48738 - Strategic Briefing Lead

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.

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an outstanding individual to lead the Briefing Unit for MoJ Finance. This is a fast paced, high profile area of work; developing and maintaining a class leading briefing, co-ordination and influencing hub is a central part of the role. 

The Finance team sits at the heart of strategic decision making in MoJ and produces accurate, timely and insightful guidance for senior leaders throughout the organisation. This role will build on this capability to draft, assure and enhance critical advice and communications. The postholder will have a high level of autonomy and be fully accountable for ensuring the production of high-level briefings, parliamentary material, correspondence and other strategic advice and recommendations. The role will ensure that information is risk assessed, timely, clear, relevant and comprehensive. The environment is demanding and dynamic and the role will often work in ambiguity with a quick turnover expected to meet deadlines.

Role Purpose

The job holder role will have a key and leading role in building and sustaining relationships and will work closely and collaboratively with stakeholders.  They will contribute to strategic discussions and forums with colleagues at all levels from across the MoJ and its agencies, to address and to meet demands and expectations and influence senior leaders including Permanent Secretary, 2nd Permanent Secretary, Director Generals and Directors.

This role provides an opportunity to be involved with a wide range of policies, issues and projects and the successful candidate will have excellent communication skills and excellent judgement of key priorities and messaging, balancing needs of contributors and audiences.

Responsibilities

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• Provide high quality and politically astute and accurate briefings.  This may include sensitive and complex issues, Accounting Officer advice draft responses, updates to senior leaders, parliamentary question responses, core briefings and response to Q&As, alongside draft/reviews of business cases and submissions to facilitate decision making based on possession of all relevant facts often within tight timeframes.
• Summarise briefings highlighting concerns, issues, non-compliance and provide recommendations to enable effective decisions.  Use sound judgement to assess the potential impact on complex, crucial, controversial or ambiguous issues and ensuring this is emphasised.  Where relevant, contributions from others are sought and incorporated. 
• Contribute towards a system that ensures that requests, actions and correspondence received from private offices and directors’ teams are dealt with promptly with input from all relevant internal stakeholders. 
• Engage with senior colleagues to establish clear and strategic understanding of emerging policy, projects and programmes.
• Work collaboratively with key stakeholders from across the Ministry of Justice and in other Government Departments to ensure a network exists through which the timely and accurate co-ordination of, and response to major issues can be canvassed
• Provide briefings and recommendations in person where required.
• Preparing a regular strategic update advising of forthcoming issues and events using current knowledge and the organisational delivery plan
• Providing regular updates on progress and emerging issues.
• As a new role there is opportunity to help shape the future direction. 
• There is potential for line management responsibilities in the future
• Providing general advice to colleagues about different drafting skills, and parliamentary procedural issues, as a corporate objective

Travel

There will be some occasion travel required as part of this role. 

Key skills and knowledge

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent briefing and analytical skills
• Strong written communication skills
• The intellectual ability to provide well-researched and balanced advice on sensitive and complex issues within tight timeframes.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and use own initiative, have sound judgement in a complex and politically sensitive environment
• The ability to assess the critical nature of contentious issues and where appropriate bring these to the attention of senior stakeholders, having formulated and considered several options for resolution.
• Significant influencing and negotiating skills with the aptitude to develop relationships to ensure coordinated, accurate and timely advice in non-negotiable timeframes
• Manage extensive internal networks of strong collaborative working relationships at a senior level to ensure effective communication and feedback on performance issues
• Provide expert advice, contribute to and influence decision making, identify emerging issues/risks and their implications and propose solutions
• The ability to forward think with excellent organisational skills ensuring the capability to prioritise and reflect changing priorities as required 
• Has a high level of autonomy and has considerable discretion over the day to day operations and organisation of their work, with minimum supervision to achieve business objectives and performance criteria, within approved work and project plans

Civil Service Behaviours

• Seeing the bigger picture
• Working together
• Delivering at pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Specific Skills Required

• It is essential that the successful applicant has experience in a strategy or policy role.

• Experience of working in a financial policy role would be beneficial

The role holder must have sufficient experience to have gained the necessary skills outlined above to a level that enables confident, effective, autonomous working at a Grade 7 level. 

Professional Competencies / Requirements

• A finance qualification is desirable but not essential

The Selection Process

To apply please complete the online application form. Applications will be sifted by a panel who will look at the Civil Service Behaviour framework and what is evidenced in your application.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the essential role requirements within the application behaviour responses.

Candidates who are successful following the sift process will be invited to interview, where the behavioural elements and strengths will be tested further alongside other elements of the post. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interviews.

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.

Accessibility

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

For further information please feel free to contact Louisa Harrison, louisa.harrison@justice.gov.uk

Interview dates: Expected WC 15/11/2021

Closing Date:   21/10/2021, 23:55 hours.

Application information  

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  

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 the one lead behaviour identified.

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