About this role
This vacancy is only available to existing Civil Servant employees and employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). Please review the "Eligibility" section before you apply.
Job description
The Role:
It is paramount that MoJ keeps its people and places of work safe, and that we are advising our people on how best to do this.
This is a SCS1 role based in the Security and Information Directorate, created to provide senior leadership over three areas:
- Ministerial, Personnel and Physical security;
- MoJ Counter Fraud Centre of Expertise; and
- Security and Information Central Office.
These areas have regular engagement with the Permanent Secretary, the MoJ Audit and Risk Committee and other senior level Boards, for which you will be responsible for providing high quality advice and briefing.
The role is customer-focused, delivering a service to the whole of MoJ and therefore requires excellent relationship building and influencing skills to embed personnel and physical security and counter fraud matters across the MoJ.
Your challenge will be to develop and lead a unified function following a centre of excellence model that will allow us to do things once and well, making effective use of technology where possible; along with the creation of the right personnel and physical security standards, controls, outcomes and culture that are embedded across MoJ for the successful delivery of departmental business, ensuring the services you deliver are first class.
Personnel Security is an increasing priority for both the MoJ and HMG as a whole. Work to improve the entire vetting system, including the policies and processes that depend upon it, is well underway, and the MoJ needs to prepare for these, and engage effectively in the cross-government planning work, to ensure the MoJ’s unique requirements are addressed.
You will directly support the Permanent Secretary in managing personnel security matters, such as the deliberate unauthorised disclosures (leaks) of MoJ information. Across HMG, there is increased focus on such unauthorised disclosures and the potential for risks caused by insider threat. If not managed appropriately, there is potential for significant reputational damage both for the Department, senior leaders and Ministers.
It is important that people have access to the right tools to operate at the correct government classification level. You will be responsible for ensuring the MoJ has sufficient capability for handling information at Secret and Top Secret.
You will lead on identifying, managing, and mitigating physical security risks, and work collaboratively with a network of stakeholders to understand the threats and risk landscape across MoJ and to deliver the minimum Government security standards.
You will be the senior lead for MoJ’s strategic relationship with the Government Security Function, working closely with Cabinet Office colleagues on cross cutting security issues, influencing the agenda and ensuring MoJ is a key strategic partner in the development of the security function.
Fraud represents a significant threat to the UK and public sector. You will lead on the department's strategic relationship with the PSFA and lead a central counter fraud team. This team leads on governance, assurance and compliance across the mandatory functional standards, with an ambition to maintain a trajectory of continuous improvement in the counter fraud service offering and fraud control. You will work closely with the Public Sector Fraud Authority to ensure the MoJ is an effective strategic partner to the function across government.
The role will act as a champion for both Counter Fraud and Insider Risk, chairing the joint Sub-Committee that considers prevailing risks, emerging themes and ensuring the right capabilities and responses are in place to protect the MoJ.
You will also oversee the Security and Information Central Office that serves to support the planning, governance and reporting across the Directorate to ensure high performance and delivery against our business plan, milestones and metrics.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide expert advice and assurance to the Permanent Secretary, Ministers, Executive Board, Audit and Risk Committee and senior leaders on departmental personnel security, physical security and counter-fraud issues.
- Provide a customer-focused service on personnel and physical security and counter fraud issues across the entire MoJ, ensuring a positive security and counter-fraud culture is embedded across the department.
- Lead a diverse team of experts, creating an inclusive environment with a clear vision and purpose where people feel like they belong and can thrive.
- Lead teams of personnel, physical and counter fraud, modelling MoJ and Civil Service values to foster and support the development of the security and counter-fraud professions, championing development, talent and career management.
- Develop and deliver operational policies, guidance and training to MoJ people, staff, suppliers, and partners so that everyone in MoJ knows and can discharge their personnel and physical security and counter-fraud duties effectively.
- Develop innovative ways to tackle security threats by building MoJ capability in areas such as insider threat, unauthorised disclosures, handling Secret and Top Secret information.
- Ensure adherence to the HMG minimum physical and personnel security standards, legislative requirements, the Protect Duty, and assurance requirements such as the Department Security Health Check. Use intelligence and information from those processes to identify risks, areas for improvement and achievement of government security standards.
- Work closely with operational and functional colleagues to put the right controls in place to prevent personnel and physical incidents from happening and where they do happen, being in a position to respond well and recover quickly.
- Lead the MoJ’s engagement with the Cabinet Office Government Security Group, and collaborate with the National Technical Authorities, such as the National Cyber Security Centre, National Protective Security Authority and National Authority for Counter Eavesdropping, other government departments and external partners, to continuously evaluate and improve security services.
- Act as an intelligent customer, requesting and monitoring services from the Protective Security Centre and Government Security Centres. Supporting the Government Chief Security Officer to ensure the security requirements of MoJ are being met.
- Develop proactive measures to detect suspicious activity and ensuring the MoJ is compliant with the government counter fraud standards and the requirements within the Public Sector Fraud Agency’s mandate.
- Through leadership of the Central Office, manage the Security and Information Directorates performance reporting, risk and issues management, workforce planning, corporate finance, and governance across the directorate to ensure best practice is in place.
Essential Experience:
- Excellent senior leadership skills with the experience of growing capability and promoting inclusion in specialist teams.
- You will have a proven track record of successfully delivering in a complex environment and have demonstrated significant senior leadership impact.
Abilities:
- You can communicate clearly and with confidence, both verbally and in written format. You communicate with impact, understanding how to tailor your communication to a wide range of audiences.
- Ability to inspire confidence and trust and to influence at the most senior levels with delivery partners and senior officials.
Desirable:
- Experience in physical and personnel security and counter fraud.
Additional Information
Terms of Appointment: This role is being offered on a temporary basis of 9 months. The role is available on lateral move or temporary promotion for current employees across the Civil Service.
You cannot apply if you were recruited via one of the following options:
* Via exceptions 1-4 of the CS Commission’s Recruitment Principles - this means you were not recruited via open and fair competition.
* If you are a Contractor or Agency worker - this is because you are not a substantive civil servant.
* If you are seconded into the MoJ from an outside (non-Civil Service) organisation.
If you are on Loan into MoJ (including Executive Agencies):
To be able to apply to this EOI, your home government department line manager and your MoJ line Manager must approve your application. You must obtain the agreement of your home department before applying, as any appointment will remain subject to the terms of your existing loan arrangement. You will be expected to return to your home business area and to your substantive grade at the end of the loan period.
Location: National
Application Form Stage Assessments:
Experience
We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods:
- CV
- Statement of Suitability
Statement of Suitability
Guidance for the Statement of Suitability: The Statement of Suitability is limited to 1000 words. Please explain how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide evidence. Please put particular focus on:
Interview dates: early December.
At interview, as well as talking through your experience, you will be assessed against the following behaviours (optional):
· Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
- Seeing the Big Picture
Contact Information:
If you require any assistance, please contact us on [email protected]. Please quote the job reference in your email to enable us to support you more quickly. If you would like to discuss the job role, please contact [email protected]
### Contact Information
If you require any assistance please contact us on [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]). Please quote the job reference in your email to enable us to support you more quickly.
### Guidance for the Statement of Suitability
Please provide your CV and Statement of Suitability (max 1000 words) outlining relevant experience against the essential criteria and abilities:
Essential Experience:
●Excellent senior leadership skills with the experience of growing capability and promoting inclusion in specialist teams.
●You will have a proven track record of successfully delivering in a complex environment and have demonstrated significant senior leadership impact.
Abilities:
●You can communicate clearly and with confidence, both verbally and in written format. You communicate with impact, understanding how to tailor your communication to a wide range of audiences.
●Ability to inspire confidence and trust and to influence at the most senior levels with delivery partners and senior officials.
Desirable:
●Experience in physical and personnel security and counter fraud.
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.