Accredited Programmes Evaluations Team - Senior Social Researcher, Analysis, Ministry of JusticeMinistry of Justice
20600
Descriptions & requirements
Job description
Do you have the passion, values, and ability to help us solve the biggest problems of the justice system?
Accredited Programmes Evaluations team - Senior Social Researcher (SEO), Analysis, Ministry of Justice
1. Overview
We have one role in the Accredited Programmes Evaluations team, within the Probation and Reoffending Directorate, Probation and Reoffending Analysis Unit, Offending Behaviour Interventions Evidence Grade 6 programme.
Roles are open to:
Existing analysts from the Government Statistical Service (GSS; including Data Science), Government Social Research (GSR), Government Operational Research Service (GORS), either on level transfer or on promotion.
You will be asked to supply evidence of your GSS, GSR, or GORS membership at application stage, this can consist of confirmation of passing the GSS, GSR, or GORS badging board or an email from your current line manager confirming your GSS, GSR, or GORS badged status. Applicants who do not provide this will be rejected.
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:
SEO London: £500
SEO National: £1500
Minimum requirements to apply:
Candidates must be able to show the relevant experience and skills and must meet the criteria for entry:
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.
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 2026 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.
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 Reducing Reoffending Policy Unit
The Accredited Programmes Evaluation team sits within the Probation and Reducing Reoffending Policy Directorate. The work of the Directorate both for offenders in the community and within prison, is critical to improving rehabilitation and reducing the chances of reoffending.
As a Directorate, we make a real difference: our policy has a tangible impact on the services provided for people who come into contact with the criminal justice system, whether that is at court, in custody or in the community. This is a big part of why we are so engaged in the work we do.
Reoffending is one of the big social policy challenges of our time. 80% of offences are reoffences and reoffending is estimated to cost society £23 billion a year. The Reducing Reoffending Policy division leads work across Government to address the factors that can help to rehabilitate and improve outcomes for people in the criminal justice system, for example through providing access to mental health support and substance misuse treatment; securing accommodation; and helping them find employment.
Within the Directorate, the Probation and Reducting Reoffending Analysis unit is a multi-disciplinary team of analysts, which support policy and HMPPS partners on reducing reoffending interventions – providing high-quality evidence, data and analysis needed to implement and deliver them and follow up with evaluation to continually build the rehabilitation evidence base.
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 for a proportion of your time.
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.
2. The role - what you’ll do
Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes are central to the Department’s rehabilitation offer. They are designed to address the thinking, attitudes and behaviours associated with reoffending. Building Choices is a new accredited programme being rolled out in custody and the community and represents the first major redesign of these programmes in 30 years. The Healthy Sex Programme and Healthy Identity Intervention are also part of the wider accredited programme offer.
This role will contribute to an ambitious, multi-strand, multi-year evaluation strategy for Building Choices. This includes the first full randomised controlled trial (RCT) of an accredited programme in 15 years, alongside process evaluations and case studies as the programme becomes embedded in business-as-usual delivery. There may also be opportunities to support the evaluation strategy for the Healthy Sex Programme along with other interventions to reduce reoffending.
The Accredited Programmes Evaluation Team is one of two Grade 7 teams working together to provide evaluation, research and analysis that supports the continuous improvement of HMPPS accredited programmes and strengthens the wider rehabilitation evidence base. The successful candidate will work across both teams within a matrix management model, as their work overlaps within the same Grade 6 programme.
The post holder will work with relevant HMPPS programme designers and others to lead in-house evaluations, research and analysis projects from end-to-end. This will include linking data across systems and using statistical matching methods to create suitable comparison groups. Current work includes large-scale quantitative evaluations of reoffending, prison misconduct and other outcomes, using impact evaluation methods such as propensity score matching, with statistical modelling used for exploratory research. The work may also include developing and maintaining dashboards for senior stakeholders. The post holder will also be expected to design and deliver in-house qualitative research as appropriate, drawing on relevant knowledge and skills. This may include conducting interviews in prison and probation settings with a range of offender cohorts, analysing qualitative data and producing reports for publication.
Given the breadth of skills required, the role may be particularly suited to candidates with mixed-methods GSR experience.
3. Main Activities/Responsibilitie
The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:
Designing and delivering in-house impact, short-term outcome and process evaluations and qualitative research.
Applying test, learn and adopt approaches to develop and refine interventions, as required.
Collaborating with stakeholders, including HMPPS programme developers and policy colleagues, to ensure evaluations and analysis meet agreed requirements.
Communicating technical findings clearly and concisely to non-technical audiences, including senior leaders.
Drafting high-quality, concise reports for publication on GOV.UK, with findings that provide clear policy and operational insight to improve delivery.
Supporting strategic planning and resource management.
4. Who you are
The following experience and skills will be required:
Strong quantitative analytical skills, including the ability to design and deliver impact evaluations with robust data skills and impact evaluation experience, such as propensity score matching.
Strong qualitative research knowledge and experience, including the ability to design and deliver projects, conduct interviews with groups across prison and probation, analyse qualitative data and report findings.
Working knowledge of applying test, learn, adapt approaches to develop and shape interventions.
Strong written, oral communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to explain complex technical data, analytical concepts and methods to non-technical stakeholders, including senior leaders and ministers.
Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to work collaboratively with policy colleagues, HMPPS programme designers and delivery practitioners; manage expectations; respond constructively to challenge; and adapt analytical or data work as requirements and circumstances change.
Ability to plan, prioritise and lead analytical projects at pace.
Practitioner-level knowledge of R for quantitative analysis.
The following experience and skills are desirable:
Experience utilising cloud-based platforms for handling data (e.g., AWS).
Experience in linking data across several databases.
Practitioner-level knowledge of SQL, Python.
Domain knowledge relating to offending behaviour, accredited offending behaviour programmes, psychometrics.
5. How to apply
You’ll need to submit an anonymised work history and Statement of Suitability as part of your application. You will not be considered if you do not provide both.
Your work history should be well structured, succinct and written in clear language.
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:
Delivering at Pace
Working Together
Changing and Improving
Please also refer to the Civil Service 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.
Professional Competencies
Professional Competency (1) Knowledge & Skills
GSS - Data Analysis.
GORS - Knowledge and application of OR Skills and Techniques.
GSR - Knowledge and application of GSR technical skills
Professional Competency (2) Influence & Impact
GSS - Presenting and disseminating data effectively.
GORS - Achieving impact with analysis.
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
6. Applicants invited for Interview
You will be required to give a 5-minute presentation at interview. Details of this will be sent to those candidates who are invited for interview.
7. Further Information
If you require any additional information about the role, please contact: