Ministry of Justice UK
Deputy Director Performance
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East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, Scotland, South East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber
Job Summary
This position can be based in London or Nationally
Job Description
The Role
The Deputy Director of Performance is a new role that will report directly to the Director of Planning, Performance & Risk. This is a rare opportunity to shape how one of Whitehall’s largest departments understands, challenges and improves performance across a complex justice system.
The Permanent Secretary has set a clear ambition – a step-change in how we manage performance to achieve better outcomes through greater transparency, stronger reporting and increased consistency. The department is committed to building a high-performance culture – setting high standards, supporting and challenging each other, and using innovation to raise our game. The role will also ensure the effective delivery of the Lord Chancellor’s priorities by leading and monitoring accurate and informative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
This is a high profile, critical area of work, which will face significant internal and external scrutiny, up to and including ministerial level.
The role requires a confident individual who will maintain strategic relationships across five executive agencies, four HQ groups and Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs).
Working across boundaries, the postholder will build strong and trusted relationships with stakeholders at all levels, ensuring a good level of understanding of the department’s strategy and its system wide outcomes.
The post holder will lead a team of approximately 15–20 people and work as part of a Directorate Leadership Team comprising five other Deputy Directors.
Key Responsibilities
Reporting into the Director of PPRD you will:
- Establish, lead and motivate a high-performing, diverse, inclusive and multidisciplinary team, setting a clear vision, purpose and operating model that strengthens delivery grip across MoJ.
- Conduct high-quality deep dives and evidence-based performance assessments on the department’s highest priority areas, identifying emerging risks, dependencies and good practice.
- Ensure performance data and insight are timely, to a high standard and used effectively to drive decision-making in forums including the Justice Performance Board, Departmental Board, Executive Committee and regular ministerial discussions.
- Effect positive changes to the way we work, delivering a combination of rapid and long-term projects focussed on a limited number of specific priorities, working with the department to drive improvements, linking outcomes, priorities, metrics and delivery plans.
- Use quantitative and qualitative insights to develop delivery improvement hypotheses, working constructively with senior leaders to understand, support and challenge areas that require improvement.
- Develop and maintain close working relationships within the department, across government and with key external stakeholders, using collaboration and diversity of thought to better enable the department to understand how it can improve performance priority areas.
- Drive effective governance, performance reporting and assurance across the department and wider justice system, ensuring clear oversight of delivery, identifying risks and dependencies, and providing constructive support and challenge to enable successful outcomes.
- Provide strong leadership, influence and direction; act as a trusted adviser to Ministerial and Executive teams on delivery challenges and performance improvement, building strong relationships with leaders across the justice system to track performance and guide action.
- Promote a culture of continuous improvement, curiosity and constructive challenge by building in a performance routine and a cycle of learning to facilitate high-quality decision-making.
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Additional Responsibilities
- Form part of the leadership team of the department, supporting the Director to meet all corporate responsibilities.
- The shape of the Directorate is changing and, as a result, the post holder's role and responsibilities may evolve over time to meet emerging business needs and priorities.
Person specification
Throughout the selection process, you should provide clear evidence and examples that demonstrate how you meet the essential and desirable criteria for the role.
Essential Experience:
- Proven experience of using evidence, data and analysis to drive performance in a complex operational/delivery environment.
- Proven experience of working at pace, shaping effective and timely decisions through strong data literacy, data storytelling and data intelligence with the ability to interpret performance data, exercise sound judgement, and distil complex insight into clear messages.
- An excellent team player with the ability to work collaboratively across the department, build trust and establish credibility with a range of stakeholders to solve complex and systemic problems even when needing to deliver difficult messages or challenge established ways of working.
- Ability to build credibility and trust quickly in order to influence across organisational boundaries including with senior leaders, Ministers and Permanent-Secretaries or equivalent.
- Experience of building and leading high-performing, inclusive, multi-disciplinary teams and leading through change with a commitment to developing capability and talent.
- Strong strategic judgment, sound problem-solving skills with the ability to anticipate future trends, provide deep insight and identify ways to address challenges and support business outcomes.
Desirable Experience:
- Experience of working in or with operational delivery organisations, particularly in the justice system.
- Experience of developing or operating strong systems of performance reporting and governance.
- Understanding of cross-government planning, performance, delivery and assurance frameworks.
We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.
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.
For full details about the Role, Key Responsibilities and Person Specification, please download and review the Candidate Information pack
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Changing and Improving
- Making Effective Decisions
- Leadership
- Seeing the Big Picture
Alongside your salary of £86,000, Ministry of Justice contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
- 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 with an employer contribution of 28.97%
- Annual Leave
- Public Holidays
- Season Ticket Advance
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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%20the%20MOJ
Artificial intelligence
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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
For full details of the Selection Process and Recruitment Timeline, please view the Candidate Information pack.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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,
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