Ministry of Justice: Public Bodies Centre of Expertise

Role

Senior Public Appointments Manager, Public Appointments Team

Grade / Salary

SEO £39,868- £50,039

Group / Directorate

MoJ Public Bodies Centre of Expertise, Chief Operating Officer Group (COOG)

Reports to

Deputy Head of the Public Appointments Team

Location

National by default. The team is based in 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 and occasional travel to this site will be required.

Full / Part Time

This is a full-time role (37 hours). Any requests for alternative working patterns, including part time and job share, will be considered in line with business needs and accommodated where possible.

Contract Type

Permanent

Background to the Team

This is an exciting opportunity to deliver the public appointments that contribute to the achievement of Ministerial and Departmental priorities for services provided by and through the department’s public bodies.

Our public bodies deliver services that are critical to people’s lives from public protection to supporting the vulnerable and contributing to the effective running of the justice system. It is vital that each body is led by strong, effective, and diverse public appointees who reflect the societies they serve.

By joining the Public Appointments Team (PAT), you will play a key role in the leadership of the team and contributing to policy, and in supporting Ministers to make high quality appointments to the Boards of public bodies. Appointments are governed by the Governance Code for Public Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and the process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

PAT is part of the MoJ’s Public Bodies Centre of Expertise (PB CoE). The PB CoE helps drive forward the department’s strategic and operational relationship with our public bodies and assure the delivery of services in line with ministerial priorities, the outcome delivery plan and the government’s public bodies strategy.

Key Responsibilities

This role is varied and provides fantastic opportunities to develop new, or strengthen existing, skills and competences, and engage with a varied and senior stakeholder network.

Stakeholder management

In delivering high quality public appointments you will work across MoJ and in partnership with our public bodies, you will regularly engage with senior stakeholders including Directors General, the Permanent Secretary and Ministers, as well as public body Chairs and Chief Executives. You will also have regular contact with panel members from all walks of life including the judiciary and those in senior roles in the law, business and the third sector.

There is regular interaction with other Government Departments including Cabinet Office and No.10. The role requires strategic and political awareness, and strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to deliver difficult messages The post holder will need to be flexible, proactive, and agile, with creative, stakeholder management, and communication skills.

Campaign work

Campaign work requires project management, strategic thinking, excellent drafting and a strong customer/delivery ethos. You will manage high profile and significant MoJ public appointment recruitment campaigns, applying and interpreting the Governance Code, from the planning stages to Ministerial agreement of appointees. You will navigate complex and at times delicately balanced stakeholder relationships, proactively manage competing priorities, work collaboratively and to tight deadlines. You may also support the production of statistics relating to public appointment campaigns.

Diversity and Candidate Search

• You will be expected to remain alert to opportunities to implement changes to the public appointments process that will enhance customer satisfaction, increase diversity in public appointments in MoJ, and improve the timeliness of campaigns.  

• This may include supporting and developing our diversity and candidate search work, to expand our stakeholder networks and offer tailored outreach and social media strategies. Identification of strong and diverse potential candidates is an important and growing area of our work and we are keen to develop our diversity strategy to ensure our public bodies fully reflect society.

Leadership and wider directorate work

You will play a key role in the shared leadership, of the PAT, and deliver joint leadership to support and embed a culture of excellence. In particular you may line manage one or more HEOs Finally, as a values-driven directorate, we have a strong focus on delivering meaningful change outside of our core deliverables and place a strong emphasis on staff development, collaboration and wellbeing. As a member of the team, you may be required to provide policy and/or change capability to ensure continuous improvement of the service provided to stakeholders and the efficiency of the public appointments process. You will also be expected to take on additional corporate activities and be invited to join our staff engagement groups.

If you believe you have the skills profile to join us, we look forward to hearing from you.

Person Specification

We are looking for someone who can:

• confidently plan and deliver successful and timely multiple projects and/or programmes;

• show a commitment to collaborative working;

• manage, motivate and develop others;

• solve problems, deal with challenges and deliver competing priorities under pressure using strong organisational skills;

• provide robust challenge and scrutiny, and exercise due diligence with a keen eye for detail;

• accurately analyse data on public appointments in the MoJ and confidently report on findings to propose informed changes

• confidently engage with senior officials and develop and motivate a network of stakeholder relationships;

• communicate well and accurately both verbally and in writing, including when under tight time pressure;

• embed a strong customer service ethos and excellent delivery, including a strong commitment to equality and diversity; and

• define success metrics and implement, track and report on these.

Desirable criteria

• Awareness of the public bodies and public appointee landscape; and

• Experience of internet-based research and an understanding of the effective use of communication tools including social media.

We may consider any evidence within the application form that demonstrates meeting the desirable criteria as set out in the job description. This will only be after essential criteria is scored and where there is a need to differentiate between closely scored candidates.

Assessment Process:

Applicants will be assessed using success profiles, through a blended approach of both behaviours and strengths. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please visit Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Application form stage

Behaviour

• Delivering at Pace (lead behaviour) - 250 word example

Experience

• Statement of Suitability - 750 word limit - Please set out your experience in relation to the person specification above.

Interview stage

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.

Behaviours

• Delivering at Pace (Lead behaviour)

• Managing a Quality Service

• Communicating and Influencing

• Developing Self and Others

Strengths

• Strengths will also be assessed at interview, but these are not shared in advance.

If you would like to take the opportunity to discuss the role in further detail, please contact Ashley Holliday Ashley.holliday@justice.gov.uk