Executive Assistant to the Director of Service Strategy and Transformation 

HEO

The Service, Strategy and Transformation Directorate is recruiting permanently for a HEO Executive Assistant to the Director. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Location:

Successful candidates will have the option to be based in our London HQ or one of our National locations.

We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location. Please note that this role will require regular travel to our London HQ (102 Petty France).

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 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 SC and to be eligible to apply for this role you should have been present in the UK continuously for the past 5 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

This role sits within the Service Strategy & Transformation Directorate (SS&T). We are responsible for: 

• Working across the Service Transformation Group (with Justice Digital, the Legal Aid Agency, Office of the Public Guardian and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority), to understand and drive collaboration on current transformation and digital plans 

• Supporting digital development and innovation to enhance the victim experience throughout the criminal justice (CJ) process, implement recommendations from the Independent Sentencing Review and support probation workers in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) 

• Identifying, encouraging and delivering new ways of working, acting as a critical friend to delivery partners and collaborating with a wider range of stakeholders to improve experiences for those in the CJ system. 

• Identifying cross-cutting transformation opportunities across the Ministry of Justice that can drive cutting-edge digital delivery, user experience, efficiencies and delivery of policy goals 

• Baselining and supporting performance and prioritisation across the Service Transformation Group 

• Bringing together all areas of the Group to collectively create a clear and compelling narrative for delivery over the next 3-5 years.  

• Engaging across the Ministry of Justice and its agencies to gain buy-in and support for our initiatives. 

• Supporting the Director General for Service Transformation with strategic and analytical activity. 

Diary Manager - the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join a new and innovative Directorate within the MoJ and the Executive Assistant role sits within the Private Office for the Director of SS&T. The post holder will be responsible for:

Diary & Time Management:  

• Managing daily and strategic diary planning for the Directors, using effective judgement to independently review, summarise and prioritise tasks and push back where necessary.  

• Ensuring efficient scheduling, and alignment with priorities, and being able to swiftly adapt to potentially last-minute changes.  

Briefing & Preparation:  

• Prepare and lead on daily diary packs and technical briefings, developing a high-level understanding of key business priorities to ensure principals are fully equipped for meetings. 

Correspondence & Invitations:  

• Manage incoming invitations and support planning and logistics for visits, including preparation of materials and follow-up actions. 

Advice & Decision Support:  

•  Review complex information, to support timely, informed decision-making by the Director and coordinate with Private Office and wider directorate to communicate advice and guidance. 

Stakeholder Engagement:  

• Build and maintain strong relationships across the Department, including senior leadership, to enable early issue identification and effective collaboration. 

• Communicating effectively with senior stakeholders on behalf of the Director, demonstrating excellent interpersonal skills and knowledge of business area. 

AI & Corporate Workstreams 

• Act as the lead for the AI and Corporate Workstreams in the directorate. Championing the use of AI and upskilling the wider team. 

• Lead on the implementation of key corporate workstreams for the directorate, sourcing volunteers and overseeing the development of action plans. 

• Issue clear communication on new initiatives or updates and providing support and guidance where needed. 

• Take responsibility to solve any problems that arise, finding solutions both independently and with the support of the PO team. 

Skills and Experience

Narrative Required

Essential:

• Previous experience as an Executive Assistant or similar role and experience working with senior leaders and stakeholders (LEAD CRITERIA)

• Demonstrably excellent communication and engagement skills, with a good ability to persuade and influence others.

• A track record of being a team player, working well with others in a high-pressure environment. 

• Be highly organised and able to juggle competing priorities, often to tight timescales.  

• Able to have clear accountability and ownership of tasks, whilst also knowing when to ask for help.

• The ability to remain calm under pressure.  

• Strong ability to upwardly manage and challenge upwards.   

Desirable:

• Private Office experience in an organisation of significant size and complexity.  

• A digital or transformation background.

• An understanding of the Department and/or its strategy and priorities.  

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 outlining your career history.

You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words stating what you would bring to the role, by providing examples of how your skills and experience reflect the essential and desirable criteria listed above.

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the Lead Criteria: Previous experience as an Executive Assistant or similar role and experience working with senior leaders and stakeholders. 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 via MS Teams

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 additional behaviours listed below.

• Managing a Quality Service

• Communicating and Influencing

• Working Together

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

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 August 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: Aysha.Ali@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.