Head of Directorate Change and Director's Office

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.

General Information 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

Working Pattern

Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working

Vacancy Approach

Cross Government

Location

Leeds, London

Region

London, Yorkshire and the Humber

Closing Date

04-Sep-2026

Post Type

Permanent

Grade 7

Number of jobs available

1

Reserve List

12 Months

Job ID

21297

Descriptions & requirements Head of Directorate Change and Director's Office

G7

Youth Justice and Offender Policy

The Youth Justice and Offender Policy Directorate is recruiting permanently for G7 Head of Directorate Change and Director's Office

This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Candidates are reminded that to be eligible for this campaign; you must still be employed 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resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.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

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

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.

The Work of the Youth Justice and Offender Policy Directorate Unit

The Youth Justice and Offender Policy Directorate (YJOP) sits at the heart of some of the most challenging issues in the justice system. We lead policy on sentencing, release, the youth justice system and female offenders - all of which are departmental priorities.

YJOP works closely with colleagues across Policy Group and the Department, as well as with HMPPS, analysts, lawyers and external partners, to develop policy that is evidence informed and operationally realistic. Much of the Directorate's work involves navigating complex trade offs, responding to emerging system pressures, and coordinating activity across multiple teams and stakeholders.

Head of Directorate Change and Director's Office - the role

This is a high impact G7 role at the centre of the Directorate, responsible for strengthening how YJOP operates and delivers. Working closely with and to the Director, you will act as a strategic enabler for the Senior Leadership Team, providing grip on priorities, resourcing, governance, risk and people capability. You will play a key role in ensuring the Directorate is focused on the right work, equipped with the right skills, and able to respond confidently to emerging pressures across a complex and sensitive policy landscape. You will also manage the Director's office, supporting him on his priorities and on cross-Directorate commissions, liaising closely with the Permanent Secretary and DGs' offices. There is considerable scope for the postholder to shape the role, depending on interests, experience and aspirations.

What You'll Do

Directorate Change and Continuous Improvement

• Drive prioritisation and efficiency across YJOP, supporting the Director and SLT to ensure resources are focused on the highest impact work.
• Provide strategic oversight of the Directorate's policy landscape and coordinate high quality reporting at group and departmental level.
• Develop and embed improved approaches to risk management, aligned with wider Policy Group and DG level processes.
• Run YJOP's SLT (SCS) meetings, shaping agendas, forward looks and discussions to focus on current and upcoming strategic issues.
• Lead the YJOP People Plan, working with G6 leads to ensure delivery against people objectives, clear ownership, effective communication and alignment with wider departmental activity.
• Champion continuous improvement in how the Directorate operates, helping YJOP to deliver ministers' priorities at pace and with confidence.
• Oversee the Director's office, representing and supporting him on key policy issues.
• Line manage the SEO Senior Business Manager, supporting their leadership of the wider Business Support Team.
• Offer G7 oversight of business management processes, ensuring workforce and financial decisions align with Director level priorities.
• Lead ongoing improvement of YJOP's corporate processes (including finance, resource management, and reward and recognition).

Skills and Experience

• The successful candidate will demonstrate:
• Significant experience of working in a policy environment, including supporting or advising senior leaders on complex policy, delivery or cross system issues.
• Strong relationship building skills, with confidence to engage openly and credibly with senior leaders on sensitive organisational, people and performance issues.
• A clear understanding of how a policy directorate functions, including the corporate disciplines (governance, risk, finance, workforce and reporting) that underpin effective policy delivery.
• Experience of organisational change, translating strategic intent into practical, sustainable improvements in ways of working.
• Proven ability to prioritise in complex, fast paced environments, supporting senior leaders to focus effort and resource on the highest impact work.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with a clear commitment to building a supportive, high performing and positive team culture.

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.

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 in order 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 750 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the Statement of Suitability. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.

At interview you will be assessed against behaviours 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:

The following Behaviours will be tested at interview:

• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the big picture
• Leadership
• Working together

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 - Whatit was?Howyou approached the work/situation? What theOutcomeswere, what did youachieve? 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:

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 . click apply for full job details