Head of the Ministerial Priorities and Delivery Unit

Job summary

This position is based at 102 Petty France (MOJ) London, SW1H 9AJ

Job description

The Role

This role is one of the most senior in Private Office, offering a unique opportunity to work at the centre of ministerial decision-making and support one of government’s biggest and most complex departments.

Key Responsibilities

The postholder will lead a high performing team in a fast paced and challenging environment, responsible for supporting the Lord Chancellor to:

• Set priorities: leading a 12-month cycle of priority and delegation letters to Junior Ministers. These set out priorities for the Department and policy delegations for Junior Ministers.
• Track delivery: lead across the Department on a quarterly stocktake of the priorities set out in letters. This provides an update on progress and an early warning system for anything that is off track.
• Enhance delivery: overseeing a Delivery Unit function that works directly with policy and operational teams on a small number of priority projects, where delivery is off track.
• Forward Plan: responsibility for a six-month forward look, which brings together all the known events and moments - legislative, parliamentary, policy, operational, statistical releases, internal and external publications. This is designed to reveal crunch points, potential risks and opportunities to articulate key messages.
• Articulate key messages: leading through others to ensure high-quality written briefing for parliamentary-appearances, reflecting key messages and priorities. The postholder will also oversee Ministerial correspondence, as part of this.

Additional Responsibilities

Leadership: this role provides leadership to two Grade 6s, two Grade 7s and the wider Ministerial Correspondence Support Team.

Essential Experience:

• A track record of leadership in high profile roles.
• A clear understanding of both political and departmental priorities.
• Confidence in engaging with senior officials, Ministers and external stakeholders.
• A track record of success in service delivery.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• The ability to thrive and lead in a fast-paced environment.

Desirable Experience:

• Prior exposure to ministerial or senior official support roles
• Understanding of parliamentary processes
• Understanding of ministerial correspondence

Person specification

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.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

For full details about the Role, Key Responsibilities and Person Specification, please download and review the Candidate Information pack

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, Ministry of Justice contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.For full details of the Selection Process and Recruitment Timeline, please view the Candidate Information pack.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).