23195 - Delivery Lead for the Homicide and Witness Services, Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate

### Salary
The national salary range is £58,511 - £65,329, London salary range is £63,343 - £70,725 Your salary will be dependent on your base location

Job description

Delivery Lead for the Homicide and Witness Services

Grade 7

Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate

The Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate is recruiting a permanent Grade 7 Delivery Lead for the Homicide and Witness Services.

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 by the Ministry of Justice 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resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.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

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 Victims and Witnesses Commissioning and Implementation Unit

The Criminal Courts and Victims Directorate (CCVD) sits at the heart of MoJ’s policy agenda, working to reform complex systems that deal with some of the most vulnerable members of our society. We work closely with Ministers, No10, the Senior Judiciary, as well as a wide range of other Whitehall departments, to tackle a range of complex issues. Everything the team does to deliver our wide-ranging portfolio of work is uniquely focused on supporting those that need it most.

Sitting within the CCVD is the Victim and Witness Commissioning and Implementation Unit. The Unit focuses on systemic, multi-agency reform work to improve support and outcomes for victims and witnesses, to help them cope and recover from the impacts of crime and enable better justice outcomes. The Commissioning and Implementation Unit leads on the critical work to commission and fund quality and effective support services for victims and witnesses both nationally and locally, via local Police and Crime Commissioners. We use data and evidence to demonstrate the impact of these services and use this information to improve and influence the system through setting standards, building capability and capacity, and making evidence-driven policy decisions.

The Commissioning and Implementation Unit is currently working collaboratively to lead a major piece of policy work to reform local victims commissioning in the light of the Home Office’s decision to abolish the role of Police and Crime Commissioners in May 2028.

VWCI is a friendly unit with a strong emphasis on ensuring team members feel happy, supported and engaged in their work.

The Role – Delivery Lead for the Homicide and Witness Services

The role is responsible for two key national services for victims and witnesses:

- The Homicide Service (£7m per annum), delivered via a contract with Victim Support, provides a service to families bereaved by murder or manslaughter in England and Wales, including the families of British national killed overseas. This is a caseworker service and support ranges from counselling to practical support with housing, court hearings or finances. The service also supports eyewitnesses to homicide and offers short-term outreach to children and young people. It is our key vehicle for delivering support in the aftermath of a major criminal incident which involves fatalities, and is a service that Ministers are very interested in.
- The Witness Service (£14m per annum) operates in all courts in England and Wales. Also delivered by Victim Support (under a grant arrangement) and staffed primarily by volunteers, the service provides free practical and emotional support for witnesses before a hearing, on the day, and after giving evidence. Its core purpose is to help individuals give their best evidence, supporting fair and effective trials.

This is an exciting and demanding role in the centre of the unit that offers the opportunity to influence policy and commissioning at a national level. You will be expected to:

- Develop and maintain excellent relationships with delivery partners, managing service budgets, analysing performance and financial data, and informing strategic decisions on future commissioning and service provision.
- Pro-actively develop and maintain relationships with a range of stakeholders across the sector, within MoJ (including analysts, legal, finance and commercial) and in other Government Departments. This includes working closely with the Home Office, which leads on policy relating to domestic homicide and victims of terrorism, and the FCDO on support for families bereaved by homicide abroad.
- Support the Unit response to major criminal incidents, working closely across government and with external stakeholders – including local commissioners and national charities – to ensure victims and witnesses are supported in the event of a major criminal incident which involves fatalities.
- Lead the management and oversight of contracts and grants, including performance monitoring, risk management, assurance activities and the delivery of value for money, ensuring compliance with relevant governance and funding requirements.
- Analyse complex evidence, data and stakeholder intelligence to inform policy development, commissioning decisions and continuous service improvement.
- Provide high-quality policy advice and briefing to Ministers and senior officials on issues relating to these services and wider policy, often within tight timescales and on sensitive or high-profile matters. This can include attending meetings with bereaved families.
- Provide line management to 1 HEO and task manage 1 SEO.
- Contribute to corporate activities to continue to make the Directorate a great place to work

Skills and Experience

Essential:

- Experience in managing Government Contracts.
- Understanding of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
- Strong inter-personal and the ability to build good relationships and work effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
- Ability to deliver high-quality work at pace, working effectively with multiple stakeholders.
- Strong written and oral communication skills including the ability to understand complex issues and communicate these effectively to a range of audiences, including experience of providing policy briefings or advice.
- Confidence with understanding financial information, handling data and evidence and analysing this to inform policy and commissioning decisions.
- Resilience and adaptability, with the ability to manage competing priorities, maintain performance under pressure and work on difficult subject matter.
- Willingness to engage in the Contract Management Capability Programme and obtain suitable qualifications for category of contract being managed (if not qualified already)

Desirable:

- Experience in managing Government grants and an understanding of commissioning cycles.
- Experience in working with budgets and financial information.

Additional Information

- 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.
- 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, statement of suitability 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 to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

You will be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words stating how you meet the Skills and Experience listed above.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture.

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

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

You will be assessed against the following 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:

- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace

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

Presentation:

At interview, candidates will also be assessed through a presentation, further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

Intervews:

Interviews are expected to take place in early November 2026.

Contact information

Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team. Nicola Simpson ( [email protected] ).

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles: All successful candidates will be appointed to the nearest viable office nearest to their home postcode and on its respective pay scale. This will be at either a HQ building (subject to desk allocation, a Justice Collaboration Centre (JCC) or a Justice Satellite Office (JSO) – See Map . All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity).

For current MoJ employees, your base location will need to be changed to the nearest viable office (to your home postcode), either at a HQ building, JCC or JSO within the National Office Network and moved its location’s respective pay scale (any legacy arrangements/locations will need to be amended).

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.

All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Eligibility

Staff on fixed term appointments must have been recruited through fair and open competition.

Vacancies advertised “cross-government” are only open to all Civil Service employees and employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who were appointed on merit following a fair and open competition; or were appointed to a permanent post through an exception in the Civil Service Commissioners' rules.

Support

- A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
- Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
- For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www. www.GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/tax-free-childcare) or Childcare Choices (https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/) . You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ .
- Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
- Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 . Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

- To Transformative Business Services (0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) );
- To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team ( [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) );
- To the Civil Service Commission (details available here (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/) )

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the TBS Recruitment Enquiries Team.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos .

Diversity & 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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ is committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ is able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidates will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

Civil Service Nationality Rules

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) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families (https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fsettled-status-eu-citizens-families&data=05%7C01%7Cchristopher.jeffery%40soprasteria.com%7C8a2293860362402c15da08dbf4cff146%7C8b87af7d86474dc78df45f69a2011bb5%7C0%7C0%7C638372946312587803%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=s%2BxUsev%2BGeeK%2FLgTUjpjfTJu%2FjpKQZ%2BQPJXNduvik3Q%3D&reserved=0)
- 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) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Reserve list

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.

### Contact Information
MoJ:

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected]

Please quote the job reference 23195

HMPPS:

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected]

Please quote the job reference 23195

Contact information

Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team. Nicola Simpson ( [email protected] ).

### Guidance for the Statement of Suitability
You will be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words stating how you meet the Skills and Experience listed in the job description
Strengths will be assessed but these are not shared in advance. To learn more about Strengths and how they are assessed please click here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles/success-profiles-strengths).

Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.