About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

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.

Job Specification

Grade: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)

2 Deputy Private Secretary/Head of Office roles in the Chamber Presidents Offices, Judicial Office.

•    Upper Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal Private Office (London)
•    First Tier Social Entitlement Chamber, War Pensions & Armed Forces Compensation Chamber and General Regulatory Chamber Private Office (various locations)

Organisation

The Judicial Office (JO) is a unique branch of the civil service, independent from the machinery which supports the Government, and dedicated to supporting the judiciary as the third arm of the state. We promote and safeguard judicial independence to maintain confidence in the rule of law. We are answerable not to Ministers but instead, through our Chief Executive, to the Lord Chief Justice of

England and Wales and the Senior President of Tribunals as we help them to fulfil their responsibilities to the judiciary.

We support c.22,000 judicial office holders, providing policy, legal and handling advice, and operational support. This includes advice on judicial leadership, support with relationships with Government and Parliament, assistance with justice sector reform, judicial education and training, comms, and HR.

Directorate

The postholder(s) will join the Judicial Private Offices directorate. The business units include operational private offices; jurisdiction and policy private offices; and the Judicial Executive Board Secretariat.

Overview:

This is an exciting opportunity to provide leadership to a busy Judicial Private Office and supporting Chamber Presidents of the UT or First Tier Tribunal, working in either the Upper Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal Private Office or the Social Entitlement Chamber Private Office.  These positions would suit someone looking for a stretching role working with some of the most senior Tribunals judiciary in the country. 

Within the Judicial Office, the Chamber Presidents Private Offices are a series of small jurisdictional teams focused on supporting each Chamber and Tribunal President across all of their leadership functions. Each Private Office provides policy and legal advice, and general secretariat and administrative support to the Chamber and Tribunal Presidents, working collaboratively with expert teams across the Judicial Office.

Role Summary:

The postholder(s) will be responsible for ensuring that the jurisdictional Private Office provides high quality policy advice and administrative and operational support to the Chamber President.  These roles involve the development and implementation of new ways of working within the Private Office(s) and the delivery of efficiencies across the wider CPO and Judicial Office.

The role involves maintaining an overview of developments in Tribunals liaising with and building strong relationships with peers and senior stakeholders across the Justice system, including His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, the Ministry of Justice, other government departments, and across the Private Office Directorate in Judicial Office.

Main Activities / Responsibilities:

The main responsibilities of the post include, but are not limited to:

•    Providing advice for the Chamber President(s) on a variety of matters including governance, legislation and policy and signposting to professional support e.g. HR, Communications, Judicial Training, across the Judicial Office.
•    Ensuring that the Chamber President(s) has the information they need to engage effectively with others, including retaining an overview of issues that impact on the tribunals and providing and/or commissioning written and oral advice and briefing.
•    Communicating on behalf of the Chamber President(s) with the Senior President and with judges from both the courts and tribunals system, senior officials from MoJ, HMCTS, and OGDs, senior stakeholder organisations, and members of the public/their legal representatives.
•    Providing advice and support to the Chamber President(s) on specific projects, including arranging and supporting judicial working groups and networks.
•    Supporting the Chamber President(s) in their interaction with the JO Data Governance, Policy and Analysis Team and with the HMCTS Analysis & Performance Team
•    Providing advice to the Chamber President(s) on prioritisation of their workload and setting clear direction for the Private Office team
•    Providing leadership and oversight of the jurisdictional Private Office and setting objectives with clear links to the Judicial Office Business plan.
•    Overseeing and leading on both internal and external recruitment and forecasting for the Chamber.  Drafting and obtaining the relevant approvals for business cases. 
•    Drafting and/or contributing to Practice Guidance, internal management and policy documents.
•    Acting as the primary contact for accommodation matters.

Management of Resources:

The postholder will manage a team consisting of a HEO Assistant Private Secretary(s), an EO Executive Assistant to the Chamber President and a small judicial support team.

The post-holder will report to the Principle Private Secretary to the Chamber and Tribunal Presidents of the First Tier and Upper Tier Tribunals.

Person specification:

The successful candidate must:

•    be able to influence and manage upwards and speak with authority when dealing with senior officials or judiciary;
•    have excellent communication and leadership skills;
•    be confident implementing and driving forward changes in ways of working and modernisation initiatives
•    have strong organisational skills.

Desirable Knowledge and Skills:

•    experience of working closely with the judiciary, and an interest in the workings of the courts and tribunals system more widely.

The support provided by judicial Private Offices necessarily involves working before and after court, in keeping with the judge’s diary commitments and sitting patterns. Some early mornings and late evenings can be expected, though every effort will be made to accommodate flexibility where necessary. These roles are not suitable for reduced hours working.

Location

The Upper Tribunal DPS post is based in London in across The Royal Courts of Justice estate (combining the Royal Courts of Justice (Strand), Rolls Building (Fetter Lane)), Fox Court (Grays Inn Road), and Field House (Breams Buildings)

The SEC DPS post could be based in London (in any of the venues above) or either of the following national locations: Nottingham; Leicester.

These posts are eligible for hybrid working (current requirement is at least 40% of working hours each week to be spent in the office, in line with all government departments – but this is subject to change).

How to apply

This is a Success Profiles based recruitment and Civil Service Behaviours will be considered at application stage along with a candidate CV.

Behaviours to be assessed at application stage: 

Leadership, Communicating & Influencing, Working Together, Seeing the Bigger Picture, Making Effective Decisions

In the event of a high volume of applications, we will sift on the lead behaviour of Communicating and Influencing.

Candidates invited to interview will be assessed on these behaviours and on Civil Service Strengths.

Interviews for candidates successful at sift will be held during w/c 12th February 2024.

If you wish to discuss the role before submitting an application, please contact Mark Chander (Mark.chandler1@judiciary.uk) or Emma Killick (Emma.killick@judiciary.uk).

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,868, Ministry of Justice contributes £10,804 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.