Who are we?

The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) is the public body which advises Ministers, including the Secretary of State for Justice on the youth justice system. Our ambition is to see a Child First youth justice system. A system which looks to children’s’ strengths and supports children to become the best version of themselves. To this effect we engage with a wide variety of organisations, partners and parties with an interest in youth justice; we share good practice, champion improvement and issue grants.

Our Vision

Working to ensure a youth justice system that sees children as children, treats them fairly and helps them to build on their strengths so they can make a constructive contribution to society. This will prevent offending and create safer communities with fewer victims.

Aims of the Youth Justice System

Prevention of offending by children and young people:

• To reduce the number of children in the youth justice system

• To reduce reoffending by children in the youth justice system

• To improve the safety and wellbeing of children in the youth justice system

• To improve outcomes of children in the youth justice system

Thinking of joining us?

Our recruitment is based on merit, we welcome applications from all who can commit to our vision and values, we offer considerable flexibility in how you work and expect commitment and flexibility in return. We continue to strive for equity, diversity and inclusion in our culture and our staff group. To this end we very much encourage applications from those people with protected characteristics. Our staff are public servants, eligible for the Civil Service pension scheme and we are accredited by the Civil Service Commission. This means applications from across Civil Service Departments, their agencies and Arms-Length Bodies are treated as internal applicants. We also welcome applications from those who do not currently work in these bodies or the public sector.

Role purpose:

You will be responsible for making sure that senior executives and the Chair of the YJB have their administrative needs met in a professional and timely manner which enables them to fulfil their duties efficiently and effectively.

Role context:

The Secretariat Team sits at the heart of the organisation and carries out a number of core functions on behalf of the Chief Executive (CEO) and Chair, providing the bridge between the two to ensure effective delivery against the organisation’s business plan. The office also supports the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and the wider Board and has a key role to play in maintaining the YJB’s reputation with external stakeholders.

The team is responsible for the handling of submissions and correspondence with Ministers and liaising with the relevant Private Office to foster and sustain an excellent working relationship and mutual understanding, thus supporting YJB’s ability to influence effectively. It is responsible for making sure briefings, correspondence, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are accurately completed in a timely manner and providing full PA support to the Chair, Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer. The team has a key role in the governance of the YJB and is responsible for providing the secretariat for the quarterly Board and Committee meetings, and the weekly senior leadership meetings. The secretariat teams duties also involve co-ordinating meetings and the exchange of information and decisions between the Board/Committees and YJB Executive/relevant stakeholders.

Key activities and relationships

You will

• Ensure that core meetings and ad-hoc appointments are scheduled effectively. Provide appropriate briefings and papers to maximise the use of the Executive and Board’s time, supporting delivery of the YJB’s priorities.

• Management and scheduling of the Chair and senior executive’s diaries

• Book travel and accommodation for the Chair, wider Board and Senior Executive as required

• Arranging meetings, making sure agendas, papers and items are shared, with specific needs catered for.

• Consistently demonstrate support and respect for the YJB’s commitment to equity, inclusivity and the diversity, both within the YJB and with its partners.

• Ensure you understand and adhere to your responsibilities regarding health and safety and data protection.

• Work positively and collaboratively with colleagues in both England and YJB Cymru, considering the impact of developments on policy, practice, and legislation specific to Wales.

• Work flexibly to meet the requirements of the business. You may be required to undertake other duties within your role or in other parts of the business at your grade to meet business priorities

• Act as a positive influence within the YJB by encouraging positive emotions and social exchanges in the workplace. Set high expectations and consistently meet them. Make sure you deliver on the commitments you make. Value the contribution of others, nurturing positive relationships, and supporting skills and professional development

Main Responsibilities

• Manage the work diaries for the CEO, COO, and Chair of the Board. This involves close coordination with the Secretariat Officers within the Secretariat Team to ensure that core meetings are diarised, and the scheduling of ad-hoc commitments are managed effectively.

• Ensure that any travel requirements of the CEO, COO, Chair of the Board and Board members are organised effectively and in line with the travel, subsistence and accommodation policy (T&S)

• Work in collaboration as part of the Secretariat Team to ensure that appropriate briefings and meeting papers are available to the CEO, COO, and Chair of the Board in a timely manner.

• Work with Heads of Oversight and Oversight Managers to arrange visits to youth justice services for the Chair and senior executives, ensuring that agenda’s and all relevant information are provided ahead of the visit and that travel and accommodation is booked within the T&S Policy

• Drafting correspondence to external stakeholders including letters to services following visits.

• Ensure that the Stakeholder Engagement Plan for the Chair and senior executive is both maintained and that relevant monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly and annual meetings with key stakeholders are scheduled accordingly.

• Updating and maintenance of team spreadsheets including, but not limited to, the correspondence log, meetings log, and visits tracker

• Circulation of youth custody related incidents from the daily incident report to relevant staff

Application Stage:

Please provide:

• Written examples demonstrating in no more than 250 words for the following essential civil service behaviour: Delivering at Pace (250 words)

• A statement (of no more than 500 words) of how you meet the ‘essential criteria: Experience and Ability’ as outlined in the job description.

• (Should a large number of applications be received, the initial sift may be conducted based on the lead behaviour: Delivering at Pace

Interview

For candidates who get to the interview stage it will be a blended interview covering, further elaboration on your application and the Civil Service behaviours, and strengths as described in the Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (this is a very particular style of interview please make sure you make yourself aware of these in advance).

Reserve List

Those candidates who successfully demonstrate at interview, the behaviours, strengths, and essential criteria required by YJB for the role, but who are not selected as the successful candidate, may be added to a reserve list for 12 months. Candidates on a reserve list may be contacted and offered a role which is sufficiently similar, without further need for application, within the timeframe.

Essential Criteria

Skills and Knowledge

Experience:

• Experience of successfully operating in a similar type of role

Ability:

• Advanced use of MS Office suite including Outlook, MS Teams, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint

• Strong organisational skills with attention to detail.

• Ability to work within an environment of ambiguity and manage change

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including ability to adapt style depending upon audience and occasion.

Behaviours:

Delivering at Pace (Lead behaviour)

Working Together

Managing a Quality Service

Benefits of working for the Youth Justice Board

• Opportunity to work in an organisation that seeks to make a positive difference to the lives of children at risk of entering and within the youth justice system

• Family friendly policies including flexible working opportunities. Many of our staff combine working from our offices in either London or Wales, or working from one of the Ministry of Justice Collaboration Centres/Satellite Offices throughout the country, with working from home; compressed hours, part-time working

• Civil Service Pension Scheme, and/or continuous service transfer of Civil Service Pension Scheme as applicable

• Annual leave of 25 days per annum plus public holidays (or for those transferring directly on a lateral move from Civil Service Departments, their Agencies, Arms-Length Bodies (ALBs) and Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB) we may, subject to confirmation, match current annual leave entitlement, up to 30 days

• As an accredited NDPB we may, subject to confirmation, accept your continuous service from other Civil Service departments their agencies and ALBs/NDBPs (however all new joiners join on 37 hours per week/ pro-rata for part-time)

• Special recognition bonus scheme

• Special leave for unplanned emergencies and for voluntary work

• Employee Assistance Programme offering confidential support and advice for personal and work issues and occupational health

• Health and well-being initiatives such as flu-vaccinations

• Free eye tests and eyecare vouchers for VDU workers

• Interest free season ticket loans

• Regular professional development

• Professional HR Case Management support for managers