62628 - Strategic Briefing Lead

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Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an outstanding individual to lead Briefing Improvement 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.  The post holder will provide advice and briefing to the Finance Director and assure products for the Directorate. 

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.

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

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 occasional travel required as part of this role. 

Key skills and knowledge

• Manage extensive internal networks of strong collaborative working relationships at a senior level to ensure effective communication and feedback on performance issues 

• Stakeholder mapping and management. 

• 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 

• 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 
• A good understanding of the operation and objectives of a finance function and its elements is desirable. 

Civil Service Behaviours

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.

Civil Service Behaviours

The following G7 Civil Service Behaviours are essential to this post and will be assessed upon application:

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

Please refer to the Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which can be found here, to complete this application: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

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 Communicating and Influencing

Specific Skills Required

In addition to Civil Service Behaviours identified above, if you will be using Experience, Ability or Technical standards to assess the candidate please provide further details below:

• A Statement of Suitability is required consisting of a maximum 500 words

Professional Competencies / Requirements

• A finance qualification is not required for this role

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. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Communicating and Influencing. 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.

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.

Interview dates: Expected WC 5th September

For further information please feel free to contact Lisa Scholes – lisa.scholes@justice.gov.uk