44612 - Board Secretariat: Governance & Secretariat Manager

£30,989 - £47,591 Salary will depend on location
2
12 Months
London, Yorkshire and the Humber
Leeds , London
102 PETTY FRANCE (MOJ) LONDON, SW1H 9AJ, 5 WELLINGTON PLACE LEEDS, LS1 4AP
SEO
B
Permanent
Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Operational Delivery

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

The MPSI Directorate is recruiting for two Governance and Secretariat Managers. This campaign is open to existing civil servants on level transfer or those eligible on promotion.

Location:

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

1. 102 Petty France, London 

2. 5 Wellington Place, Leeds (occasional travel between Leeds and London may be required post Covid-19)

Current circumstances require everyone to work from home for all or the majority of the time depending on local restrictions and individual circumstances.

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

• Flexible working arrangements between base locations, MoJ Hubs and home.

At the moment the majority of our staff are currently working from home due to Covid-19

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.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing around 70,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9 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

Job Description Overview 

The Board Secretariat Team supports the MoJ Board and its sub-committees to ensure that the department is run effectively, manages risk, and delivers on its key objectives. This a great opportunity to join a team that has the unique position of oversight of the key decisions and discussions taking place at the highest level in the department.

The Board Secretariat sit within Strategy Group and we are responsible for the effective corporate governance of the department which includes supporting the work of:

• Departmental Board

• Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

• Delivery Board

• Executive Committee

• Investment Committee

• Nominations’ Committee

• Portfolio Committee

• Finance, Performance & Risk Committee.

Role Purpose

The role offers the opportunity to gain insight into broad areas of policy and operations and gives exposure to senior colleagues on the Executive Team, Ministers and Non-Executive Directors.  Through your day to day work, you will promote good governance across the department and gain invaluable experience at the heart of the decision-making process. 

The role would suit an individual who would relish the chance to see and be involved in how a large government department runs and makes key decisions, so may suit an individual who wishes to develop their strategic planning capabilities.

The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

• You will lead the delivery of professional Secretariat services on a selection of the department’s key Committee meetings, ensuring a robust and strategic forward plan is developed and delivered for these meetings.

• You will engage actively with the DG Offices, Permanent Secretaries’ Office and regular attendees to ensure you maintain awareness of the key priorities of each Business Group within the department, as well as, the key work of the department as a whole.

• You will be responsible for ensuring that papers are quality assured, challenging paper authors where necessary and that these are sent out in a timely manner; that meetings are well organised; and a high-quality level of customer service is provided. 

• You will work with the Band D to ensure action logs are kept up to date and ensure teams have accurate slots for presentations. This will require liaison with stakeholders and presenters. 

• You will take detailed, Cabinet style minutes, for Committee meetings and write these up quickly to a high standard.

• You will develop and maintain excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders on governance and secretariat issues to improve information exchange and understanding

• You will seek to continually improve, innovate and provide efficient and effective meetings, incorporating feedback from a wide range of stakeholders.

• You will have the opportunity to develop the relationship between the department and its Non-Executives, ensuring they are well supported and informed, as well as, leading the induction programme for any new Non-Executives.

• You will provide leadership and develop your direct reports to ensure the highest standards of delivery.

• You will act as the Deputy for the Grade 7, providing leadership to make sure the overall team is delivering a tailored, effective and efficient service.

• You will manage two Band Cs (HEOs) and one Band D (EO)

Person Specification:

We are looking to recruit people who can operate effectively and consistently in a fast-paced environment, those who are able to anticipate and resolve issues, and who work flexibly to get things done. 

To be successful, you will need to be highly adaptable, adjusting to the requirements and strategic direction of the business. You will have excellent communication skills (including the ability to draft clearly and concisely) and to be proficient with Office 365 products.

You will have strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise a heavy workload. You will be able to work off your own initiative and identify areas of work acknowledged in meetings that require further consideration and work.

Application process

You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.

Experience

You will be asked to provide your work history as part of the application process. 

Behaviours

Please provide examples of how you have met each one of the behaviours listed below (see Annex A for more information):

• Changing and Improving

• Communicating and Influencing

• Managing a Quality Service

• Seeing the Big Picture

Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade (Level 3 – SEO and HEO or equivalent):

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Changing and Improving. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.

Ability Test details: 

Candidates meeting sift standard will be invited to a minute writing test. If the requisite standard achieved, candidates will be invited to interview.

Candidates invited to Interview 

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely. During the interview, we will be assessing you on Behaviours and Strengths from the success Profiles framework.

Interviews are expected to take place July 2021.

At interview stage, if candidates do not score high enough to be appointed to a Band B role, but have passed the minimal requirements, they could be offered a role at the more junior level of Band C.

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.

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. Contact Amanda Drewery, Head, Board Secretariat, Governance & Non-Executives’ Office on Amanda.Drewery@justice.gov.uk or 07976 788 916

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.

Working Arrangements & Further Information

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.

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 any moves across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers

·         Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.

·         Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

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.

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

1-    To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);

2-    To Ministry of Justice Resourcing (resourcing-services@justice.gov.uk);

3-    To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity.

There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Grading Structure Review

The Ministry of Justice is currently undergoing a review of posts which are currently graded at Band A to realign our grading structure with the majority of the wider Civil Service.

Posts advertised at Band A may be graded at either Grade 6 or Grade 7 once the review has taken place.  

Interviews are expected to take place July 2021.

16/06/2021, 23:55 hours.

If you require any assistance please call 0845 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com Please quote the job reference - 44612.

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. Contact Amanda Drewery, Head, Board Secretariat, Governance & Non-Executives’ Office on Amanda.Drewery@justice.gov.uk or 07976 788 916

To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why. 

For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

  • You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
  • You were studying abroad
  • You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Changing and Improving.
if you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance

We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.


Application form stage assessments

Behaviours
Changing and Improving - 250 word limit
Experience
CV
A sift based on the lead behaviour, Changing and Improving, may be held if a large number of applications are received. If a large number of applications remain after the initial sift, your application will be progressed to a full sift, where all behaviours will then be considered.

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.
Behaviours
Changing and Improving
Communicating and Influencing
Managing a Quality Service
Seeing the Big Picture
Additional Assessment(s)
Written Exercise

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

· UK nationals

· nationals of the Republic of Ireland

· nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

· individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

· Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

This Vacancy is closed to applications.