Senior Policy Advisor on Closed Material Procedure
SEO
International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate
The International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate is recruiting
permanently for a Senior Policy Advisor at SEO level.
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you will be withdrawn from the process.
Security Clearance
The post is open to all staff who currently hold valid DV clearance. Applicants
invited to interview will be required to provide their DV clearance reference number,
together with the commencement and expiry dates of their clearance, which can be
found on your clearance confirmation letter. In addition, applicants must meet the
minimum UK residency requirements set by the Cabinet Office, which vary according
to the security level required for the role.
Location:
This position is based at 102 Petty France, London.
We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and
time spent in your base location.
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 multiple suitable candidates 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 the International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate
The International, Rights and Constitutional Policy Directorate (IRCPD) is a busy
directorate with a wide-ranging policy portfolio covering human rights, international
justice, devolution, the Crown Dependencies, and the wider corporate functions for
the MoJ’s Policy Group. We have responsibility for the international work of the
department, including setting the direction and priorities for MoJ’s international work.
We have responsibility for the human rights framework in the UK, and internationally
in relation to our human rights obligations with the United Nations and the Council of
Europe. We also have responsibility for constitutional policy, which includes
managing our relationships with the Crown Dependencies and the devolved
administrations.
The Rights and Public Law Division (RPLD) has policy responsibility for the UK’s
human rights framework, both domestically through the Human Rights Act, and
internationally through the European Convention on Human Rights, and a number
United Nations conventions. The Division also oversees justice business in the
Council of Europe, acting as a centre of excellence for the department. The CMP
Policy team sits within the RPLD.
Closed Material Procedure Policy
Closed Material Procedure (CMP) is a process that allows senior courts across the
UK to consider sensitive material whilst protecting that information. CMP operates
within several different jurisdictions including the Special Immigration Appeals
Commission (SIAC), the Employment Tribunal, the Parole Board and certain civil
proceedings. CMP in a civil context was reviewed by Sir Duncan Ouseley, former
High Court Judge, and his report (the Ouseley report) was published in November
2022. The previous Government responded to this review on 29 May 2024 and
accepted a number of Sir Duncan’s recommendations to improve the CMP system.
Following this a new team was established to take on responsibility for CMP policy
and deliver the recommendations from the Ouseley report accepted by the current
Government. This is a high-profile area with a high level of Ministerial interest and a
complex wider context involving national security considerations, legal challenges
and handling sensitivities.
CMP project - Senior Policy Advisor
We are recruiting for an established SEO to join the team, and to establish a merit
list to provide further resilience. The successful candidate will drive the delivery of an
electronic database of closed judgments, while also overseeing the team’s financial
management and spend.
The post holder will lead the end-to-end delivery of the database project managing
its development and overseeing a working group of digital, security, legal and
commercial experts across MoJ and, where needed, other government departments.
There may also be opportunities for the post holder to be involved in other work of
the team depending on workflows on the database.
This is a challenging and rewarding opportunity to work on a high-profile and
sensitive area of policy at a critical time in its development. We are looking for
candidates with strong communication skills, personal resilience, and a proven track
of working proactively and delivering with others. The work will be fast moving, and
we are looking for individuals who are motivated team players with a willingness to
flex across role requirements according to business need.
This is a team that supports people to develop in their careers and is an open,
inclusive and enjoyable place to work.
In order to build a strong and productive team we would encourage people from a
range of backgrounds to apply, including those outside of traditional policy work with
experience and/or an interest in this area.
Key responsibilities of this role will include the following:
• Implementing Sir Duncan Ouseley’s recommendation to establish a
Closed Judgment database.
• Responsibility for maintaining the cross-Whitehall funding
arrangement which supports CMP, through monitoring and tracking
of budgetary forecast and spend, and processing transactions with
suppliers and the user departments of the system.
• Ongoing engagement with key stakeholders such as: Special
Advocates, the Special Advocate Support Office and Government
departments (including FCDO, Home Office, MoD) as users of CMP.
• Other policy and engagement tasks as required, including drafting
briefings and submissions for Ministers, dealing with Parliamentary
Questions and correspondence, providing input for project documents.
Skills and Experience
Essential
• Ability to work independently with proven project planning and strong
organisational skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Strong communication and drafting skills, including the ability to understand
complex issues and communicate them effectively to a range of audiences.
• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment and prioritising effectively
while delivering high-quality work.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build and maintain
relationships and influence across Government.
• Ability to make sound judgments and provide well-articulated advice.
• Applicants must be sure that they hold active DV clearance - we recommend
you speak with your department’s security lead to confirm before making an
application to ensure its still active.
Desirable:
• Experience of working in or with security, digital and commercial areas.
• Experience with financial management.
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 example, 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 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 500
words, outlining your motivation for seeking the role, and how your skills and
experience would contribute to the roles and responsibilities outlined.
Behaviours
During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you
have met the following behaviour (see Annex A for more information):
•
Communicating and Influencing
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach
ment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf
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 and prior to the formal start of
the interview you will be asked to provide confirmation of your active DV clearance
status.
During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore
in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore
what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role.
You will be asked by the interview panel to provide examples of how you meet the
following behaviours:
•
Communicating and Influencing
•
Changing and Improving
•
Delivering at pace
There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based
questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some
time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.
You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles -
Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Interviews are expected to take place during September 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. CMP Project Team leader: Elspeth Rainbow,
elspeth.rainbow@justice.gov.uk. Or through our shared email address:
closedmaterialprocedure@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.