Corporate Business Manager within the Prison Policy Directorate (Ref: 77425)

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.

The Prison Policy Directorate is recruiting permanently for a HEO Corporate Business Manager. This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria in the wider advert within Civil Service Jobs.

Location:

Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:

1. 102 Petty France, London
2. 5 Wellington Place, Leeds (occasional travel between Leeds and London may be required post Covid-19)

In order for Policy Group to meet its evolving business needs all Policy Group staff are expected to attend their base location (102 Petty France or 5 Wellington Place Leeds) at least 2 days a week.  This hybrid working arrangement is not contractual and as a result staff could be asked to attend their base location more frequently.

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
• Flexible working arrangements between base locations, MoJ Hubs and home.

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

New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum of the pay range. 

If you are already a civil servant and are successful in an external recruitment competition for a role with us, your starting pay will be the better of:

• promotion terms or transfer terms, as appropriate; or
• pay on appointment arrangements (minimum of pay range)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9.5 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 Prison Policy Directorate

The Prison Policy Directorate is a high-profile, friendly and supportive team, leading on an important area of social policy to make a meaningful difference to the lives of prisoners and the public. The Directorate leads MoJ’s work to ensure our prisons protect the public by holding prisoners safely and securely as they serve their sentences handed down by the courts, and to tackle the underlying causes of offending by promoting rehabilitation and reform. 

At the centre of the Directorate is the Director’s Office and Directorate Support Team. This team underpins the smooth running of the Directorate, providing business management and PA support to the Director, the Senior Management Team, and the wider teams – enabling the Directorate to effectively and efficiently deliver its policy and corporate objectives.

The team consists of one HEO Corporate Business Manager and four EO Personal Assistants, led by a Grade 7 Head of Office.

Corporate Business Manager – the role

We are looking for a confident, self-starting HEO to run Prison Policy Directorate’s Business Management function. This is a unique opportunity to work at the heart of a busy directorate, working closely with the Prison Policy Senior Management Team (SMT) and a range of corporate functions across MoJ to ensure the smooth running and strong strategic planning of the Directorate.

Prison Policy has a headcount of 180 staff and a budget of ~£9.5m. The Corporate Business Manager will be responsible for the implementation and management of all systems and processes relating to (but not limited to) the Directorate’s finance, workforce tracking, risk management, and business continuity. You will also coordinate and drive our corporate offer to staff.

The successful candidate will be confident working in a business support environment, with a passion for service delivery, outstanding relationship management skills, and excellent organisational abilities. You will be dynamic and adaptable, with the ability to prioritise across a broad range of subject areas and to manage your own workload. You will be expected to use initiative to identify priorities and issues that need your attention and will be as comfortable using your own judgement as following instructions.

As a new role, this is an exciting opportunity to develop and strengthen our business management function – you will have scope to design processes and structures to strengthen the smooth and efficient running of the Directorate.

Skills and Experience

Key Responsibilities of the role include:

• Oversight of Directorate’s Finance and Workforce Information – you will draw data from a variety of sources to respond to regular central commissions and to support SMT to manage their budgets and resources effectively.
• Coordination of Directorate’s Corporate Offer – you will support and drive our Corporate Groups to deliver their goals, ensuring they are aligned to Directorate needs and wishes. You will also lead the Directorate’s response to People Survey and other staff engagement opportunities.
• Ownership of Directorate’s Reward & Recognition Programme – you will oversee the end-to-end process for Reward & Recognition, refining and implementing the policy as needed, maintaining timelines, and tracking spend against yearly budgets.
• Ownership of Directorate’s Recruitment Programme – you will own and embed a new programme of work within Prison Policy, to drive consistency and efficiency in our recruitment approach to minimise resourcing risk. You will shape and embed new processes to support vacancy managers and will lead the onboarding and offboarding process for all joiners and leavers to the Directorate.
• Management of Directorate Corporate Returns – you will coordinate and own cross-cutting corporate returns relating to (but not limited to) Outcome Delivery, Risk, and Transparency, ensuring Prison Policy meets its wider MoJ responsibilities.
• Leadership of the Directorate’s relationship with MoJ’s central corporate functions (including Finance, HR and Estates) – you will act as an interface between the Directorate and MoJ’s corporate functions, ensuring good communication channels and playing a vital role in the swift resolution of any queries.
• Leadership within the Directorate Support Team – you will deputise for the Head of Office as required and support the development of more junior grades within the team. As part of the team’s commitment to continuous improvement, you will work autonomously to identify and drive forward projects to improve PPD processes and structures as required.

Essential:

• Strong organisational skills, able to juggle and triage multiple priorities independently.
• An eye for detail, identifying anomalies / discrepancies and advising seniors accordingly.
• A problem-solving approach, with confidence to identify issues and implement solutions.
• Confidence in handling numerical data and financial information.
• Proficient Microsoft Office software skills.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in an administrative or business support role.
• An understanding of working with central Government. 

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.

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 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviours (see Annex A for more information):

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing & Improving
• Working Together

Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on Managing a Quality Service. 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.

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role.

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details:  Success Profiles – Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Interviews are expected to take place early September 2023.

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: Gillian.Atkinson@justice.gov.uk

Additional Information †  

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

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.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

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.

Support

• A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

• To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

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.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
• Telephone : 0845 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com