Do you want to play a key role in selecting the judges of the future? Are you
passionate about fairness and consistency, with excellent stakeholder engagement skills? If the answer is yes, you could be exactly who we’re looking for to join our dynamic policy team.
We’re looking for a Policy Advisor to help us deliver high quality recruitment campaigns at pace. As an independent public body, the Judicial Appointments Commission is responsible for designing, planning, and running recruitment campaigns to select judges in the courts and tribunals, up to and including the High Court, as well as non-legal tribunal members. You can read more about our work on our website: http://judicialappointments.gov.uk
With a new recruitment campaign launched every couple of weeks, and statutory responsibilities to make sure we select candidates on merit and through fair and open competition, it’s essential that our processes are robust, inclusive, and attractive to candidates from the widest possible backgrounds.
Our Policy Advisors play a pivotal role in helping us to achieve that. They work with our selection exercise teams to make sure our shortlisting and interview materials are challenging, fair and fulfil our statutory responsibilities. They use their excellent stakeholder engagement skills to advise colleagues across the organisation, and beyond, on how to implement JAC policies correctly, and even help us to develop new ones so that we can ensure that our recruitment campaigns offer a consistent and high-quality experience for all applicants.
Main Responsibilities
The role of JAC Policy Advisor includes:
Providing advice, briefing, and guidance for senior staff and JAC operational teams on selection exercise process and policy matters.
Supporting selection exercise teams with identifying and implementing the appropriate selection tools for recruitment exercises
Responsibility for key policy projects and the development of new policy and processes relating to the JAC selection process and selection tools.
Ensuring that the JAC’s selection processes are fair and free from bias, working with equality and operational leads and Commissioners to meet the JAC’s statutory duties.
Developing recruitment competency frameworks.
Regularly reviewing and quality assuring the selection exercise process, liaising regularly with selection exercise teams to ensure best practice is understood and followed.
Maintaining ownership of key templates and guidance relating to selection policy.
Oversight and administration of data sharing agreements relating to probity checks with the police, HMRC and professional bodies.
Providing support to the Senior Policy Advisors and Head of Selection Policy and wider team as required.
The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.
Essential Criteria
Strong stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to interact with a wide variety of internal and external audiences of varying degrees of seniority (including senior staff and judges)
Strong relationship building skills
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to target communications to a range of audiences.
Experience and understanding of working to published procedures, or operational policy, in a public sector environment
A pro-active approach to identifying opportunities for improvement
The ability to quickly learn to use unfamiliar software to a good standard, with appropriate training
What We Can Offer You
We offer a range of benefits including an attractive annual leave allowance, flexible and hybrid working opportunities, and choice of pension schemes. We actively encourage all staff to undertake learning and development as part of their personal objectives.
While the JAC is an independent executive non-departmental public body, we are considered an arms-length body of the Ministry of Justice and share many of the same policies, processes and terms and conditions as Civil Servants employed directly by the MoJ. This includes being part of the MoJ pay remit, enabling transferees from other government departments to retain their continuity of service and Civil Service Pension arrangements.
Recruitment process details
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the recruitment process:
Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing
Changing and Improving
Delivering at Pace
Application process
You need to provide:
Your CV
A statement of suitability detailing the relevant skills and experience you have (250 words max). Please refer to the main responsibilities and essential criteria sections of the job description when writing your statement of suitability.
Written evidence of the 2 core behaviours for this role: Making Effective Decisions, and Communicating and Influencing.
Sift
Applications will be sifted based on the CV, Statement of Suitability and the 2 behaviours Making Effective Decisions, and Communicating and Influencing.
If a large number of applications are received, candidates may be sifted on their CV, statement of suitability, and lead behaviour: Making Effective Decisions.
Interview
At interview we will assess you against 4 behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Changing and Improving, and Delivering at Pace. We will also ask you about your experience. You can find out more about the Civil Service’s recruitment framework here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles
Applicants invited for interview may be required to undertake a brief work exercise either before or on the day of their interview as part of the selection process. More details will be provided if you are invited to interview.
Interviews are expected to take place in August. Interviews may be conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams or face-to-face. More details on the arrangements will be provided to candidates invited to interview.
Reserve List
As well as appointing to the vacancy listed above, we may place other candidates on a 12-month reserve list for future vacancies.
Office Attendance
JAC staff are currently working in a hybrid way with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office in line with Government Policy. Applicants for this role should note that they may be required to attend the office more than 2 days per week on occasion in line with business need.
Working Patterns
We would consider a part time, compressed hours or job share application that ensured business needs were met.
Further Information
If after reading this job description you require any further information, please contact Kira Jainudeen, Senior Policy Advisor
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing
Changing and Improving
Delivering at Pace
Alongside your salary of £37,174, Ministry of Justice contributes £10,074 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
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
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 the MOJ
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About the MOJ
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality Requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window) .
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window) .
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. I you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL ([email protected]) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/