Transformation Lead

Grade 7

The Strategy and Transformation Directorate is recruiting for a Grade 7 Transformation Lead on loan for up to 12-months. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

If you are 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

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

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, and working with, 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. 

• Working closely with the Director General for Service Transformation to support strategic and analytical activity. 

Transformation Lead - the role

We are recruiting a Transformation Lead to play a pivotal role in delivering ExCo’s transformation priorities. You will take strategies and high-level priorities and translate them into actionable programmes of work, ensuring ideas are delivered, adopted and sustained.

We want applicants who can bridge the gap between strategy and delivery and leaders who can make change real, bring people with them, and embed transformation sustainably. This role will suit someone with strategy, policy and engagement experience who also thrives in turning ideas into delivery that sticks. You will be responsible for embedding cross-cutting delivery, coaching teams on new ways of working, and ensuring transformation sticks in BAU.

Key Responsibilities

• Operationalise Strategy: Take forward priorities set by the Strategy Team and senior leadership, shaping them into tangible outcomes, delivery roadmaps and embedding them into existing systems.

• Lead Complex Initiatives: Manage high-profile transformation projects, overseeing a transformation, priorities projects team and/or pilots (pathfinders), coordinating multi-disciplinary teams across policy, operations and technology.

• Embed Ways of Working: Model and coach agile, iterative, cross-functional approaches. Foster a culture of learning, experimentation and continuous improvement, encouraging teams across MoJ to think and work differently.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Build strong relationships across MoJ, agencies, and frontline operational staff, securing buy-in and ensuring solutions are grounded in reality.

• Change Adoption: Ensure new processes, tools and approaches are not just piloted but embedded into BAU, creating long-term value.

• Measure Impact: Use data and analysis to track outcomes, assess adoption, and demonstrate the value of transformation initiatives.

• Line Management: Support and develop Transformation Advisors, providing leadership and coaching within the Transformation Division.

Skills and Experience

Narrative Required

Essential:

• Proven ability to translate strategy into action and delivering change through multi-disciplinary teams.

• Strong stakeholder management skills, including working with senior leaders, frontline operational staff, and technical experts.

• Experience in applying continuous improvement, agile or iterative delivery approaches.

• Ability to design and embed new ways of working, not just pilot or propose them.

• Strong analytical and communication skills, able to explain the value and impact of transformation and innovation clearly.

• Comfortable operating in ambiguous, high-pressure environments, creating clarity and direction.

Desirable:

• Experience in central government, policy development, or large-scale public sector transformation.

• Knowledge of digital delivery methods and service design.

• Experience of embedding change in frontline or operational contexts.

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 250 words outlining how you meet the following criteria:

• Proven ability to translate strategy into action and delivering change through multi-disciplinary teams.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide a 250-word example of how you have met the following behaviour (see Annex A for more information):

• Leadership

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

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

During the panel interview, you will be asked experienced-based question, related to the essential and desirable skills and experience above, and strengths-based questions to explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role.

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.

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.