Ministry of Justice

Job Title

Reward Adviser 

Grade

HEO

Business Group

People & Capability Group

Contract Type

Permanent

Directorate

People Services

Team

Pay, Employee Relations and Job Evaluation

Location

National

About the Role

This role will support the Senior Reward Leads and Senior Reward Advisers to implement pay strategy for the MoJ HQ, Executive Agencies and Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs), operating as part of the MoJ People Services division as part of the Pay, Employee Relations and Job Evaluation Team in the MoJ People Group.

This is a role within the MoJ Pay and Reward function, leading and contributing to pay for c90k staff who are geographically spread throughout the UK and with an overall pay budget of £4bn.

The Reward Advisers support the total reward offer that covers job evaluation and all of the pay policies for each of our constituent workforce groups i.e. the Senior Civil Service, Civil Service ‘delegated grades’ at Grade 6 and below, operational Prison Service grades and the National Probation Service. Some of our services are delivered through a number of third-party suppliers, e.g. SSCL, My CSP and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund for the Local Government Pension Scheme.

As the size of our portfolio is so wide ranging each Reward Adviser supports a specific workforce within the MoJ family that is subject to change and there is scope to lead on projects that impacts some or all workforce groups. Work will vary but can include supporting in the implementation of the annual pay review, leading on pay and reward related projects and supporting/coaching colleagues in day to day handling on complex pay cases to ensure pay and reward skills and expertise are shared across the function.

Summary

This role is an exciting and varied remit, covering all aspects of pay and reward including pay awards and pay policies. As we continue to review and transform our approaches, this role will be critical to delivering our agenda.

In this role, you will work closely and build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders including the wider Reward team, HR team, Probation/Prisons policy teams. Trade Union representatives, Analytical specialists, ALB HR/Corporate teams, Finance and external suppliers.

In summary the postholder will support on a varying portfolio including:

• Implementing the annual pay award in a timely manner and in conjunction with MoJ’s payroll shared service provider.
• Build positive relations with key stakeholders, using data and user insights to develop and implement credible solutions to pay issues and challenges, that deliver value for money.
• Provide effective advice to the business, other teams and external suppliers on pay and reward related issues and policies for the department and it’s ALBs and to inform departmental projects.
• Lead on ad-hoc projects ensuring alignment with pay and reward strategy and compliance with the CS pay remit guidance and the PSPRB recommendations

Responsibilities, Activities & Duties:

The Reward Adviser will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• Assist the Senior Reward Leads and Senior Reward Advisers, in the effective implementation of delivery of future reward strategies, practices and reward programmes across the business.
• Support new pay policy development, introducing innovation and simplification into pay and reward processes and guidance and working with third party partners to deliver service improvement.
• Support the drafting of communications for staff and key stakeholder (internal and external), ensuring that diverse audiences can easily understand complex/technical information.
• Provide pay expertise and advice to various MoJ programmes and projects including the wider HR community, Shared Services and the business on solutions to pay and reward issues. Lead on resolving queries into the Reward team and managing complex and sensitive individual cases.
• Build positive relations with key stakeholders (internal and external), providing effective support and advice on all elements of pay and reward for the department, it’s Executive Agencies and its Arm’s Length Bodies.
• Work closely with the wider Reward teams and People Group to ensure that pay proposals meet wider HR and department objectives. Including liaising with subject matter experts within specific teams, professions and the wider Civil Service (Government People Group and the Government Legal Department) to ensure proposals are well devised and future proofed.
• Work with third party partners to implement pay related changes effectively.
• Consider business case requests that are outside of policy; resolving complex pay issues; modifying processes and practices to improve efficiency and transparency.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive.

Essential Criteria

• Experience in Reward or as a HR generalist or similar role.
• Excellent communication skills, both in verbal and written
• Experience of building positive relations with HRBP teams and suppliers. (CV & Communicating and Influencing)
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and organise overall workloads in order to meet deadlines. (Delivering at Pace (Interview)
• Ability to react to changing priorities and deliver at pace, proactively resolving issues that may arise. (Delivering at Pace (Interview)
• Management of sensitive individual cases with both individuals and managers. (CV)

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of supporting and implementing pay awards.
• An understanding of the Civil Service reward landscape.
• Working knowledge of employment law.
• Proficiency in Excel, with experience of analysing both quantitative and qualitative data to produce clear reports, graphs and insights.
• Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) or equivalent or willingness to work to gain the qualification.

Please note that whilst we don’t assess or score ‘desirable’ criteria, we may consider evidence provided that demonstrates meeting the desirable elements of the role, only after essential criteria is assessed and where there is a need to differentiate between closely scored candidates. 

Application process

You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.

Sift

Experience

Please provide an anonymised copy of your CV.

Behaviours

You will need to demonstrate your skills and experience against the following criteria:

Behaviours:

Making Effective Decisions (Lead Behaviour Sift and Interview)

• Analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions, ensuring value for money is considered.
• Display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular.
• Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks.

Changing and Improving (Sift and Interview)

• Work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources, encouraging ideas for change from a wide range of sources.
• Clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change.
• Take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users.

Managing a Quality Service (Sift and Interview)

• Work with stakeholders to set priorities, objectives and timescales.
• Identify risks and resolve issues efficiently.
• Involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements.

Communicating and Influencing (interview)

• Communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner, choosing appropriate styles to maximise understanding and impact.
• Ensure communication has a clear purpose and takes into account people’s individual needs.
• Ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders respectfully, taking into consideration the diversity of interests.

Delivering at Pace (Interview)

• Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation.
• Act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance.
• Allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility.

Please refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details, including by grade:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles/success-profiles-civil-service-behaviours#why-we-assess-behaviours

If we receive a large number of applications, we will carry out an initial sift on the lead criteria of Making Effective Decision (Lead Behaviour). 

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely via MS Teams.

During the interview, we will be assessing you on Behaviours above and Strengths from the Success Profiles framework.