Job Title & Grade: Transformation Portfolio Engagement Manager, SEO
Contract Type: Detached Duty / Loan (24 months)
Salary range (depending on location):
National - £42,914 - £46,182
London - £49,325 - £53,081
Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.
Location: National (any LAA office)
Please note that whilst this role is open to all Civil Servants, you can only apply for London, Cambridge and Brighton offices if you are a current LAA staff member based in those offices. This is due to and in line with the LAA's Location Strategy and the Cabinet Office's Places for Growth Strategy.
Important information for candidates choosing the Liverpool office
If you are successful and choose to be based in our Liverpool office, you will be required to complete Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance in addition to our standard pre-employment checks.
To obtain CTC clearance, you must meet the current National Security Vetting residency requirements. Under Central Government policy, applicants must normally have been resident in the UK for the last 3 years to be eligible for this level of clearance.
Please consider this requirement carefully when applying if Liverpool is your preferred location.
Minimum Working Pattern:
If you are applying for a part time role, please note that to meet business demands we need cover for a minimum of 25 hours.
The Legal Aid Agency
We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We are responsible for operationally administering the legal aid fund to provide criminal and civil legal aid advice to people in England and Wales.
Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service.
Transformation
Transformation are responsible for continuing to drive forward simplifying the delivery of legal aid. We want to improve the experience for the people who apply for legal aid, the providers who deliver the services and those of us in the LAA who administer the scheme, while ensuring the LAA remains a great place to work.
Transformation Team
This team is leading the transformation of our organisation through innovation, collaboration and inclusion. Originally established in May 2020, the Transformation Team has grown rapidly over the last five years. We are a hybrid team of business change and project delivery experts, and working in partnership with others is at the heart of what we do. We work together with teams across the agency, with the LAA Digital team, MoJ Project Delivery Function experts, MoJ Policy teams and wider stakeholders across the justice system and government.
The transformation portfolio spans multiple services, systems and functions, with significant impacts on:
- Front-line operational teams
- Policy design and implementation
- Digital systems and data
- External providers and partners
Job Summary
This role leads, owns and delivers engagement activity for the Transformation Portfolio, ensuring staff, legal aid providers, senior leaders and wider stakeholders understand, engage with and are supported through the pace and scale of change across the LAA. Working ly with the G7 Deputy Head of Transformation Portfolio and LAA Communications colleagues and senior stakeholders, the postholder will design and deliver structured engagement approaches that build awareness, gather insight, support adoption and strengthen confidence in transformation delivery. The focus of any role in the Transformation Portfolio team is dynamic, reflecting our role in responding to evolving operational and policy implementation priorities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the development and delivery of internal and external engagement plans for the Transformation Portfolio, engaging LAA staff, providers and stakeholders in transformation, embedding change and supporting cultural shift across the organisation
- Own and co-ordinate engagement activity across Transformation Portfolio workstreams, ensuring activity is prioritised, messages are consistent and delivery is aligned to Portfolio objectives, milestones and risks
- Shape, plan and lead internal engagement activity aligned to LAA communications strategies and channels, including team briefings, senior leader engagement and events that support understanding, visibility and confidence in transformation delivery
- Build strong relationships with LAA Communications teams to utilise experience, skills and existing communications channels to strengthen and align Transformation Portfolio communications and engagement
- Manage engagement priorities across a complex and fast-moving portfolio, making informed recommendations about sequencing, channels and audience needs
- Support senior leaders and workstream leads to engage confidently with staff and stakeholders, advising on audience needs, timing, key messages and potential sensitivities
- Drive staff engagement and support cultural change by designing engagement activity that enables understanding, adoption and ownership
- Own the evaluation of communications activity, using insight and feedback to assess effectiveness, improve delivery and inform future planning
- Manage and maintain internal Transformation Portfolio messaging, ensuring content is accurate, accessible, up to date, and aligns to wider LAA communications approaches
- Promote inclusive and accessible engagement approaches, ensuring a range of voices are heard and that engagement activity reflects the needs of different audiences
- Build strong working relationships with colleagues across the LAA and MoJ, acting as a trusted point of contact for engagement planning and stakeholder insight
Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills
- Experience of leading, planning and delivering internal and external stakeholder engagement in a complex organisation
- Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across teams and senior stakeholders, understanding different audience needs and ability to influence without direct authority
- Ability to translate complex information into clear, meaningful messages that support understanding, engagement and action
- Experience of designing and facilitating engagement activity such as workshops, briefings, events, listening exercises or feedback sessions
- Ability to gather and use stakeholder insight to identify issues, improve engagement approaches and inform decision-making
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, make sound judgements and deliver high-quality work at pace in an agile environment
Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills
- Experience of working in a transformation or change portfolio or environment
- A recognised change management qualification (for example and preferrably Prosci), or comparable professional training, accreditation or practical experience.
- Experience working in MoJ or the LAA
Assessment approach
Application Process –
To apply please submit a CV and statement of suitability showing how you meet the essential criteria in no more than 1250 words.
Your statement should demonstrate your ability to do all the essential criteria listed, using examples can help strengthen your application.
Please note that we only require a CV and Statement of Suitability for your application. The wording on this advert may suggest that an Experience question is also required, however this is not necessary.
Interview / assessment Process
If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview / assessment centre in person or via Microsoft Teams w you will be assessed against the following:
Strengths relevant to the role
The following Behaviours:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
Your Experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy - Diversity is the presence of difference, this can include one or more of the protected characteristics (Gender, Age, Race, Disability etc.) or it can be about working patterns, whether we like to jump into a task or reflect on it before acting. Inclusion is how we welcome, value, and celebrate diversity, giving everyone a voice, tapping into ideas, and enabling everyone to be themselves at work and achieve their potential.
For this grade/ role we would expect the candidate to demonstrate understanding of the terms Diversity and Inclusion and be able to explain why they are important in a work environment. We would also expect examples of action they have taken to embrace diversity (e.g., increasing understanding for self or others) or improve inclusion at a team or wider group level.
Shortlisting is planned for week commencing 7th September 2026
Interviews are planned for week commencing 28th September 2026
If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact – Lindsey Ford ([email protected])
Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain, and invest in talent wver it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.
If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.
The LAA’s goal is to build an organisation that is open and inclusive and truly values and celebrates the diversity of its workforce. One that reflects and understands the needs of the diverse society we serve. This is regardless of social background, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, beliefs, disabilities or long-term illness or caring responsibilities.
Reasonable Adjustments
We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long-term condition (for example dyslexia, anxiety, autism, a mobility condition or hearing loss) and need us to make any reasonable adjustments to support you through the recruitment process, please let us know by adding the information to the applications system or emailing [email protected] after you have applied so that we can discuss options with you.
Complaints procedure
If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing [email protected] initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days.
