13913 - Leadership roles within the Ministerial Priorities Unit Private Office (up to 2 posts)
| Posting date: | 19 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £75,674 to £85,257 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 03 February 2026 |
| Location: | SW1H 9AJ |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Ministry of Justice |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 13913 |
Summary
Leadership roles within the Ministerial Priorities Unit
Private Office, Grade 6 (up to 2 posts)
Ministry of Justice
We are recruiting for two Grade 6 positions within the Ministerial Priorities Unit, as Head of Policy and Delivery in Private Office.
This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria in the wider advert within Civil Service Jobs.
Location
Successful candidates will be based at 102 Petty France, London.
Ways of Working
At the MoJ we believe and promote alternative ways of working, these roles are available as:
• Full-time or the option to job share
• Flexible working patterns
• Flexible working arrangements between base locations and home.
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.
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 one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £12 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 team – Ministerial Priorities Unit
You will be working in the Ministerial Priorities Unit (MPU). The MPU is based in Ministerial Private Office, in the Ministry of Justice. The role of the MPU is to support Ministers to identify, articulate and deliver on their priorities.
This covers the full range of the Department’s priorities, including criminal, civil, family and administrative justice; criminal and civil law; the court system, court recovery, legal aid and support and the legal services sector; the prison and probation systems, and offender policy; the youth justice system; the UK’s domestic human rights framework and international obligations. It includes supporting financial decision-making – the allocations of resources within the Department and then within its agencies – so that funding follows ministerial priorities.
The MPU is part of the wider team in Ministerial Private Offices. This means working in a fast-paced environment, with a wide range of stakeholders, from policy team in the MoJ to agencies in the department, technology, finance and strategy teams.
The role – Head of Policy Development and Private Office
You will be responsible for providing a high-quality, private office service to the Ministerial Team and wider Department. You will develop a deep understanding of Ministers’ core priorities – and how they want them articulated and implemented. This will allow you to credibly represent the Minister with the wider Department. In so doing, you will support the Department to understand what ministers are working towards – including their reasoning and their views on implementation. And you will support Ministers to set priorities and scrutinise policy and delivery plans.
You will lead through others, starting with highly collaborative relationships Private Secretaries, Deputy Private Secretaries and others in Private Office – who are responsible for commissioning the Department and work closely with policy and operational teams. You will support them to reflect ministerial priorities in their work.
Your relationships with Policy Officials and Senior Leaders in the MoJ’s agencies will be critical. You will be trusted with information and recognised as someone who will listen and problem solve as well as provide challenge where needed. This may mean drawing connections across issues, policy teams and delivery agencies – helping unlock issues when they become ‘stuck’, including removing barriers standing in officials’ way.
You will work closely with Special Advisors (SpAds) in the Department. You will focus largely on longer-term ministerial priorities, working closely with the Department to deliver them. Having developed a deep relationship with SpAds you will help the Department understand the political steers behind ministerial priorities.
Alongside longer running pieces of work – likely to be focused on large delivery or reform programmes – you will undertake short, sharp pieces of work. These might be focused on rapidly emerging, high-profile issues which demand close ministerial attention – or when there are opportunities that ministers want a quick response to.
In all these areas, your role will not be to do the work of Private Secretaries or the wider Department, but rather to ensure that Ministerial priorities are reflected in policy, financial allocations and delivery plans.
The role is about leading through others outside of your hierarchy, including working directly with the most Senior Leaders in the MoJ and its agencies. The role does not include line management at present though there may be scope for this in the future. You will also contribute to improving the life of the wider Directorate and/or Department through a corporate objective.
Private Office, Grade 6 (up to 2 posts)
Ministry of Justice
We are recruiting for two Grade 6 positions within the Ministerial Priorities Unit, as Head of Policy and Delivery in Private Office.
This campaign is being run externally and so is open to all who consider themselves suitable for the roles and meet the eligibility criteria in the wider advert within Civil Service Jobs.
Location
Successful candidates will be based at 102 Petty France, London.
Ways of Working
At the MoJ we believe and promote alternative ways of working, these roles are available as:
• Full-time or the option to job share
• Flexible working patterns
• Flexible working arrangements between base locations and home.
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.
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 one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £12 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 team – Ministerial Priorities Unit
You will be working in the Ministerial Priorities Unit (MPU). The MPU is based in Ministerial Private Office, in the Ministry of Justice. The role of the MPU is to support Ministers to identify, articulate and deliver on their priorities.
This covers the full range of the Department’s priorities, including criminal, civil, family and administrative justice; criminal and civil law; the court system, court recovery, legal aid and support and the legal services sector; the prison and probation systems, and offender policy; the youth justice system; the UK’s domestic human rights framework and international obligations. It includes supporting financial decision-making – the allocations of resources within the Department and then within its agencies – so that funding follows ministerial priorities.
The MPU is part of the wider team in Ministerial Private Offices. This means working in a fast-paced environment, with a wide range of stakeholders, from policy team in the MoJ to agencies in the department, technology, finance and strategy teams.
The role – Head of Policy Development and Private Office
You will be responsible for providing a high-quality, private office service to the Ministerial Team and wider Department. You will develop a deep understanding of Ministers’ core priorities – and how they want them articulated and implemented. This will allow you to credibly represent the Minister with the wider Department. In so doing, you will support the Department to understand what ministers are working towards – including their reasoning and their views on implementation. And you will support Ministers to set priorities and scrutinise policy and delivery plans.
You will lead through others, starting with highly collaborative relationships Private Secretaries, Deputy Private Secretaries and others in Private Office – who are responsible for commissioning the Department and work closely with policy and operational teams. You will support them to reflect ministerial priorities in their work.
Your relationships with Policy Officials and Senior Leaders in the MoJ’s agencies will be critical. You will be trusted with information and recognised as someone who will listen and problem solve as well as provide challenge where needed. This may mean drawing connections across issues, policy teams and delivery agencies – helping unlock issues when they become ‘stuck’, including removing barriers standing in officials’ way.
You will work closely with Special Advisors (SpAds) in the Department. You will focus largely on longer-term ministerial priorities, working closely with the Department to deliver them. Having developed a deep relationship with SpAds you will help the Department understand the political steers behind ministerial priorities.
Alongside longer running pieces of work – likely to be focused on large delivery or reform programmes – you will undertake short, sharp pieces of work. These might be focused on rapidly emerging, high-profile issues which demand close ministerial attention – or when there are opportunities that ministers want a quick response to.
In all these areas, your role will not be to do the work of Private Secretaries or the wider Department, but rather to ensure that Ministerial priorities are reflected in policy, financial allocations and delivery plans.
The role is about leading through others outside of your hierarchy, including working directly with the most Senior Leaders in the MoJ and its agencies. The role does not include line management at present though there may be scope for this in the future. You will also contribute to improving the life of the wider Directorate and/or Department through a corporate objective.