75408 - Head of Regional Support Unit (South East)
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.
Location of Post: Based at any location within the South East Region. There will also be frequent travel around the South East Region
Background
HM Court and Tribunals Service is an agency of the MoJ and provides the supporting administration for the judiciary across England and Wales. It delivers services to the public directly in court and tribunal buildings, remotely via business centre’s and some limited services via the internet.
The quality of the service we deliver to all court and tribunal users is of paramount importance and high service quality and standards are expected from everybody. The organisation is also committed to continuously identifying and adopting new or better ways of working to ensure that it focuses on that which is essential to deliver a quality court and tribunal user experience.
Overview
HMCTS has a once in a generation opportunity to transform the entire Courts and Tribunals Service through the HMCTS Reform Programme, enhancing the provision of a world-class justice system, in a manner that provides an improved user experience at reduced cost to the taxpayer. This will contribute to consolidating the UK’s position at the forefront of an increasingly competitive international legal market as well as ensuring access to justice for all.
The programme includes modernising the court estate, updating and replacing its technology, speeding up and streamlining working practices, refurbishing buildings to reduce maintenance costs and provide much improved services for service users, especially vulnerable witnesses and victims. Effective staff engagement at this time of such significant change will be critical to success; maintaining a positive and lasting connection between HMCTS management and its staff.
HMCTS is a continually changing organisation. Strong leadership is a critical element in this being successful. As a leader and manager within HMCTS the jobholder must provide clear direction and focus and visibly championing the changes which deliver greater efficiencies. HMCTS Senior Management Team expects all leaders to operate in a culture of openness and honesty, demonstrating a commitment to change through involvement and empowerment, and by delivering results.
The jobholder will need to help staff and other stakeholders to understand the impact of the changes and the reasons for them, recognising that staff will need support during what will be an unsettling period. This will include helping staff prepare for changes and supporting them through it. There may also be times when it will be necessary to deliver difficult or unwelcome messages. This must be done sensitively, but firmly, addressing any inappropriate reactions or responses
The key purpose of the role is to
• As a key member of the Regional Senior Leadership Team to provide direct business advice and support to the Delivery Director (DD) in all the functions associated with their role ensuring that either directly or through leadership of Regional Support Unit (RSU) that the efficient and effective delivery of all day to day HMCTS operational services within the region is maintained.
(This excludes professional HR / Finance / Property services delivered by relevant Business Partners but includes all residual “non-professional” activity in these areas).
Key responsibilities:
Key Accountabilities
• Accountable for governance and assurance activity and production, monitoring and review of Regional Risk Register
• Incident management & ensuring Delivery Director & Central Directorates are fully briefed on serious incidents and ensuring that action is taken in response
• Safety and Security lead for Region and first point of escalation for estates operational failures and liaison with Regional FM Team on business as usual estates issues
• Leadership of RSU Operational Support Team
• In partnership with national Performance and Analysis Team to lead / undertake regional performance management analysis and challenge on behalf of Delivery Director / Heads of Jurisdiction
• Production of briefings, reports and presentations as required by Delivery Director and others including Quarterly Finance and Performance Review Brief
• Communication lead for Region coordinating all request for information, briefing and returns on a wide variety of issues and effective dissemination and cascade of national and regional information and acting as the first point of decision making in respect of all national requests for information / action
• Accountable as Knowledge and Information Liaison Officer (KILO) for sign off of all Freedom of Information / Data Protection requests to agreed national quality and time requirements
• Lead for drafting replies to Parliamentary Questions (PQ) / Ministerial Correspondence (MC) on behalf of Delivery Director
• Lead regional Business Planning activity and ongoing review of regional delivery against plans
• Ensuring customer service priorities are actioned and that assurance provided through Operational Assurance Framework
• Regional lead for a wide range of People issues such as Recruitment, Capability planning and delivery, workforce planning and people elements of Change activity such as redeployment
• Oversee and manage of Business Continuity lead for Region
• Member of Regional Management Board and Senior Leadership Team for Region leading on specific functional areas as required
• Oversee the organisation and planning of regional events, Awards Ceremonies and various management away days.
• Oversee and manage Employee Engagement Lead In some Regions Regional Engagement Lead but in all involved in People Survey and coordination as communication lead on wider engagement activity
• Member of national groups providing input into both BAU and Change issues as required
• Lead for Regional Trade Union Side (RTUS) engagement and meetings
Key Relationships & Contacts
• Regional Senior Management Team and other key managers / leaders within region and a wide range of business / corporate issues – Frequency daily / weekly as issues / need arises
• Central Directorates within HMCTS / MoJ including CEO Office, Operations Directors Office, Press Office and Governance and assurance Teams reacting to national issues / incidents and proactively advising of regional issues / incidents of national importance as well as submission and liaison on routine governance and other returns – Frequency weekly / daily as issues occur / request made
• Parliamentary / Ministerial Teams regarding drafting and content of PQs / MCs – Frequency variable but probably averages out at least monthly
• HR, Finance and Property Business Partners / regional teams – Frequency weekly
• First point of contact in absence of Delivery Director – Frequency - Ad hoc as required weekly / daily at times
• Trade Union at Regional level – Frequency Ad hoc but at least quarterly meeting
Knowledge Skills & Experience
• Relationship management - experience of Judicial relationships or similar relationships which rely on influence rather than management authority
• High quality drafting skills and specifically experience of dealing with PQs / MCs
• Excellent communication and engagement skills to promote and enhance reputation of the Region and HMCTS and ability to adapt style according to situation from communicating upwards including to SMT / CEO level and across organisation to all grades
• Strong understanding of Safety and Security Policies and Procedures and governance requirements
• Promotion of customer focus and service orientated policies and procedures
• Knowledge of a wide range of HR Policies and Procedures
• Planning and review skills, using evidence to make decisions and challenge / action where problems occur
• No specific formal qualifications required as this is a generalist role although it would probably take someone with limited background in HMCTS around 6 months to be fully up to speed with requirements of the role
•
Problem Solving
• Developing and implementing regional solutions to national issues ranging from simple responses to / taking action on an enquiry or an issue / incident to more complex analysis of the problem which involves engaging others in root cause analysis and identification of options to resolve. Requires a strong awareness of both practical operational delivery constraints and the requirements of organisational policies and procedures to ensure any solution both deliverable and compliant. Frequency variable but can often come in batches which requires strong time management and prioritisation skills to ensure the most important issues area dealt with first and where necessary revised deadlines are negotiated and agreed.
• First point of reactive day to day problem solving on behalf of Delivery Director.
Management of Resource
• Support to DD in allocation and use of regional resource allocation specifically monitoring spend against allocation and sitting days to profile to ensure efficient and effective use is made of regional allocations and advice provided on options to address issues that arise.
Management & Leadership
• Direct line management and leadership of the Regional Support Unit (typically in the range of 20-40 people with 3-4 direct reports and in one or a very small number of sites) but covering a wide range of functional responsibilities. The numbers are relatively small but the reach of the work of the team is broad.
• As a member of the Senior Management Team of the region has a wider leadership role in respect of overall operational delivery across the Region and in managing key relationships with corporate business partners.
• In functional lead areas (see key accountabilities above) has direct leadership responsibility for those functions and activities within the Region.
• Whilst not holding any direct budgetary responsibility the role will support and advise Delivery Director on the financial implications of issues within their accountability and will on occasions provide direct advice to the Delivery Director on budget decisions required e.g. Sitting Day adjustments, ex gratia payments, compensation awards etc
Autonomy
• Self-starter and able to work independently to identify solutions to issue and reply / act accordingly without upward referral and ability to exercise sound judgement about when referral is required.
Accountability
• Reporting to the Delivery Director.
Other duties
The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.
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.
Eligibility
Staff on fixed term appointments must have been recruited through fair and open competition.
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.
14/06/2023, 23:55 hours.
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.
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
Interview stage assessments
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.