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Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
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About the job
Job summary
CPS Strategy & Policy Directorate is delighted to advertise the role of Policy Advisor.
Committed to professional growth, the CPS offers all their staff with clear progression pathways and a diverse range of learning and development opportunities, to progress your career in a supportive environment, whilst also gaining access to various promotion opportunities.
At the CPS we pride ourselves on providing a variety of benefits that ensure our employees requirements are at the core. This includes wellbeing support, flexible working, civil service pension scheme, access to employee savings including high street retailer offers and discounts and 25 days leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years service.
Working for the Crown Prosecution Service you will also gain access to a range of learning and development activities, including through Civil Service Learning and an individual learning account in addition to any central and local development opportunities and requirements.
Please note, the following are considered essential experience for this role:
- Experience of delivering effective results in a highly pressured, political and fast paced environment.
- Excellent oral and written communication and influencing skills.
- The ability to distil complex information at pace into key messages.
- Strong policy skills, including ability to analyse and use evidence in support of decision making.
- Effective in building strong relationships and networks both inside and outside of government to deliver business objectives.
- Ability to take ownership of own work, monitoring performance and supporting others and the wider team.
Please note, the following are considered desirable experience for this role:
- Experience of delivering effective change through taking initiative and seeking out innovative opportunities.
For further information on how to apply, please see the Candidate Pack at the bottom of this page.
Job description
What are we offering?
Strategy and Policy is a newly-formed Directorate with lots of new starters (from within the CPS, across government and with external experience). We have a diverse and inclusive culture, where all team members are appreciated, respected and valued. We are committed to professional growth and work closely with the Civil Service Policy Profession, offering staff clear progression pathways and a range of learning and development opportunities.
What does the role entail?
The postholder will contribute to the delivery of the CPS policy programmes, developing core policy work and supporting the policy team.
On complex pieces of work, the postholder will work at pace to support the delivery of their own portfolio of agreed policy programmes deliverables, supporting effective programme management, identifying risks and opportunities, and helping to identify and propose solutions to policy problems.
With their own specialisations, they will contribute strongly to policy development and idea generation for future policy programmes and deliverables, identifying activity required to achieve the CPS strategic objectives, as set out is CPS 2025. The postholder will develop relationships with colleagues across the CPS and stakeholders in Government and third sector to identify gaps in policy, legislation and service provision and suggest and deliver effective solutions.
A key support to the Senior Policy Advisor, they will be a source of expertise and provide professional support and advice on policy programmes to CPS staff.
They will support their team to develop and provide comprehensive analysis, options and communications advice to senior officials during the creation and formulation of operational policies and procedures.
Person specification
The postholder will understand the strategic drivers for the CPS policy programmes they are working on and understand how they align with wider priorities in SPD and wider CPS, feeding the insight into their portfolio of policy development and implementation.
The postholder will work with their immediate team, wider SPD and with colleagues across Government, in specialist networks and elsewhere, to deliver the objectives of CPS 2025. They will collaborate to share information and, where appropriate, resources and support.
They will develop and maintain an effective network of subject matter leads, ensuring that they are engaged and briefed on key developments to support their own status as local subject matter experts. They will encourage contribution, individually and collectively to the development of policy.
The postholder will work with others in SPD, the wider CPS and with stakeholders to identify ways in which policy programmes can be delivered and to identify where policies/process can be improved or simplified, delivering better value by using fewer resources, or getting more output from the same resource level.
The postholder will clearly explain, using a variety of methods, the reasons for change to colleagues within SPD and wider CPS. They will clearly explain how to implement the change and provide support to prosecutors where appropriate, measuring effectiveness and adapting advice as appropriate.
They will gather and act on feedback to improve effectiveness. They will ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders, taking into consideration the diversity of interests, gathering and implementing feedback to improve performance.
They will represent the policy area and the organisation at external meetings and networks, either to present and persuade the CPS position, or to gather information to feedback into CPS plans.
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Benefits
£10,989 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Join the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and have a future that matters: Find Your Purpose
CPS is passionate about ensuring that we are a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We are committed to be an equal opportunities employer and creating a culture where everyone can bring their whole self to work and individuality is truly appreciated.
We want to ensure all our employees can thrive at work and home and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes where possible, flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment, which means that where you work (i.e. a court, an office, or a remote setting such as your home) will be based on the kind of work you are undertaking.
This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks covering Disability, Faith and Belief, LGBTQI+, Race, Social Mobility alongside our Mental Health First Aiders Programme and Wellbeing Sessions.
CPS commits to offer its employees the following experience
Impactful, purposeful work making a difference to your local communities
The ability to learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources
To care about your wellbeing
To feel valued, trusted and included
We also offer the following range of benefits:
Civil Service Pension
Access to employee savings
Cycle2Work scheme
25 days leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years service.
1 extra privilege day entitlement to mark the Kings Birthday.
Competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
Flexible working and a family friendly approach to work.
Childcare vouchers unless already registered with the Government Tax Free Childcare Scheme)
The CPS has also designed a range of Management Development Programme to support all Aspiring, New and Experienced Managers in developing the skills, behaviour and knowledge to build their confidence and capability. We strongly recommend that all new managers undertake the Manager Induction.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
The recruitment process will consist of an online application, interview and assessment which is expected to take place during the week commencing 18th December 2023.
The assessment will take place on the same day as interviews and full details regarding the assessment will be provided on the day.
Your interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with further guidance. If you have any queries about this please contact the CPS Recruitment Team at Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk
Please ensure to keep this dates free. If you do need to rearrange, we will make every effort to accommodate you in your preference for dates; however we cannot guarantee that they will be met.
The successful applicant will be required to secure DBS clearance; to speed up this process; you should bring 3 forms of ID with you on the day of interview. Data gathered from unsuccessful candidates will be destroyed in accordance with our Data Retention Policy.
If successful in obtaining an interview you will be asked to complete the Character Enquiry Form and Nationality and Immigration Questionnaire.
(If you are an internal member of staff, you will not be required to undergo this DBS check as you will already hold this clearance)
Personal Statement (using the text box provided online)
You will also be asked to complete a personal statement of no more than 1250 words setting out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, match the requirements as detailed in the Candidate Pack. You will also need to address the core behaviours for this role, detailed in the Behaviours Section of the Candidate Pack, which are;
- Seeing the Big Picture Lead Behaviour
- Making Effective Decisions
- Changing and Improving
In addition, you will need to demonstrate the following experience required for this role, detailed in the Experience Section of the Candidate Pack, which are:
- Experience of delivering effective results in a highly pressured, political and fast paced environment.
- Excellent oral and written communication and influencing skills.
- The ability to distil complex information at pace into key messages.
- Strong policy skills, including ability to analyse and use evidence in support of decision making.
- Effective in building strong relationships and networks both inside and outside of government to deliver business objectives.
- Ability to take ownership of own work, monitoring performance and supporting others and the wider team.
In addition you will need to demonstrate the CPS or Civil Service Values.
Please note, the panel reserve the right to only assess the lead behaviour Seeing the Big Picture at shortlist and raise the minimum standard pass mark.
CV Section (using the text boxes provided online)
You will not be required to upload your CV however, when submitting your application there is a CV section. You will be required to provide information regarding your employment history.
Please note that it is the candidates responsibility to provide the specified application information in the requested format to ensure that they are considered for the post.
Other
This is a full-time post. However, requests for flexible, part-time working and job share will be considered, considering at all times the operational needs of the Department.
This role will be in line with our hybrid working principles which are:
- Attending with Purpose – Considering where we work, whether at court, in the office or at home we focus on the needs of our role, team and Service and the positive benefits to best support business outcomes.
- Focused on Wellbeing – Supporting our own and others wellbeing enables us to thrive through inclusive working practices and environments.
- Collaboration is Key – Recognising that collaboration is integral to how we learn, grow and develop, together we prioritise innovation and problem solving, to achieve shared objectives.
Therefore, this will mean it will be a mixture of home working, office working and travelling to courts, how this is split will depend upon the business needs and your role within the organisation.
We would encourage candidates to consider if the commute from home to the office is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. Please note that if you are successful, hybrid working will be discussed prior to taking up the post.
Waiting List
Candidates who are recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacancy will be placed on a waiting list for 12 months and may be offered another post, should any further vacancies for a Policy Advisor within CPS Strategy and Policy during this period. CPS may also approach candidates on the waiting list to fill other roles requiring similar knowledge and experience.
Excess Fares
Please note excess fares will not apply.
Fair Processing Notice (FPN)
From April 2018, the CPS will provide a Fair Processing Notice (FPN) to all new applicants after they have been successful at interview. These candidates will be informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details name, National Insurance Number and date of birth – will be checked against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) and that anyone included on the IFD will be refused employment unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.
The Strategic Resourcing team in the CPS will, on behalf of the vacancy holder, inform applicants when they are refused employment because of their inclusion in the IFD.
Current Civil Servants
Please note, if you are a current civil servant and you are currently undergoing any of the following formal actions your application will not be progressed any further;
Formal discipline action, any formal action regarding attendance, poor performance or any restriction of duties as a result of disciplinary action.
Civil Service Commissioners
From April 2018, the CPS will provide a Fair Processing Notice (FPN) to all new applicants after they have been successful at interview. These candidates will be informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details name, National Insurance Number and date of birth – will be checked against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) and that anyone included on the IFD will be refused employment unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.
The Strategic Resourcing team in the CPS will, on behalf of the vacancy holder, inform applicants when they are refused employment because of their inclusion in the IFD.
Feedback will not be provided until the vacancy is complete
If you are dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.
If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commissioners complaints page https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/
Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles can be found here
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/
Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
Candidates will be subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Rebecca Harvey
- Email : Rebecca.Harvey1@cps.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk
