Ministry of Justice

Engagement Advisor

SEO

The Service, Strategy and Transformation Directorate is recruiting on a Fixed Term Contract for 12 months for an SEO Engagement Advisor. This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria in the wider advert within Civil Service Jobs.

Please note that if you are a current Civil Servant, you will be appointed on a Loan. If you are not a current Civil Servant, you will be offered a Fixed Term Contract. If you are a Civil Servant applying to this role on promotion, please refer to your own departments policy in respect of your grade on return from Loan.

Location:

Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:

• 102 Petty France, London
• National

We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your chosen base location.

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

New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum of the pay range. 

If you are already a civil servant and are successful in an external recruitment competition for a role with us, your starting pay will be the better of:

• promotion terms or transfer terms, as appropriate; or
• pay on appointment arrangements (minimum of pay range)

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. 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

Engagement Advisor - the role

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic person to join the team as an Engagement Advisor.

The Engagement Team is a crucial part of delivering cross-cutting transformation in the Ministry of Justice. Our objectives are:

1)    Building our brand and network – engaging across MoJ, other Government Departments and the private sector to build awareness of our work

2)    Developing leadership and skills – educating across the organisation about transformation initiatives and best practice

3)    Foster trust and collaboration – building relationships across MoJ and agencies to join up work on service transformation and learn from others

We deliver these through internal and external engagement, as well as supporting transformation projects as embedded business partners.

Our directorate works flexibly to suit the needs of the business, with team members based in London and nationally, which brings an added dimension to developing relationship management skills. The role will provide an excellent opportunity to work at the heart of MoJ in a vibrant environment, learning how Service Transformation Directorate operates within MoJ as well as the wider Civil Service.

Key responsibilities include the following:

• Support with delivery of the Ministry of Justice ExCo’s transformation priorities by owning key workstream(s).
• Work regularly across the Ministry of Justice and its agencies join up work on service transformation and build critical relationships to enable delivery
• Support engagement on new cross-cutting journeys throughout justice, including building relationships and stakeholder engagement plans to secure buy-in for the work
• Contribute to the engagement strategy for the Service Transformation Group in the run up to fiscal events, engaging with wider MoJ, HMT and No.10 as appropriate to secure buy in and support for key initiatives
• Deliver strategic comms across the Service Transformation Group in order to create a sense of cohesion and purpose in a new environment
• Create briefings, submissions and enquiries on new service transformation activity
• Engage and communicate with stakeholders at all levels, including interviews with experts and articulating the purpose and progress of service improvements to a range of audiences

To note: the above list of key responsibilities is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks that may be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills and Experience

This is an exciting opportunity to join a new and innovative Directorate within the MoJ. The post holder will be responsible for:

Essential:

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey key messages to various audiences. (LEAD criteria)
• Ability to confidently build and manage a diverse range of relationships, including with key internal and external stakeholders. (LEAD criteria)
• Ability to translate complex and broad material - both qualitative and quantitative - into written and oral analysis and communications, including briefings and presentations

• Demonstrated ability to seek and incorporate feedback, and foster a collaboration within a team
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines while balancing competing demands and delivering on challenging objectives.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the justice system and / or service transformation

• Comfortable using Microsoft Powerpoint, Word and Excel

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.

You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the following lead criterion:

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey key messages to various audiences
• Ability to confidently build and manage a diverse range of relationships, including with key internal and external 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.

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 behaviours listed below:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

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 early October 2025 (dates are indicative and subject to change).

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.