Head of Directorate Change and Director’s Office
G7
Youth Justice and Offender Policy
The Youth Justice and Offender Policy Directorate is recruiting permanently for G7 Head of Directorate Change and Director’s Office
This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.
Candidates are reminded that to be eligible for this campaign; you must still be employed as a civil servant at the point of accepting the role. If you resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.
Location:
Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:
- 102 Petty France, London
- 5 Wellington Place, Leeds
Occasional travel between the two locations may be required. We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location (102 Petty France or 5 Wellington Place Leeds).
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
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
Salary
Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
MoJ is the largest government department, employing over 90,000 people with a budget of approximately £10 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
The Work of the Youth Justice and Offender Policy Directorate Unit
The Youth Justice and Offender Policy Directorate (YJOP) sits at the heart of some of the most challenging issues in the justice system. We lead policy on sentencing, release, the youth justice system and female offenders – all of which are departmental priorities.
YJOP works ly with colleagues across Policy Group and the Department, as well as with HMPPS, analysts, lawyers and external partners, to develop policy that is evidence‑informed and operationally realistic. Much of the Directorate’s work involves navigating complex trade‑offs, responding to emerging system pressures, and coordinating activity across multiple teams and stakeholders.
Head of Directorate Change and Director’s Office - the role
This is a high‑impact G7 role at the centre of the Directorate, responsible for strengthening how YJOP operates and delivers. Working ly with and to the Director, you will act as a strategic enabler for the Senior Leadership Team, providing grip on priorities, resourcing, governance, risk and people capability. You will play a key role in ensuring the Directorate is focused on the right work, equipped with the right skills, and able to respond confidently to emerging pressures across a complex and sensitive policy landscape. You will also manage the Director’s office, supporting him on his priorities and on cross-Directorate commissions, liaising ly with the Permanent Secretary and DGs’ offices. T is considerable scope for the postholder to shape the role, depending on interests, experience and aspirations.
What You’ll Do
Directorate Change and Continuous Improvement
- Drive prioritisation and efficiency across YJOP, supporting the Director and SLT to ensure resources are focused on the highest‑impact work.
- Provide strategic oversight of the Directorate’s policy landscape and coordinate high‑quality reporting at group and departmental level.
- Develop and embed improved approaches to risk management, aligned with wider Policy Group and DG‑level processes.
- Run YJOP’s SLT (SCS) meetings, shaping agendas, forward looks and discussions to focus on current and upcoming strategic issues.
- Lead the YJOP People Plan, working with G6 leads to ensure delivery against people objectives, clear ownership, effective communication and alignment with wider departmental activity.
- Champion continuous improvement in how the Directorate operates, helping YJOP to deliver ministers’ priorities at pace and with confidence.
- Oversee the Director’s office, representing and supporting him on key policy issues.
Director’s Office Leadership
- Line manage the SEO Senior Business Manager, supporting their leadership of the wider Business Support Team.
- Offer G7 oversight of business management processes, ensuring workforce and financial decisions align with Director‑level priorities.
- Lead ongoing improvement of YJOP’s corporate processes (including finance, resource management, and reward and recognition).
Skills and Experience
- The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Significant experience of working in a policy environment, including supporting or advising senior leaders on complex policy, delivery or cross‑system issues.
- Strong relationship‑building skills, with confidence to engage openly and credibly with senior leaders on sensitive organisational, people and performance issues.
- A clear understanding of how a policy directorate functions, including the corporate disciplines (governance, risk, finance, workforce and reporting) that underpin effective policy delivery.
- Experience of organisational change, translating strategic intent into practical, sustainable improvements in ways of working.
- Proven ability to prioritise in complex, fast‑paced environments, supporting senior leaders to focus effort and resource on the highest‑impact work.
- A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with a clear commitment to building a supportive, high‑performing and positive team culture.
Additional Information
- 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.
- Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.
- 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.
Application process
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.
You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
Experience
You will be asked to provide a CV during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.
Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the Statement of Suitability. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.
Candidates invited to Interview
Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.
At interview you will be assessed against behaviours w you will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated them. In addition, you will also be asked strength-based questions.
Behaviours:
The following Behaviours will be tested at interview:
- Changing and Improving
- Seeing the big picture
- Leadership
- Working together
It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:
- WHO - What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve?Or
- STAR - What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK
Strengths:
It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this. Further information on Civil Service Strengths can be found via this link Success Profiles: Strengths - GOV.UK
Interviews are expected to take place in September.
Contact information
Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role [email protected]
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.
W
- are you?
Who was t- 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.
