23238 - Strategy Lead - Strategy, Priorities, and Innovation 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

Strategy Lead

Grade 7

Strategy, Priorities, and Innovation Directorate

The Strategy, Priorities, and Innovation Directorate is recruiting temporarily for a Grade 7 Strategy Lead. This campaign is open to all staff within the Ministry of Justice and is for 12 months.

The role is available on Detached Duty or Loan terms dependent on which part of MoJ is your home unit.

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resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.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

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 Strategy, Priorities and Innovation Directorate

The Strategy, Priorities, and Innovation Directorate sits at the heart of the MoJ. We work collaboratively to provide strategic leadership across the department, drive innovation, embed longer-term thinking, support effective governance, and surge high-capability teams into priority areas for the justice system.

The Directorate is made up of several functions, including the Strategy Unit, the Innovation Team, the Priority Projects Team, and the Board Secretariat. These teams combine to identify, help establish, and collectively embed strategic justice system priorities. We:

- Shape long-term strategic outcomes for the justice system.
- Promote efficient integration across the MoJ and its agencies to serve the justice system.
- Connect the justice system across the public sector and wider partners.
The Work of the Strategy Unit
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Strategy Unit. We are an agile, fast-paced team that supports strategic cross-departmental briefing and advice, as well as alignment of MoJ with central government policy. The context we operate in is frequently urgent and ambiguous, and our work requires effective engagement and coordination at senior levels across the department. We are looking for candidates who can operate in this stretching environment, bringing grip and adaptability alongside the ability to think strategically.

Our BAU work involves:

- Driving alignment with government priorities – engaging with Cabinet Office and others on plans coming out of the centre of government and ensuring MoJ responds appropriately.
- Enabling internal strategic insights and coordination – discrete projects to align departmental narratives, enable long-term planning, and explore the potential impact of emerging strategic issues for MoJ.
- Coordinating cross-cutting and cross-government briefings and commissions – we lead on regular briefings for Cabinet and Permanent Secretary meetings as well as ad hoc departmental or cross-government commissions that require input from across the department.

Strategy Lead - the role

The job holder may oversee line management of up to two SEOs and matrix manage a range of SEOs on different projects.

You will be responsible for:

- Providing leadership to the team helping to build a high-performing and positive culture and using coaching to support personal development and wellbeing of team members.
- Leading and delivering high-impact work including Lord Chancellor and Permanent Secretary briefings and strategic papers for senior leaders. You will need to work with pace and grip to coordinate input from across the department while maintaining a strategic perspective even where there is limited context or significant uncertainty.
- Managing effective and senior relationships across the department including with private offices, policy, operational and functional teams.
- Balancing competing priorities while leading a team, as we often receive parallel urgent commissions on different priority areas at the same time.

This is a great role for someone who enjoys the challenge of a fast-paced and changeable delivery environment, is seeking exposure to central departmental decision-making and is able to bring intelligence and capability to bear to on critical issues for the department.

The Strategy Unit is a collaborative and flexible team. We use agile resourcing to maximise our capacity and bring our collective knowledge to support delivery. This means a positive team culture is critical for our success.

The team has a wide range of experience - some have worked in different parts of MoJ and other government departments, while others have joined from outside the Civil Service. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice.

Skills and Experience

Essential

- Leadership. As a leader in the team, you will be expected to be able to manage people effectively, including: inspiring and developing members of your management chain and effectively establishing clear delivery objectives; able to manage and communicate upwards effectively through our senior leadership; and working collaboratively to influence the wider culture across the team and Directorate.
- Think strategically and analytically . This role will require you to cut through complex cross-system information to draw out clear narratives and advice. You will also need to progress work in an uncertain and dynamic environment, for example helping teams respond effectively to emerging central government and departmental priorities or picking up new, urgent issues where there isn’t yet a clear home in the department.
- Build relationships and working collaboratively. As a central team, we rely on our ability to build relationships across the Department, draw on them to get things done and balance interests to build consensus. We also have a part to play in building relationships with officials in other departments and external experts, drawing on these to further MoJ’s interests or bringing in fresh thinking.
- Work flexibly and at pace. Finally, we are looking for applicants who are able to work flexibly in picking up new tasks and supporting your peers. You’ll also need to be comfortable working in an environment where priorities or steers can change at short notice and work often needs to be delivered to a senior audience under the pressure of tight deadlines.

Desirable

- Knowledge of the justice system. It would be beneficial for you to have existing experience of working in or alongside the justice system, including an insight into relevant policy issues and the existing ways of working of the department and its agencies.

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 of no more than 2 pages during the application process to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.

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.

At interview you will be assessed against three behaviours where you will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated them.

Behaviours:

The following Behaviours will be tested at interview:

- Leadership
- Working Together
- 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?

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

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK

Interview Timeline:

Interviews are expected to take place November 2026.

Contact information

If you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team, please do get in touch with [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: 23238

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: 23238

### Guidance for the Statement of Suitability
You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.

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.