Directorate: MoJ Project Delivery Function

Job Title: Portfolio Analyst

Pay Span or equivalent: Band B/SEO

Contract Type: Permanent

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) priorities include improving public safety and reducing reoffending by reforming prisons, probation, and youth justice, and building a justice system which makes access to justice swifter and more certain for all citizens whatever their background. Project professionals in the MoJ help to improve the government’s ability to protect the public and reduce reoffending, and to provide a more effective, transparent, and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public.

The MoJ Portfolio and Assurance team is a central component of the MoJ Project Delivery Function and oversees the centralisation, coordination, and assurance of all project delivery within the Department. You will be able to access professional development opportunities, guidance, tools and support and access to the unique Government Project Delivery Professional Network.

The MoJ Portfolio is one of the largest and most complex across Government; including several Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) projects and programmes that will transform the operation of the Department.

The post holder will have the opportunity to oversee the breadth of major change across the Department as part of the Portfolio Office, and will focus primarily on providing insight, information, and support that will help strengthen portfolio governance and enable prioritisation decisions and effective allocation of resources across the Department’s change initiatives.

This role is instrumental in ensuring optimal delivery of Departmental strategic objectives in line with Government priorities. The post holder will help achieve this through the analysis of a range of information sources and engagement with programme and project stakeholders, converting this intelligence into informed insights using appropriate reporting and visualisation methods.

This is an excellent role to gain experience of Departmental portfolio management and corporate governance and will provide the post holder an opportunity to enhance their professional development and raise their profile across the Department.

The ideal candidate will be methodical, organised, and diligent; able to deliver at pace, working to tight deadlines whilst maintaining a quality service. They must be able to work pro-actively and with a variety of stakeholders and have excellent communication skills. They will have experience effectively managing competing priorities and will be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.

The ideal candidate will have previous experience working in a project, programme, or portfolio management office with experience of planning, governance, and risk management or have experience managing a project or programme through application of the government functional standard for project delivery.

MoJ expects its leaders to show openness, honesty and commitment, and, of course, to deliver results.

Key responsibilities of the role

These may be further shaped and adjusted dependent on business needs and team resources / skills.

Governance & Reporting and Quality Management

Lead in the management, tracking, and assurance of portfolio data and information, working with the wider Portfolio & Assurance team and project & programme teams to ensure compliance.
Review portfolio data and information and coordinate and lead Quality Assurance reviews with Portfolio Account Managers, ensuring a high standard of data is provided and challenged where necessary.
Lead on development of regular portfolio reports including reports and submissions for the MoJ Portfolio, Investment, and Executive Committees, and GMPP reporting for the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority.

Portfolio Analysis

Analyse key portfolio data and information from a range of sources and stakeholder to provide insight on trends and themes across the portfolio.
Develop these insights into analysis reports using appropriate reporting and visualisation methods to provide Departmental senior leadership with clarity on the state of delivery and support prioritisation decisions and effective allocation of resources across the portfolio.

Stakeholder Engagement

Act as a key point of contact for key portfolio practices, establishing effective working relationships with key senior stakeholders across MoJ, IPA, and other Government Departments.
Provide support and advice for projects, programmes, and sub-portfolios on developing collaborative working practices with all stakeholders.
Respond quickly to ad hoc commissions from across the business including from the Directors General and Permanent Secretary.

Frameworks & Methodologies

Develop and maintain frameworks and methodologies for key portfolio practices, and champion best practice for these across the Department and wider government.

Knowledge Management

Ensure that key lessons are captured and learned across the team on a regular basis and portfolio processes, frameworks, and methodologies are optimised to drive continuous improvement.

Other

Demonstrate commitment to professional learning and development.

Location & Terms of appointment

This post is advertised nationally but frequent travel will be required to locations where the Portfolio & Assurance team is based.

Your base office location at an MoJ HQ site, or Justice Collaboration Centres, will be discussed if successful, as we do not offer home working contracts. All available sites can be found on this link.

Salary & Grade

Band B - SEO

New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum of the pay range and this is non-negotiable.

Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.

Selection and Application Process

You will be required to complete an application form providing evidence of how you meet the following Project Delivery Competencies as per the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF) Infrastructure and Projects Authority pages and provide a current CV:

Governance
Quality Management
Stakeholder Engagement
Knowledge Management
Resilience

Where high volumes of applications are received the initial sift will be completed against the lead competency. If your application progresses to a full sift, all competencies will then be considered. Feedback is not available for those not invited to interview.

Merit List of successful candidates based on location will be retained after this campaign for 12 months.

Successful candidates will be invited for virtual interview where the following Project Delivery Technical and Behavioral Competencies, as per the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF) Infrastructure and Projects Authority pages will be assessed:

Governance
Quality Management
Stakeholder Engagement
Knowledge Management
Resilience

Project Delivery Competencies

You will be required to provide evidence of the following key competencies at the indicated level:

Competencies	Description	Level required
Project Delivery Profession - Technical Competencies
Governance	The ability to clearly define roles, responsibilities and accountabilities and establish controls and approval routes appropriate to each stage of the GMPP commission life cycle and to monitor compliance.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Stakeholder Engagement	The ability to systematically identify, analyse and communicate with stakeholders, using appropriate channels, to ensure all those impacted by the change are engaged, taking account of their levels of influence and particular interests.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Quality Management	The ability to plan, develop, maintain, and apply quality management processes to ensure the adherence to those standards throughout the project delivery lifecycle.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Knowledge Management	The ability to identify, share and promote best practices and lessons learned to create a culture of learning and good practice that supports continuous improvement to optimise project delivery.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Requirements management	The process of capturing stakeholder needs, assessing, defining, and justifying those needs to arrive at an agreed schedule of requirements.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Planning	The ability to define the fundamental components of a project in terms of its scope, deliverables, time scales, resource requirements and budget. It also includes the production of broader plans incorporating risk and quality to provide a consolidated overview of a project.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Scheduling	The ability to develop, produce and maintain schedules for activities that take account of dependencies, resource requirements and constraints in order to enable the efficient realisation of benefits.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Resource management	The ability to identify, profile and secure the resources required to deliver a project.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Budgeting and cost management	The ability to estimate costs, produce a budget and control forecasts and actual spend against budget.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Risk and issue management	The ability to systematically identify and monitor risks and issues, planning how to mitigate / respond to those risks and issues and implementing the responses	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Frameworks and methodologies	The ability to identify and amend appropriate project frameworks and methodologies to enable a consistent and efficient approach to delivery at all stages of the project lifecycle.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Assurance	The ability to establish, plan and manage reviews at appropriate points during all stages of the project life cycle to provide evaluations of progress against time, cost, quality, compliance, and ongoing viability	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Change control	The ability to establish protocols to manage and document all requests that alter the scope of a project. This includes the capture, evaluation and approval or rejection of any requests.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Business case development	The ability to prepare, develop, commission and update business cases to justify the initiation and continuation of projects in terms of benefits, value for money and risk	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Benefits management	The ability to identify, quantify, map and track project benefits to justify investment in the project, and to provide assurance that the benefits identified can be realised	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Commercial and procurement skills	The ability to gain financial approval for project costs and work with commercial colleagues to monitor spend against contract. It is also the ability to ensure the process by which the goods and services are procured by a project in line with the relevant regulatory framework.	(A) Basic knowledge and limited or no experience You understand how it can be applied. You can describe the benefits and importance. You may have applied it in a low complexity project under supervision or assisted others in delivering it.
Solutions development	The ability to identify, document and analyse the various delivery options and select the optimal solution.	(A) Basic knowledge and limited or no experience You understand how it can be applied. You can describe the benefits and importance. You may have applied it in a low complexity project under supervision or assisted others in delivering it.
Business change and implementation	The ability to integrate the project outputs into ‘business as usual’ (BAU) ensuring that activities are planned and completed to enable the business to implement the change and realise the benefits.	(W) Basic knowledge and limited or no experience You understand how it can be applied. You can describe the benefits and importance. You may have applied it in a low complexity project under supervision or assisted others in delivering it.
Asset allocation	The ability to recommend how financial and other resources should be allocated between projects in order to optimise the organisations return on investment (ROI). This includes the determination of which projects should be initiated continued or closed to best support the organisations strategic objectives.	(A) Basic knowledge and limited or no experience You understand how it can be applied. You can describe the benefits and importance. You may have applied it in a low complexity project under supervision or assisted others in delivering it.

Project Delivery Profession - Behavioural/Leadership Competencies
Resilience	The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and adverse situations whilst remaining calm, reassuring others and maintaining performance.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Collaboration	The ability to establish and develop productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, bringing people together to benefit the project.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Influencing	The ability to influence, change and impact decisions with both internal and external stakeholders.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Innovation	The ability to think of, research and apply new ideas and ways of doing things. Encourages and supports innovations from others, is willing to experiment and follow ideas through to implementation.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Credible Action	The ability to promote the wider public good in all actions and to act in a morally, legally and socially appropriate manner at all times. Challenges unacceptable behaviour.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Working with Ambiguity	The ability to work in an environment of uncertainty and continual change. Able to feel comfortable making decisions and setting direction without having the full picture and re-focus as details emerge. Can apply knowledge and techniques to reduce ambiguity.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Conflict Resolution	The ability to recognize, anticipate and effectively deal with existing or potential conflicts at an individual, team or strategic level.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Visible Leadership	The ability to engage, motivate and coach others. To act as a role model and inspire and empower others.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Inspiring Others	The ability to create and present a compelling vision and set clear direction, that motivates others to work towards a common goal.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Culture Change	The ability to plan, lead and effect positive cultural change, securing commitment and buy-in and promoting a positive long-term vision. Recognizes when broader culture change is necessary to deliver a project.	(W) Working knowledge and practical experience You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.

Travel

Frequent travel to other sites is required for this post.

Flexible working options

MoJ offers a flexible working system in many of its offices.

Job Sharing and Reduced Hours

All applications for job sharing or reduced hours will be treated fairly and, on a case, -by-case basis in accordance with the MoJ’s flexible working policy and equality policy.

Excess Fares and Relocation Allowances

This job is not eligible for relocation allowances, but excess fares may be considered in accordance with MoJ’s excess fares allowance policy.

MoJ offers a range of benefits.

Annual Leave

Generous allowances for paid holiday starting at 25 days per year and rising as your service increases. There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

MoJ is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities. As a member of the Project Delivery Function, you will also have unique access to the Government Project Delivery Online Skills Tool which will support the development of your skills and assist with your career progression aspirations.

Support

A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
Access to flexible benefits such as salary sacrifice arrangements for childcare vouchers, and voluntary benefits such as retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
Paid paternity, adoption, and maternity leave.
Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.