Lead Business Analyst

Job summary

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 or over at the point of starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. You are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of your notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

As part of this role, you are expected to undertake direct line management responsibilities.

At the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), we design user-centred services that make the criminal justice system easier to use, quicker to deliver, and fairer for all.

As the Lead Business Analyst, you play a key role in helping us understand complex business problems and opportunities, using evidence, data and analysis to shape services that meet user needs, business priorities and organisational goals.

You work closely with service owners, programme leadership, subject matter experts and multidisciplinary teams to understand how our services work across people, processes, information, data, technology and policy.

You lead the business analysis team, setting direction, assuring the quality of analysis work and helping CPS make effective decisions about priorities, minimum viable products and service improvements. You will support business analysts to translate complex user, business and policy needs into clear requirements and actionable insights that support effective design, development, testing and delivery.

Working as part of the Analysis and User-Centred Design leadership team, you will help grow business analysis capability across CPS by mentoring colleagues, promoting best practice and championing consistent, collaborative and user-centred ways of working. You will also advocate for the value of Analysis and User Centred Design with senior leaders and partners across the Criminal Justice System, helping CPS deliver joined-up, inclusive and effective services with real impact for users.

Job description

Your roles and responsibillites:

• Lead business analysis across complex services, helping teams build a shared understanding of business problems, opportunities, user needs and organisational goals.
• Use evidence, data and analysis to understand services across people, processes, information, data, technology and policy, identifying areas for improvement and feasible options for change.
• Define clear requirements, measures of success and actionable insights that support effective design, development, testing and delivery.
• Set direction for the business analysis team, assuring the quality of analysis work and supporting effective decisions about priorities, minimum viable products and service improvements.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need to:

• Have significant hands-on experience leading business analysis activity in complex organisations or services, including working across people, processes, information, data, technology and policy.
• Have strong experience capturing, defining and managing business needs, user needs and requirements, ensuring they are clear, traceable and aligned to organisational goals.
• Be confident using business modelling, process improvement, options analysis, feasibility assessment and impact assessment techniques to support evidence-based decision making.
• Have experience influencing senior stakeholders, working in multidisciplinary agile teams, and mentoring or coaching business analysts to improve practice and build capability.

It is desirable that you have the below experience but this is not required to apply:

• Experience working with Government Digital and Data standards, agile delivery methods, user-centred design principles, or services within the Criminal Justice System.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,330, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £16,898 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Join the Crown Prosecution Service and find your purpose.

The Crown Prosecution Service is passionate about ensuring that we're a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We're a committed equal opportunities employer, creating a culture where you can bring your whole self to work, and individuality is truly appreciated.

This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks covering disability, faith and belief, LGBTQI+, race, social mobility alongside our mental health first aiders programme and wellbeing sessions.

The Crown Prosecution Service commits to offer its employees the following experience.

• You can do impactful, purposeful work that’s making a difference to your local communities.
• You are able to learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources.
• We care about your wellbeing.
• We want you to feel valued, trusted and included.

We also offer the following range of benefits:

• Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.9%
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
• £350 each year to spend on personal development
• lawyer training programme for all new prosecutors
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• flexible working including flexitime, and a family friendly approach to work
• Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings.

Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service is about inclusion, embracing differences and ensuring our workforce truly reflects the communities we serve. We want you to feel that you belong and can thrive, whatever your background, identity or culture. As a Disability Confident employer, we're happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments and improve your recruitment experience. If you'd like any reasonable adjustments made to our recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact erin.morgan@cps.gov.uk

We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. We offer a hybrid working policy. You must spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.

The Crown Prosecution Service also has a range of development programmes to support all aspiring, new and experienced managers with developing the skills, behaviours and knowledge to build their confidence and capability. Our Manager Induction Programme is mandatory for all newly appointed managers. This is a fantastic opportunity to support all our new Crown Prosecution Service managers with the tools required to perform effectively in their roles.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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. Where 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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Recruitment Process

The recruitment process consists of an online application, assessment and interview.

Personal Statement

We ask you to complete a personal statement of no more than 750 words. You need to address the essential experience which is..

• Have significant hands-on experience leading business analysis activity in complex organisations or services, including working across people, processes, information, data, technology and policy.
• Have strong experience capturing, defining and managing business needs, user needs and requirements, ensuring they are clear, traceable and aligned to organisational goals.
• Be confident using business modelling, process improvement, options analysis, feasibility assessment and impact assessment techniques to support evidence-based decision making.
• Have experience influencing senior stakeholders, working in multidisciplinary agile teams, and mentoring or coaching business analysts to improve practice and build capability.

You are asked to complete a statement of no more than 250 words for the following behaviour, setting out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience match the specified behaviour and requirements:

1. Making Effective Decisions

In addition, you need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.

CV

Please upload an up-to-date CV which should include:

• three years’ employment and/or academic history
• skills and experience
• achievements
• qualifications.

You need to attach your CV as an anonymised document of no more than two A4 pages, to provide the panel with an insight into your work history and experience. We ask that you do not provide personal details which could identify you like name, age, home address.

It’s your responsibility to provide the specified application information in the requested format to ensure that you’re considered for the post.

If you’re unable to cover three years through employment and/or academic history, you need to provide a character reference for clearance purposes. The reference will be required at onboarding if you’re offered the role.

The CV will be assessed therefore must be anonymised.

Interview and Assessment

The interviews and assessments are expected to take place on the w/c 9th November 2026.

Your interview takes place online through Microsoft Teams. A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact erin.morgan@cps.gov.uk

You should keep this week free or notify us if you're not available. We'll make every effort to accommodate your date preferences but we can't guarantee it.

We ask you to complete an assessment as part of the recruitment process for this role. We will provide details when invited to interview in order to prepare.

We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against Grade 7 in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 3 behaviours at interview stage:

1. Making Effective Decision
2. Changing and Improving
3. Seeing the Big Picture

Essential Experience - assessed with an assessment that will be sent 5 working days before interviews, and presented at the interview itself.

Strengths are tested at interview stage - the strengths tested are not shared before the interview.

Other

This is a full-time post. We do consider requests for flexible, part-time working and job share, always considering the operational needs of the department.

Please note that the CPS is unable to offer visa sponsorship. If you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.

Clearance

If successful, you are required to securea Disclosure and Barring Service for which you must have a current valid UK address.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, and nationality and immigration questionnaire.

If you're a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you won’t need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.

The job you’re applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesn’t apply.You’re required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that haven’t been disclosed.

Civil Service Commission

If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.

If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page Recruitment Complaints - Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/

Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a standard (or equivalent) 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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Erin Morgan
• Email : erin.morgan@cps.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk

Attachments

CPS Terms and Conditions 2025 Opens in new window (docx, 255kB)Level D - Lead Business Analyst Final Opens in new window (docx, 40kB)