy, criminal justice, education and children's services, with significant ministerial, Parliamentary and stakeholder interest in the programme.

The role will be fast paced, stretching and varied, involving close collaboration with teams across MoJ, HMPPS, DfE and other government departments, as well as voluntary sector and local delivery partners. Occasional visits to prisons, police forces and local areas will also be expected to gain insight into frontline delivery and user needs.

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Experience of developing and delivering end-to-end policy development and programme delivery in a complex environment, using evidence and insight to inform decisions and deliver outcomes.

• Ability to think strategically, understand the broader political, operational and stakeholder context, and work independently to set direction and drive forward priorities in a fast-paced and often ambiguous environment.

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience of building effective relationships across organisations and sectors to achieve shared objectives.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to analyse complex issues and present clear, persuasive recommendations with a range of audiences.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the criminal justice field or related services.

• Experience of working in a policy environment

Additional Information

• 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.

• 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 Work History, 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 Work History during the application process 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

Please provide examples of how you have met each one of the behaviours listed below (see Annex A for more information):

• Making Effective Decisions

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Working Together

• Delivering at Pace

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 Making Effective Decisions. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both experience, behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

At interview you will be assessed against the following aspects of Success Profiles:

1. Presentation - this will be centred on the Seeing the Big Picture behaviour the title of which will be provided to candidates successful at the application stage.

2. Your Experience - there will be a number of questions on your experience relevant to the Skills and Experience required for the role (as set out in the job description above).

3. 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 in September 2026.

Contact information  

If you would like further information about the role, please contact Kate Haseler-Young kate.haseler-young@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.