Programme and Project Management

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Salary range (depending on location):    National – £39,868 to £43,535, London – £45,824 to £50,039

Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.
Any LAA Office
Commissioning and Service Development Directorate designs    

Team:    Service Development

The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely (as part of hybrid working), part time or as part of a job share etc.

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We provide civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales to help people deal with their legal problems. 

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service.

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The LAA is committed to diversity and inclusion and we positively promote flexible working, including job shares.

We will consider all applications on merit regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religion, ethnicity, preferred working pattern and except for exceptional circumstances your working location.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.

Central Commissioning and Service Development

The Commissioning and Service Development Directorate designs, develops and tenders new contracts with firms of solicitors to ensure the provision of legal aid services for the public. These services range from duty solicitors at police stations to special education needs and debt.

We work with the Ministry of Justice which is responsible for policy in areas such as legal aid scope, eligibility and remuneration. As an operational arm of the MoJ it is for the Legal Aid Agency to apply those policies.

Service Development

The Service Development team within the LAA is central to the successful design, implementation and effective delivery of key ministerial reform programmes, providing an understanding of and improving the efficiency of the civil and criminal justice systems, as well as providing essential expertise to support the core LAA business as usual functions.

Job Summary

As a Development Manager you will provide subject matter expertise in one or more areas of Civil Legal Aid. You will analyse, interpret and evaluate the operational impact of legal aid policy proposals and make recommendations to senior managers on the implementation of MoJ and other Government Department policy initiatives.

The successful candidate will have a wide- ranging role working across a variety of work strands. Key Responsibilities will include:

• Providing expert advice to Ministers, MoJ, LAA Departments, Other Government Departments and external stakeholders in order to:

• Interpret and evaluate the operational impacts of legal aid policy proposals;
• Advise on the development and implementation of policy and ensure accurate application
• Apply specialist, category-specific subject matter support and advice on LAA core business functions

• Lead on the development of internal and external guidance, including refreshing the existing suite of guidance products, FAQ documents, and welcome packs. Also, delivering workshops and training events.
• Engage with delivery partners across the wider Justice System to develop effective relationships which ensure that legal aid implications are actively considered and fully incorporated into whole system initiatives. 

You will also collate information and draft responses to Ministerial Correspondence, Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information Requests, and support the team to ensure effective performance and delivery against team and personal objectives.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills    

•    Effective communication skills, both written and verbal. 
•    Be able to develop effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
•    Be able to analyse how new policies or processes impact wider organisational/ governmental priorities.
•    Be able to manage competing priorities and work in a pressured environment, often delivering urgent and high-profile work to challenging deadlines.  

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills    

•    Have, or are willing and able to quickly build, knowledge of the operation of the civil justice system.
•    Effective analytical skills.

Person Specification    

•    An enthusiastic, proactive and adaptable individual.
•    Enjoys fast paced and politically sensitive work. 
•    Fantastic opportunity to make a significant contribution to the LAA’s delivery of the MoJ’s reform agenda. 
•    Wants to develop policy delivery experience and to gain a broader perspective on wider justice system issues and the role of legal aid.

Assessment approach 
Application Process
To apply complete an application based of the following Behaviours:

•    Seeing the Big Picture
•    Working Together
•    Changing and Improving
•    Delivering at Pace

When submitting an example of a behaviour remember to include the situation, what you did and why, and what was the outcome / result. 

Please note that if we have a large number of applications will we do an initial sift on the Seeing the Big Picture behaviour.

Interview / assessment Process
If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview / assessment centre in person or via Microsoft Teams where you will be assessed against the following: 

•    Strengths relevant to the role
•    Some or all of the following Behaviours: 
o    Seeing the Big Picture
o    Working together
o    Changing and Improving
o    Delivering at Pace
•    Your Experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy.

Behaviour Definitions: 

Seeing the Big Picture – Understand the strategic drivers for your area of work. Align activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities. Remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area. Seek out and share experiences to develop knowledge of the team’s business area. Understand how the strategies and activities of the team create value and meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders.

Working Together – Encourage joined up team work within own team and across other groups. Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders. Collaborate with these to share information, resources and support. Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another. Put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs. Make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Changing and Improving – Work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources. Use technology where possible to increase efficiency. Encourage ideas for change from a wide range of sources. Clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change. Encourage an environment where colleagues know that they can challenge decisions and issues safely. Take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users

Delivering at Pace – Show a positive approach to keeping the whole team’s efforts focused on the top priorities. Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation. Ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively. Regularly monitor your own and team’s work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks. Act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance. Allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility.

Shortlisting is planned for week commencing 18th September

Interviews are planned for week commencing 2nd October

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact – emma.boniface@justice.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAARecruitment@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, we will forward your complaint to the Civil Service Commission, an independent body, for review.

Salary

The national salary range is £39,868 - £43,535, London salary range is £45,824 - £50,039. Your salary will be dependent on your base location

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on ‘modernised’ terms in their current post or onto ‘unmodernised’ MoJ terms if they are on ‘unmodernised’ terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Support

• A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

• To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.