Assurance Analysis (3 roles available), Analysis Directorate, Ministry of Justice (Ref: 90632)

Do you have the passion, values, and ability to help us solve the biggest problems of the justice system?
SEO Assurance Analyst, Analysis Directorate Ministry of Justice
1. Overview
We have up to 3 roles in the Analysis Assurance team, within the Analysis Directorate.
Roles are open to:
1. Existing analysts from all professions (GORS/GSS/GSR/GES) either on level transfer or on promotion.
2. Other candidates that are not members of GSS, GORS, GSR, GES professions but possess and can demonstrate similar experience at the appropriate level. Badging opportunities will be available once in post for those who wish to apply.
Specialist allowance
Due to the role(s) being analytical, those successful in recruitment will be eligible for a specialist allowance following an analytical interview based on the following values, Candidates must be able to show the relevant experience and skills and must meet the criteria for entry:
SEO grade:
• You have significant work experience (usually a minimum of three years) evidencing use of data and/or analytical skills. Time spent on an analytical PhD can count towards this.
We welcome applications from candidates based across the UK. Candidates will have the option of being based in the Leeds or London HQ offices (with flexible working arrangements available) or your nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office: see this map for more details.
Alternative locations may be available and will be discussed and agreed on the completion of background checks.
Interviews are likely to take place in October 2024 and will be held via MS Teams. We will keep a merit list for a year for those who successfully pass the interview board but who are not offered a post.
2. About the Analysis Directorate
We are passionate about improving justice outcomes through innovative research, data and analysis. In the Analysis Directorate, we provide high quality data and analysis helping to ensure strategic, policy, finance, corporate and operational decisions are based on robust evidence.
We create a culture in which people are empowered with the data and information to make excellent decisions; using cutting edge tools, techniques and collaboration; putting evidence at the heart of the justice system.
We are a multi-disciplinary team of around 650 staff that sits at the heart of the Ministry of Justice providing analytical support across a diverse and exciting agenda. We work in a dynamic and fast-paced context and our skills are in heavy demand across the Ministry of Justice. Our collaborations beyond government are seen as ground-breaking. The Analysis community is made up of analysts and specialists including: Social Researchers, Economists, Operational Researchers, Statisticians, Data Engineers, Data Scientists and other data specialists (such as data strategists, data dissemination, generalists and assurance experts).
Why work in the Analysis Directorate?
In the Analysis Directorate, we want all our people to feel valued for who they are and for the work they do. We provide a warm, inclusive place to work and offer a wide range of flexibilities and benefits as part of our people offer to reward our staff.
What we offer
• Flexible working arrangements and a focus on equality of opportunity – including welcoming part-time and/or job-share arrangements, compressed hours, working from home or your nearest Justice Collaboration Centres or Justice Satellite Office.
• Career development – regular development and promotion opportunities across a wide range of roles, career development support, with a generous individual learning and development budget.
• Range of new areas of work and new tools and techniques – we pride ourselves on our excellent deployment of well-established analytical methods, but also our progress to date. Progress such as our ambitious and innovative transformation programme to leverage departmental data and drive evidence-based decision-making using cutting-edge tools and techniques (for example: experimentation, personalisation, artificial intelligence).
• Analysis is at the centre of the Department’s decision making – our transformation programme is focused on maximising our impact on departmental outcomes. The Ministry of Justice’s Senior Team and our Ministerial Team want all decisions to be evidence driven – your analysis will be key in influencing decisions and real-world impact.
• Vibrant community – part of a multidisciplinary team that has a supportive culture and is looking to further develop the community with the help of everyone.
• See the frontline and what your work is influencing – regular opportunities to visit our front-line service providers, including courts, prisons, and probation to better understand the areas your analysis is affecting.
3. What you’ll do
The Analysis Assurance Area is a new area aimed at investigating opportunities to refine and improve our analytical products. The area won’t be responsible for analytical quality assurance, this will still be the responsibility of the team conducting the analysis. The Analysis Assurance area will understand best practise and approaches to analysis within and external to the department to develop a framework for analytical review and improvement. It will also look at analysis and outputs to consider the data used, the analytical approach, the assumptions made, the uncertainty in the estimates and identify opportunities for increased precision.
There are up to 3 SEO roles available and they will be focussed on:
• Delivering business-critical reviews, understanding and accounting for the complex systems the analysis is representing, working with analytical teams to improve what they are delivering and communicating your work to senior leaders.
And/Or
• Determining how we review analysis and improve our analytical outputs: do we have the right framework in place, what governance do we need, are analytical teams communicating their work in a way that it is clearly understood by customers, etc.
And/Or
• Identifying fundamental gaps in our understanding that we can help to fill – e.g. through curation of new or improved datasets.
The work will encompass a breadth of criminal justice topics – e.g. how policies could affect frontline resourcing, complex justice system volume forecasts, or options to manage prison and court capacity pressures.
You will be responsible for conducting parallel reviews of the department’s key analytical products – assisting with improvement of those products throughout their lifecycle. This will involve learning from best practise both within and outside the department and contributing to the development of a framework we can use to base our reviews and governance on.
You will work across the department and understand who and what analysis and data can be leveraged to improve analytical outputs and how best to use them, and what cross-cutting improvements the assurance team can produce where there are gaps.
You will understand the products your team are reviewing sufficiently well that you can confidently identify and implement improvements and reduce limitations. You will work with varied customers and stakeholders to ensure the outputs are being communicated in a meaningful and accurate manner, to deliver impact on decision-making.
If you are successful in this recruitment, we will do our best to match your preferences regarding the nature of the role., Your Statement of Suitability should be no more than 750 words and should give us examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. Consider giving examples that cover all the requirements in the ‘Who you are’ section and use work you have completed to demonstrate how you meet each one.
5a. Selection Process
There will be an initial sift of applicants through comparing submitted evidence against the ‘Who you are’ bullets. This usually takes two weeks, depending on the number of applications.
Those who make it through the initial sift will be invited to a Civil Service Success Profile interview. In the Civil Service we use Success Profiles to help us find the right person for the job. We will be using a mixture of methods to assess your abilities, strengths, experience, technical skills and behaviours. We highly recommend learning about Success Profiles and using the Situation, Task, Action, Result and Reflection (STARR) framework when structuring your answers.
The highest scoring candidates that pass the interview will be offered the roles. The whole process can take up to a month.
Behaviours
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework at interview stage:
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf
For existing analysts from all professions, as well as the three civil service behaviours stated above, you will be assessed on two sets of professional competencies at interview.
For external (non-Civil Service) candidates (and unbadged candidates within the Civil Service), as well as the three civil service behaviours stated above, you will be assessed on your analytical knowledge, experience and abilities, and the impact of your analytical work.
Professional Competencies
• Professional Competency (1) Knowledge & Skills
• GSS – Data analysis
• GORS – Knowledge and application of OR skills and techniques
• GES – Analysis of data
• GSR – Knowledge and application of GSR technical skills
• Professional Competency (2) Influence and Impact
• GSS – Presenting and disseminating data effectively
• GORS – Achieving impact with analysis
• GES – Effective communication
• GSR – Using and promoting social research
For more information regarding Professional Competency (2) please refer to the analytical profession internet links below. Please note that some aspect of the professional competency may overlap with the MoJ competencies listed above. We therefore recommend that in providing evidence for the professional competency, candidates focus on the technical and methodology aspects of the competencies that are specific to the profession. We will use evidence presented for the MoJ competencies in assessing the wider skills candidates have.
Government Statistician Group (GSG): Further information, including a user guide, can be found within the link below: GSG Competency Framework 2021
Government Social Research Service (GSR): Further information can be found within the link below: GSR Competency Framework 2022
Government Operational Research Service (GORS): Further information can be found within the link below: GORS Competencies
Government Economic Service (GES): Further information can be found within the link below: GES Professional Standards 2022, This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
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, 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)

• Communicating and influencing – able to communicate complex analysis in a way senior leaders and non-technical audiences can understand, including key concepts and their limitations.
• Working together – able to work with stakeholders to understand their analytical approaches and needs and develop and implement suggestions for improvements using the framework we produce. Additionally, being able to work with technical and operational colleagues and utilise their insight.
• Delivering at pace – able to use the framework we produce and refine to deliver consistent and timely reviews that add value and improve analytical outputs.
• Analytical – an ability to understand and bring together complex datasets and systems.
• Analytical – a good understanding of quantitative/analytical modelling and limitations of various approaches or an aptitude to build your knowledge and understand these., + Communicating and Influencing
+ Delivering at Pace

Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
+ Professional Competency (1) Knowledge & Skills o GSS – Data analysis o GORS – Knowledge and application of OR skills and techniques o GES – Analysis of data o GSR – Knowledge and application of GSR technical skills
+ Professional Competency (2) Influence & Impact o GSS – Presenting and disseminating data effectively o GORS – Achieving impact with analysis o GES – Effective communication o GSR – Using and promoting social research

Your CV should be no more than 2 pages long and should show us your work history and previous experience. It should be well structured, succinct and written in clear language.

Alongside your salary of £39,868, Ministry of Justice contributes £11,549 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ 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
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