Ministry of Justice

Grade 7

Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate

The Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate is recruiting permanently for two Grade 7 Miscarriages of Justice Policy Team Leaders in the Criminal Courts Procedure and Miscarriages of Justice Unit. This campaign is open to all staff within the Ministry of Justice and is available on level transfer and substantive promotion.

Candidates are reminded that to be eligible for this campaign; you must still be employed as a civil servant at the point of accepting the role.  If you resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.

Location:

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

• 102 Petty France, London
• 5 Wellington Place, Leeds

Occasional travel between the two locations may be required.  We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your base location (102 Petty France or 5 Wellington Place Leeds).

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

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 Criminal Courts Procedure and Miscarriages of Justice Unit

This role is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious person who wants to make a real difference to fair and equitable justice.

Miscarriages of justice are rare but devastating to those who are affected. They also undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system. You will be joining the team at a fast-moving time with ministerial, media and parliamentary interest.

The unit is a policy and casework unit and includes Post Office convictions policy and casework, the sponsorship of the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Miscarriages of Justice Application Service where individuals can apply for compensation if they have suffered a miscarriage of justice. The criminal court procedure side of the unit includes the Secretariat for the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, and focuses on policy including the Single Justice Procedure, jurors, unrepresented defendants and anonymity in court proceedings.

The unit is a friendly and welcoming team and aims to have a supportive culture that prioritises personal and career development. We work hard but the wellbeing of our unit members is key. The unit sits within the Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate which is a high-profile, friendly and inclusive Directorate

Miscarriages of Justice Team Leader - the role

There are two Grade 7 roles available and are exciting and stretching roles working on a range of interesting topics that impact on the criminal justice system. The two roles available are:

1 x Policy Team Leader

• Lead on how computer-generated evidence is used in criminal proceedings.
• MoJ lead for forensics with focus on impact on the defence sector and working with Home Office on policing reforms.
• Engage with the Law Commission regarding their review on criminal appeals.
• Policy sponsorship for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), a statutory body responsible for considering the referral of cases to the Court of Appeal.
• Sponsorship of the Andrew Malkinson Inquiry.
• Line management of 2 x SEOs.

1 x Policy and Casework Team Leader

• Delivery and casework of the Miscarriages of Justice Compensation Service which aims to provide compensation to victims of miscarriages of justice.
• Delivery and casework for cases related to the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024.
• Delivery and casework for cases related to scheme for women who were convicted and cautioned for abortion related offences in relation to their own pregnancy.
• Pardons policy and particularly, casework for the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
• This role leads a larger team (2 x SEOs, 2 x HEOs, 1 x EO, 1 x AO) so line management experience is preferable.

We are looking for Grade 7s who can manage all of the elements within their respective areas and have a forward-looking and pro-active approach to miscarriages of justice – how we respond to them and how we can prevent them. The policy can be unpredictable and changeable and require individuals  who are resilient and able to react and respond at pace. In addition, the Grade 7s will need the ability to balance any reactive work with the ability to maintain pace and delivery on ongoing policy priorities.

This role will require close and careful working with, but not limited to, the Home Office (including National Police Chiefs’ Council), the Department for Business and Trade, the Attorney General’s Office, HMCTS and the Government Legal Department.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Setting direction and providing authentic and strategic leadership to their team and wider unit.
• Delivering and implementing policy at pace to meet departmental and/or ministerial priorities.
• (for policy and casework role) Delivering a quality service and adopting a continuous improvement mindset to casework.
• Being pro-active to identify emerging issues and be dynamic in driving work forward.
• Balancing evidence and views, which may conflict at times, to develop robust and evidenced based policy.
• Collaborating and working effectively with other teams or departments to ensure successful delivery of policy objectives.
• Being an active member of SMT and leader within the wider directorate and contributing to the inclusive and supportive work culture.

Skills and Experience

This role will be suitable for an experienced policy official and someone who is self-starting and able to prioritise competing demands and to work proactively in the team and unit. For the policy and casework role, previous experience of case-working is desirable but not essential. However, the individual should have experience of managing a team/service and a mindset of continuous improvement.

Essential:

• Excellent written communication and oral communication/interpersonal skills
• Proven track record of setting direction and policy delivery and implementation.
• Ability to interpret data, evidence and legal advice, and use it to guide decision making.
• Confident working with and briefing ministers and senior officials.
• Experience working with different government and external stakeholders.
• Proven ability to deliver at pace and in uncertain and changing circumstances. 

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the Criminal Justice System
• (for policy and casework role) Experience of case-working

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 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.

Behaviours

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

• Making effective decisions (lead)
• Leadership
• Working Together

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

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour, Making Effective Decisions. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing all behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

You will be assessed against behaviours at the interview stage where you will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated them. In addition, you will also be asked strength-based questions.

Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• 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 September 2026.

Contact information  

Please do get in touch with Jasmin Cheung – jasmin.cheung@justice.gov.uk, if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team.

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.

• Where are you?
• Who was there 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.