Careers Angel Profile: Richard Mortimer
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| Name | Richard Mortimer |
|---|---|
| Email Address | Richard.mortimer@justice.gsi.gov.uk |
| Industries/Sectors | Government & Politics |
| Employer | Ministry of Justice (MOJ) |
| Position | Head of the JusticeAcademy Design team, Capacity and Capability Directorate, Human Resources |
| Experience | 30-35 years (approx.) |
| Degree | History (graduated in 1987) |
| Other Qualifications | MPhil by thesis (History) |
| Internships | |
| Information | The JusticeAcademy is the Ministry of Justice’s new Learning and Development brand. I’m joining the design team from 9 March 2009. MOJ has 80,000 staff, so JusticeAcademy has a wide customer base to satisfy. Human Resources is not my background, but recent work on a Future Leaders’ programme, and a lot of involvement in piloting work on staff engagement (working out what causes staff to develop a heart and mind commitment to their organisation and making that happen), made an invitation to take up this post a very attractive and a logical next step. I’ve just finished eight months working as Head of the People and Change Management team for the Democracy, Constitution & Law (DC&L) Group within MOJ, helping set up that Business Group. Before that I spent three years running the Constitution Directorate Programme Office and the Ministry’s Honours Unit, running a team supporting the Constitution Director and her Senior Management Team to ensure we had the right resources and skills to deliver Ministers’ goals. The Directorate comprised 130 people developing policy and advising Ministers on Human Rights, Electoral Reform, Data Protection, Freedom of Information, Devolution, Constitutional Reform, and EU and Council of Europe initiatives in the justice sector. It was a good size of unit to pilot new initiatives, try new ways of working, and yet also to know everyone. My first post was in the management team of a busy civil and family court in London. I then moved to policy work – reform of civil court procedures, and projects on debt enforcement and personal insolvency. I worked with a number of Whitehall and Ministry teams to deliver the Government’s legislative programme between 1997 and 2005, working on where the justice sector impacted on topics like immigration, student loans (!), the environment, disability, race relations, and on constitutional reform. Progression in the Civil Service is dependent on showing proficiency in Policy, Corporate Services and Operational Delivery. My post in the JusticeAcademy will set the seal on my Corporate Services experience. The economic climate means that, more than ever, we are looking for self-starters with good communication and analytical skills, who can work effectively with people to deliver the Ministry’s goals. Competition is tough to get in. There is great variety in terms of the jobs that my colleagues do, and huge challenges and tremendous satisfaction in delivering services to the public. Working on a Bill can involve long hours, but the Ministry is also supportive of personal development, and time to meet family needs, such as caring for a dying parent, or looking after a newborn child, or travel. |
| Things I Wish I'd Known | Make the most of every opportunity to develop new skills, travel and meet people. Talk to people about what ‘life’ events they have faced and how they handled them. |