About the job

Job summary

The justice system is an essential public service, relied upon by millions of victims, families and businesses across our country.

At the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), our 85,000 strong team are working to protect and advance the principles of justice and deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society.

HMCTS is responsible for the day-to-day operations and administration of courts and tribunals to deliver the highest quality services within a complex business environment.

Over the past few years, HMCTS has been delivering its Reform Programme and new services have been deployed and transitioned into the Digital and Technology Services (DTS) directorate with many more still to go live. Your role will be responsible for the maintenance and continuous improvement of these services. You will make sure HMCTS can continue to deliver justice efficiently and effectively.

This is a Nationally based role

Job description

For full details about the Role, Key Responsibilities and Person Specification, please download and review the Candidate Information pack

Person specification

As the Chief Architect, you are the senior technology leader within HMCTS – reporting to the Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO). You own the technology strategy for HMCTS – advising on £200m of annual technology investment to deliver world class service to make Justice even more accessible for everyone.

You are accountable for the technical architecture for the organisation – with over 30 distinct citizen facing services and numerous internal capabilities serving over four million annual cases.

Your exceptional leadership and communication skills, your proven problem-solving ability and your broad technical expertise will ensure that technology is delivering the organisation’s objectives as a coherent whole. You will drive excellent, innovative and secure digital services to improve the justice system in line with our strategic aims and business need. You will ensure that technology decisions, investments and risks are all made with, and backed by, strong data.

Your stakeholders will be senior leaders and executives across HMCTS. They will seek advice from you on the most complex and varied business problems where there is no easy path and look to your ability to clearly present the strategy, unblock issues and bring clarity when it is most needed.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Please view our candidate information pack for full details about the role, key responsibilities person specification, and the criteria you will be assessed against throughout the recruitment process. If you are interested in this exciting opportunity, and feel that you meet the criteria, we would welcome your application.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £20,925 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Ability, Experience and Technical skills.For full details of the Selection Process and Recruitment Timeline, please view the Candidate Information pack.

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.