About the job

Job summary

Please refer to the Job Description.

Job description

International Relations Officer

Salary: £37,174 - £40,403

Region: London

Grade: HEO

Post Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full Time

Directorate: Judicial Conduct Investigations, Communications, Information and Library Services, International

Team: International Team

Location: The team is based in the Thomas More Building in the Royal Courts of Justice. The post is eligible for hybrid working, the current requirement being a minimum 60% of time spent at RCJ, subject to business requirements. The successful candidate will be required to travel to attend meetings, committees and staff events. These meetings may be before or after court so there will
be the need for flexibility. There will also be some international travel.

Security clearance: CTC level

The Judicial Office

The Judicial Office (JO) reports to, and is accountable, to the Lady Chief Justice and was established in 2006 to provide support to her and to the wider judiciary following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. In addition, we support, and are accountable to, the Senior President of Tribunals, whose responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The JO is an interesting and unique place to work. Everything we do is in support of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. We work closely with HMCTS, the Ministry of Justice
(MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions. See JO staff talk about working here: https://design102.wistia.com/medias/uhgtmbtnlv

The International Team

The International Team supports the judiciary in their engagement with other jurisdictions around the world through bilateral activity and as part of multilateral organisations. This can be through welcoming visiting judges and providing programmes of activity, engaging in roundtables on technical subjects, attending conferences on matters of mutual interest, and the provision of training on specific topics or judicial skills.

The team provide support through policy briefing and advice on strategic engagement, logistics and administration, record keeping and analysis, and liaison with Government and strategic partners. 

The team acts as the secretariat for a number of Committees including the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC).
The team is expanding and at full complement will consist of a G7 Head of Team, three Band B/SEOs (one position 50/50 with the Law Commission, two Band C/HEO and two Band D/EOs). Some international travel will be expected across the team.

The post-holder will work closely with a range of judicial international leads, and be line-managed by a Band B/SEO in the team.

The role

The post-holder will take a leading role in the delivery of international relations through the facilitation of international engagement by the judiciary. Particular responsibilities will include:

1. Supporting engagement with strategic priority jurisdictions as set out in the international strategy of the judiciary of England and Wales and facilitating judicial and official engagements. This may require assisting with arrangements for incoming and outgoing visits, and occasional international travel for scoping visits or to accompany judges.

2. Drafting advice, reports and briefing for judges and officials on topics within agreed portfolio areas including Europe and Global Economic Powers. 

3. Providing support to the rest of the team, including the Band B/SEO lead on the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts as required.

4. Working collaboratively and regularly liaising with others (UKSC/MOJ/HMCTS/FCDO/OGDs in particular) regarding the delivery of judicial activities.

Accurately forecast demands on judicial and official resources (including the international budget) and ensure the judiciary and colleagues are kept informed by contributing to the international work log and forward look.

Skills and Qualifications

The responsibilities of this role offers an opportunity for the successful candidate to apply their skills and experience in a unique context, that of supporting an independent judiciary, making the role substantially different from other civil service roles.

Essential Criteria

•    Experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders to deliver projects or events.
•    Excellent interpersonal, influencing and stakeholder skills, with the ability to build and use effective and credible relationships at all levels.
•    Ability to adapt to emerging or changing priorities.
•    Good written and oral communication skills with an ability to brief senior judges and to prepare reports, with strong resilience and influencing skills.

Desirable Criteria

•    Experience of working with Judicial Office Holders and knowledge of the judiciary.
•    Experience of international engagement would be an advantage.

Please contact Daniel.kellingley@judiciary.uk if you would like to discuss this role.

Assessment

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess the Behaviours and Experience elements.

Application stage:

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Personal Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words. Your answers should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the Success Profiles (the Behaviours, and your Experience). The Behaviours tested at application stage will be:

•    Seeing the Big Picture
•    Delivering at Pace
•    Communicating and Influencing
•    Working Together
•    Making Effective Decisions

You will also be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history. This will be used in the sifting process and will not be scored. Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Interview stage:

All applicants that progress to interview will be assessed on Civil Service Strengths and Behaviours, with reference to your Experience and the Essential Criteria for the role. The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:

•    Seeing the Big Picture
•    Delivering at Pace
•    Communicating and Influencing
•    Working Together
•    Making Effective Decisions

Person specification

Please refer to job description.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,174, Ministry of Justice contributes £10,074 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, Strengths and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist 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. 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.