Senior Policy Advisor in Domestic Legal Services Policy (up to 4 roles available)

Salary

The national salary range is £42,914 - £46,182 London salary range is £49,325- £53,081 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

12-Oct-2026

Post Type

Permanent

Civil Service Grade

SEO

Number of jobs available

4

Reserve List

12 Months

Job ID

22754

Job description

Senior Policy Advisor in Domestic Legal Services Policy

(up to 4 roles available)

SEO

Judicial and Legal Services Policy

The Judicial and Legal Services Policy Directorate is recruiting permanently for up to four Senior Policy Advisors. 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resign or your FTA contract ends before you are made and accept an offer, you will become ineligible and you will be withdrawn from the process.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
• 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

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 Work of the Domestic Legal Services Policy Team

The legal services sector is a major contributor to the UK economy, generating approximately £42.6bn in 2024, delivering a trade surplus of £7.4bn, and employing around 384,000 people. Its strength is underpinned by the global reputation of English and Welsh law and London’s position as a leading centre for dispute resolution.

The Legal Services Policy Division, part of the Judicial and Legal Services Policy Directorate, helps ensure that UK legal services, courts, and English and Welsh law remain world-leading. Our mission is to support a flourishing legal services sector that drives forward economic growth and trade for the UK both at home and abroad, underpinned by a strong regulatory framework that has consumer interests at its heart. As growth is the Government’s top priority, our work attracts significant interest from the Lord Chancellor, ministers, and stakeholders across the legal services sector.

We are looking for up to four self-motivated, enthusiastic, and flexible Senior Policy Advisors to join the Domestic Legal Services Policy Team. These roles offer the opportunity to work on high-profile and fast-moving policy issues, develop advice for ministers and senior officials, and build relationships with senior stakeholders across government, the legal profession, and the regulatory community.

The team operates in a complex and distinctive landscape. While the legal profession and its regulators are independent of government, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is responsible for the regulatory framework established by the Legal Services Act 2007. The Legal Services Board (LSB) oversees frontline regulators, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for solicitors and law firms, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) for barristers, and CILEX Regulation for Chartered Legal Executives. Representative bodies such as the Law Society, Bar Council, and CILEX represent and support different branches of the profession.

Against this context, the Domestic Legal Services Policy Team leads on:

• Ensuring the legal services regulatory framework is effective: helping ensure the regulatory framework in England and Wales remains fit for purpose, proportionate, and responsive to emerging risks, while respecting the independence of regulators.

• Advising across government on legal services policy: providing expert advice and strategic input across government, ensuring that legal services considerations are properly reflected in policy development and decision-making.
• Supporting technology and innovation in the legal sector: working with regulators and other stakeholders to promote responsible innovation and AI adoption, helping to address unmet legal need and broaden access to legal services while ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.

Senior Policy Advisor - the role

These are fast-paced and dynamic policy roles, w priorities can shift quickly in response to developments across government and the legal sector. You’ll be working on live issues at pace, requiring agility, sound judgement, and the ability to manage complexity.

Current priorities include:

• Responding to significant regulatory performance issues and emerging risks, including concerns about the performance of frontline regulators and issues arising from recent high-profile law firm
• Shaping cross-government reforms affecting legal services, including working with HMT on anti-money laundering reforms, MHCLG on housing disrepair claims, the Home Office on immigration advice and services, and DSIT on AI and innovation.
• Considering the findings of the recently published review of the Legal Services Board, including its recommendations for the Ministry of Justice and their implications for the wider regulatory framework.

• Supporting the Government’s international legal services commitments, including work towards the ratification of a Council of Europe convention.
• Reviewing education and training pathways into the legal professions, including evidence gathering, stakeholder engagement, analysis, and the development of recommendations.

• Delivering the Honorary King’s Counsel competition, which recognises lawyers and legal academics who have made a significant positive contribution to the law of England and Wales or to the legal profession outside the courtroom.

Recently delivered work across the legal services portfolio includes supporting the Government’s consideration of Baroness Harman’s independent review of bullying and harassment at the Bar; delivering provisions in the Victims and Courts Bill to increase flexibility in the appointment of Crown Prosecutors; and helping establish the Legal Services Advisory AI Growth Lab to support responsible AI adoption and provide innovators with more joined-up regulatory support.

We are recruiting for up to four roles, with each successful candidate leading on a distinct area of the team’s portfolio. Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading and delivering policy projects on high-profile issues affecting the regulatory framework and the wider legal services sector, while contributing to the team’s broader strategic priorities.
• Providing timely and well-judged advice and briefings to ministers and senior officials on an often complex and sensitive range of legal services issues, and supporting their engagement with representative bodies and regulators.
• Building and influencing stakeholder relationships across government and the legal services sector, understanding and reconciling different perspectives, and using these insights to shape and deliver effective policy.

• Delivering high-quality and timely parliamentary and ministerial business, including correspondence, parliamentary questions, oral questions and Freedom of Information requests.
• Contributing to the wider leadership and effective operation of the team, supporting colleagues, sharing expertise and responding flexibly to new and emerging priorities.

Skills and Experience

The postholder will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:

Essential:

• The ability to manage a varied workload, and to identify priorities proactively.
• The ability to grasp complex issues quickly and manage competing views within policy development.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to build relationships quickly across Government and externally.
• Strong strategic thinking and policy development skills, with the ability to make sound judgements.
• The ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the justice system and legal services sector.

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 your work history during the application process to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role. This will not be scored.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviours:

• Making effective decisions
• Delivering at pace
• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the bigger picture

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

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of making effective decisions. 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 w 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:

• Making effective decisions
• Delivering at pace
• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the bigger picture

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

Strengths:

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, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this. Further information on Civil Service Strengths can be found via this link Success Profiles: Strengths - GOV.UK

Written Test:

Candidates invited to interview will be asked to take a written test prior to the actual interview. This will be scored and forms part of the overall interview assessment.

Interview Timeline:

Interviews are expected to take place Late October or Early November dependent on the number of applications received.

Near Miss Appointment

At interview stage, if candidates do not score high enough to be appointed to an SEO role, but have passed the minimal requirements, they could be offered a Policy role at HEO grade.

Contact information

If you would like to know more about this role, please contact Laurene.Rousseau@justice.gov.uk

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements w 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, w 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.

T 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. T 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 or Childcare Choices. 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 moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
To the Civil Service Commission (details available
• )

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 wver 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
• 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 moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference 22754

HMPPS

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference 22754

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Behaviours Application Form Question Word Limit

250

Making Effective Decisions

Delivering at Pace

Communicating and Influencing

Seeing the Big Picture

We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods

CV or Work History

Evidence of Experience

CV or Work History

Interview Dates

Interviews are expected to take place Late October or Early November dependent on the number of applications received.

Making Effective Decisions

Delivering at Pace

Communicating and Influencing

Seeing the Big Picture

Strengths will be assessed but these are not shared in advance. To learn more about Strengths and how they are assessed .

Which assessment methods will be used?

Written Exercise

Baseline Personnal Security Standard (BPSS)

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. W 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.