Correspondence Logger/Drafter – Policy Correspondence Team
AO
The Performance and Business Support Team
The Performance and Business Support Team (PBST) is recruiting permanently for an AO Correspondence Logger/Drafter in the Policy Correspondence Team. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.
Location:
Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:
Essential duties of this role require attendance at 102 Petty France two days per week.
We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location (102 Petty France).
Ways of Working
At the MoJ we believe and promote alternative ways of working; these roles are available as:
- Full-time
- Flexible working patterns
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.
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 PBST Unit
PBST sits at the heart of the Policy Group and is responsible for a broad range of corporate functions. This includes supporting our Director General and running her Private Office, alongside the drafting of correspondence. In addition, the team manages our budgets and spend, workforce data and estates. PBST also has a governance function which includes supporting our Group’s Senior Management Team, overseeing information assurance and communications, not to mention developing a first-class learning and development offer.
Correspondence Logger/Drafter - The role
The MoJ Policy Correspondence Team is responsible for drafting replies to the majority of letters the department receives from MPs, external organisations and members of the public. It is key to the department’s success in communicating with the outside world.
This is a unique opportunity to gain invaluable insight into the workings of the department, the policies for which it is responsible and seeing exactly how the department functions and the key issues that are affecting correspondents. Members of the team work ly with MoJ policy teams to make sure the policy position is reflected accurately in correspondence, and with ministers’ private offices to make sure responses are drafted in line with ministerial preferences.
You will be expected to liaise with colleagues and officials alike at all levels. The post-holder will be expected to show determination, flexibility and commitment. Training will be provided, and development opportunities are available and encouraged.
We are recruiting for a correspondence logger/drafter to work across ministerial portfolios within the MoJ. This is a high-accountability, fast-paced post. The successful candidate will be responsible for logging incoming cases to our case management system and drafting high-quality responses to both Ministerial and Treat Official correspondence. The successful candidate will manage their own caseloads, ensuring they meet deadlines in a timely manner, and will need to be organised with a high standard of written and oral communication skills.
Skills and Experience
Essential:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills using a variety of communications channels
- Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work to deadlines
- Excellent planning skills
- Excellent IT skills including using Microsoft Outlook and Word
- The ability to manage a varied workload, and to identify priorities proactively
- The ability to form and maintain productive relationships with stakeholders and colleagues.
- The ability to be able to manage competing demands and prioritise appropriately
- A high standard of written English, including grammar, spelling and punctuation
- Excellent attention to detail
Key Responsibilities
Roles in the Policy Correspondence Team are challenging and fast-paced. Post-holders will need to be adaptable and resilient, ready to undertake a diverse range of tasks including all of the following:
- Accurate scanning and logging of all incoming correspondence on the department’s correspondence case management system, in a timely manner.
- Safely store hard copies of correspondence for records.
Maintain- and effective working relationships with a wide range of colleagues and senior officials.
- Work collaboratively with other team members to meet relevant targets while working to challenging deadlines.
- Take part in joint work to continually improve processes in the team
- Draft clear, empathetic, respectful replies using policy-cleared lines in response to correspondents’ queries, and deliver them in a timely manner
- Delivering excellent customer service to colleagues and stakeholders
- Undertake a corporate contribution
- Further duties as may be appropriate
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.
Statement of Suitability (maximum 500 words) outlining what you would bring to the role. Demonstrate how your skills, experience and achievements meet the requirements set out in the Skills and Experience section above.
Your examples should also provide evidence of the following behaviour:
Structure your examples using the Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) format, clearly highlighting your personal contribution, the outcome achieved, and the behaviours demonstrated.
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK
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.
You will be assessed against the following behaviours at the interview stage 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:
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- 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?
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 late July/early August 2026.
Contact information
Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team. [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.
