Parliamentary Officer (12-Month Loan)

EO

Private Office and Parliament Directorate


The Private Office and Parliament Directorate is recruiting on loan for an EO Parliamentary Officer. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.


This role is being advertised on Loan.

Should the successful candidate prefer to join on a loan, this role is available as a level transfer or temporary promotion. Any successful candidate taking the role on Loan on temporary promotion would return at the end of the posting to their home department at their substantive grade. The period of cover for a Loan will be for 12 months with the exact date being confirmed nearer the time.


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.  


Security Clearance

This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role. You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links:

United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The vetting charter - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


In addition, there is a minimum UK residency requirement set by the Cabinet Office which is dependent on the security level required for the role.


This role requires CTC and to be eligible to apply for this role you should have been present in the UK continuously for the past 3 years.



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 Parliament and Legislation Team

The Parliament and Legislation team manages the Department's Parliamentary business including all primary and secondary legislation, all parliamentary scrutiny of the department (written and oral Parliamentary questions, select committee liaison, debates, statements and briefing for No.10 and the Leader of the House), and the strategic approach to the department’s interaction with Parliament as a stakeholder.

It supports Ministers and Departmental colleagues to ensure all responsibilities to Parliament are fulfilled and that Ministers are well briefed and prepared for Parliamentary appearances. The team also holds responsibility for the department’s relationship with the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee, and with the Lords and Commons Whip’s offices.

The work is fast-paced and requires the ability to adapt to new information, constantly reprioritise and work closely with senior stakeholders and Ministers. We sit within the Private Office and Parliament directorate, which sets and steers the direction of the Ministry.

Parliamentary Officer - the role

As a Parliamentary Officer, your role will be varied and fast-paced. You will lead and support on: sub judice enquiries; laying parliamentary papers; parliamentary correspondence; Oral Questions, Prime Minister’s Questions briefing packs and Parliamentary debates. Key further responsibilities will include supporting the team’s work on Select Committees. There may be opportunities to take on other work, and the specifics of the role may shift slightly depending on business needs.

Sub judice enquiries: you will be responsible for responding to requests, made by Parliament, regarding the status of court cases. This is an essential service which guarantees that MPs do not accidentally prejudice live cases by discussing them in the House of Commons.

Parliamentary papers: you will be responsible for the process by which the MoJ submits documents to Parliament for publication. This will involve coordination with the teams that need to publish those documents, ministerial private offices, and parliamentary offices. You will also be responsible for coordinating the programme for laying the annual report and accounts for the MoJ agencies and arm's length bodies.

Parliamentary correspondence: the parliamentary team is responsible for correspondence between ministers and Select Committees. You will perform a role as the go-between for ministers and parliamentary Select Committees and be responsible for managing the traffic of correspondence.

Oral Questions and Parliamentary Debates: you will support with commissioning briefing packs for Lords Oral Questions and Parliamentary debates. You will liaise with Private Offices to confirm Ministerial availability and deadlines for packs. You will also support the Head of PQs and Briefings during Commons Oral Questions.

Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs): you will support coordinating briefings for Prime Minister’s and Business Questions on MoJ topics. This will involve commissioning out updates to briefing packs and ensuring they are cleared in advance of the deadlines set by No.10. You will also respond to any ad hoc requests for lines from No.10 in the run up to PMQs.


Skills and Experience

We are looking for candidates with strong communication skills and who are confident delivering at pace. Excellent organisational, prioritisation and relationship building skills are essential. You will need to demonstrate personal resilience, sound judgement and political awareness.


Essential


Desirable


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 provide a CV during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.


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):



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

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf


Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Delivery at Pace. 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.


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.


In addition to the Behaviour(s) listed in the application form, you will be asked by the interview panel to provide examples of these three how you meet the additional behaviour listed below.



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 in July 2025.


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: Sunil.Patel@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.