Ministry of Justice

Job title: Research and Evaluation Lead - Criminal Court Reform

Directorate: Strategy and Analysis

Workstream: Research Insight and Analysis, Crime and Cross-Cutting Insight Team

The role is advertised as a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA)/Loan/Detached Duty for 24 months.

MoJ employees may apply for FTA opportunities in MoJ that are advertised at a higher grade than their current substantive grade. Where an employee accepts an FTA on promotion, this promotion will be temporary, and the employee will revert to their substantive grade upon return to their home business area, as per the loan policy for OGD loans. Before applying, employees must seek approval from their line managers to ensure they can be released for the duration of the FTA and can return to their substantive role at the end. If there is no role available at the end of the FTA, the employee will be subject to redeployment and potentially redundancy procedures.

About us

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Our roles support our service users and colleagues, where people and businesses access potentially life-changing justice.  We’re looking for individuals who are committed to public service and want to make a difference in people’s lives in delivering justice. If you’re interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply.

About the role

The Research Insight and Analysis Division sits at the heart of HMCTS, working closely with teams across HMCTS Services, Operations and the Judiciary, as well as MoJ and wider stakeholders to deliver high-quality insight, analysis, modelling and evaluation across a range of priority areas. 

The Crime and Cross-cutting Insight Team provides a programme of analytical work for HMCTS services and their users to improve service delivery and help make HMCTS a user focused organisation in line with wider HMCTS strategy.

Reform of the criminal courts is one of the biggest priorities for the Department. This is an exciting opportunity to lead a high-profile programme of research and evaluation supporting the HMCTS response to the Independent Review of Criminal Courts.

In this role, you will play a key role in designing and delivering robust evaluation and evidence-gathering activities to inform implementation of reforms and evaluate their impact on court users, operational performance and justice outcomes.

You will lead the development and delivery of research and evaluation activity supporting HMCTS implementation of reforms arising from the Independent Review of Criminal Courts. Research will focus on how changes are being implemented, how they are experienced by court users and justice partners, and the extent to which they are delivering intended operational and service outcomes.

You will also act as HMCTS research and evaluation lead for this portfolio, providing methodological expertise, assuring analytical quality and working collaboratively with analytical and policy colleagues across HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice.

Your role as the Research and Evaluation Lead encompasses several key aspects:

•             Lead the design and delivery of research and evaluation projects relating to criminal court reform measures arising from the Independent Review of Criminal Courts.

•             Develop proportionate and robust evaluation strategies, including theories of change, logic models, evaluation frameworks and mixed-method approaches.

•             Manage and deliver complex quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation projects from inception through to dissemination, ensuring delivery to agreed quality, timescale and resource requirements.

•             Work closely with operational, policy, analytical and judicial stakeholders to identify evidence needs and ensure research outputs support decision making.

•             Commission and manage external research and evaluation activity where required, acting as intelligent client and ensuring quality assurance of outputs.

•             Produce clear, accessible and impactful written and oral briefings for senior leaders, translating complex evidence into practical recommendations.

•             Contribute to cross-HMCTS analytical priorities and support the wider development of evaluation capability across the organisation.

•             Line manage and develop one or more researchers and/or analysts.

•             Ensure all work complies with Government Social Research standards, ethical requirements and relevant data governance arrangements.

We expect all our Grade 7s to be flexible and proactive in taking on new areas of work as they emerge to meet ministerial and judicial priorities – so the list above is illustrative but not necessarily exhaustive.

Who are we looking for? (Person Specification)

The ideal candidate for this position should demonstrate:

Essential Skills

•             An existing member of the Government Social Research (GSR) profession Government Social Research Profession - GOV.UK.

•             Strong experience of designing and delivering high-quality social research and/or evaluation projects in complex policy, operational or service delivery environments.

•             Demonstrable experience and strong understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods, include process and impact evaluation methods to answer strategic questions and generate actionable insights.

•             Experience developing evaluation frameworks and approaches to assess the implementation, outcomes and impact of programmes, services or policy interventions.

•             Ability to communicate complex evidence clearly and persuasively to senior audiences, both verbally and in writing.

•             Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with experience of building effective relationships across organisational boundaries.

•             Experience managing competing priorities and delivering high-quality outputs within challenging timescales.

•             Experience leading and developing others, creating an inclusive and supportive working environment.

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates

Desirable Skills

•             Knowledge of the courts and tribunals service as well as the organisation of the judiciary.

Application Stage

Please submit:

•             An anonymised CV. Please ensure your CV is uploaded in a simple format to prevent any formatting issues when it's downloaded or reviewed.

Your CV should:

•             Be succinct and clear.

•             Be factually accurate – You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, is 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.

•             Include your qualifications, highlighting any modules or accreditation relevant to the role.

•             Include your relevant experience, providing dates.

•             Provide detail – we are interested in how your knowledge, skills, and experience demonstrate the capabilities we are looking for in this role.

•             Statement of suitability demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria (up to 750 words).

Your Statement of Suitability should be no more than 750 words and should give us real life examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. Consider addressing particular points in the person specification requirements and key responsibilities. We recommend following the STAR format.

You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, 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. 

Sifting is expected to take place week commencing 3rd August 2026.

We will aim to sift the CV and Statement of Suitability but, in the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift may be conducted on the Statement of Suitability only.

Interview Stage

If successful at sift, you will be invited to attend a remote interview, via Microsoft teams. Interviews are expected around 20th August 2026, but this is subject to change.

Please note: We will verify GSR membership of candidates who are shortlisted to interview by checking the GSR database.

We will assess your suitability against the role requirements outlined above. You will also be assessed against the Civil Service Success Profiles framework and the Government Social Research Technical Framework.

Guidance for the frameworks can be found below:

•             Success Profiles - GOV.UK

•             The Government Social Research Technical Framework - GOV.UK

Success Profile Behaviours

•             Leadership

•             Making Effective Decisions

•             Communicating and Influencing

GSR Technical Framework

Additionally, you will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation followed by questions from the panel. The presentation brief will be shared with you in advance of your interview. The presentation and follow-up questions will focus aspects of the GSR Technical Framework.

Further details

Travel requirements

This is a national role but travel to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ as well as the Royal Courts of Justice and any other HMCTS site may be required, subject to business needs.

About our benefits

We reward our people for their hard work and commitment. We have a number of family friendly and flexible working polices that will help you achieve a healthy work-life balance. In addition, we offer a range of employee benefits which include generous annual leave, a highly competitive contributory pension scheme, childcare benefits, season ticket and bicycle loans.

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.