72488 - HR Senior Casework Manager

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 Title / Group / Directorate:  HR Senior Casework Manager, Centres of Expertise Judicial HR, Judicial Office

Reports To:  Head of welfare and casework 

Number of jobs available:  1

Details of reserve list:  12 months

Region:  London, Manchester, Birmingham or Leeds. 

City/Town:  London, Manchester, Birmingham or Leeds. 

Building/Site:  Thomas More Building, Royal Courts of Justice, WC2A 2LL. 

Grade:  SEO

Organisation grade for MoJ:  SEO

Post type:  Permanent 

Working pattern: Full-time, part-time, flexible working.  

Role Type:  Human Resources

Reports to:  Head of Welfare and Casework (Grade 7).  

The Judicial Office (about the organisation) 

The Judicial Office is an arms length body of the Ministry of Justice. We are dedicated to strengthening the rule of law and improving the administration of justice by supporting the leadership and governance of the judiciary. We report to the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals to enable them and the wider judicial leadership team to fulfil their leadership responsibilities to the judiciary (about 25,000 judicial office holders), and an ever-evolving justice system. Most of our people are based in London at the Royal Courts of Justice. We also have people based in Loughborough, Leeds and Glasgow. Our staff are highly committed to strengthening the rule of law and supporting an independent judiciary. We work closely with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions. 

Before applying for this role please read the JO Recruitment Pack

If the successful candidate is based outside of London, they will be expected to travel to London, at least once a fortnight for in person team meetings, to attend monthly meetings with the Senior Presiding Judge and to attend any other meeting with the judiciary or senior civil servants within JO that requires in person attendance. 

Background - Judicial HR (what we do) 

Led by Deputy Director and Head of HR for the Judiciary, Susan Frew, the Judicial HR team is accountable for ensuring that the right judicial office holders with the right skills, are in the right place, at the right time. Judicial HR supports the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals responsibilities for the welfare and conduct of the judiciary as set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The team also supports and advises the advisory committees that carry out key functions in relation to the magistracy on behalf of the Lord Chancellor. 

We are not a typical HR team, everything we do needs to meet the often complex, needs of the judiciary who are office holders and not civil servants. This provides us with a unique set of HR challenges.  It also provides us with unique opportunities to work with the judiciary at all levels and gives us ample opportunity to broaden our HR skills, use our HR and business insights to be curious about doing things differently.   
Judicial HR, places judicial office holders at the centre of our services, ensuring we are visible, proactive and responsive, collaborating with colleagues across the Judicial Office, to ensure we provide judicial office holders with excellent HR support and professional expertise.

Judicial HR supports the senior judiciary, leadership judges working in partnership with HMCTS and MoJ to ensure the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals have an HR service which meets the requirements of the judiciary.

The Judicial HR, Welfare and Casework Team sits within the HR Centres of Expertise. We have a permanent vacancy for an HR Senior casework manager, SEO. This exciting, challenging and varied role offers the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of HR activities while supporting the Head of Welfare and Casework.  

Role

To deliver an expert Judicial Welfare and Casework (including litigation) service to the judiciary in support of the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals responsibilities for the welfare and conduct of the judiciary as set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The role also includes project work to support the delivery of the wellbeing action plan which aligns with the objectives within the Judicial Health and Wellbeing strategy health and welfare strategy.  

The role supports the following actions within the Judicial Office Business Plan 2022-2023.  

•    Provision of expert HR advice and support on long-term sickness absence cases, so they are dealt with effectively, sympathetically, and in line with policy.
•    Provision and promotion of enhanced welfare support, implementing the objectives in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the activities in the 2022 wellbeing action plan.

Main Activities and Responsibilities

You will report to the head of welfare and casework and work closely with three other senior HR casework managers (SEO) and two HR welfare and casework support managers (HEO).     

1.  You will provide ongoing support to the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals in respect of their statutory responsibilities for the welfare and support of judicial office holders. Building and maintaining strong and effective working relationships with leadership judges, Private Offices and secretariats/chamber presidents’ offices and HMCTS/MoJ. You will have excellent communication skills with an ability to engage with senior members of the judiciary.   

2. You will apply your HR expertise to offer a professional HR service, advising, supporting and guiding on matters to resolve complex HR issues and long-term sickness absence cases. You will share your expertise building trust with leadership and presiding judges. You will act as a point of contact managing a caseload of complex cases and be a source of professional HR expertise and insight into the complex statutory frameworks of a judicial office holder against the backdrop of Employment Law.  

3. You will provide timely advice and support to leadership judges to enable them to effectively discharge their pastoral responsibilities and you will act with sensitivity and preserve confidentiality when supporting judicial office holders who are seeking welfare support and access to welfare services.  

4. You will manage a case load consisting of Judicial HR litigation cases. These cases often contain a high degree of ambiguity and complexity due the fact that appellants are appointed to their role and are not employees.  In carrying out this work you will work closely with government solicitors, GLD, relaying  instruction on cases. You will manage these cases from start through to conclusion seeking the views of the senior judiciary as required and providing regular updates to the head of welfare and case work.

5.  You will manage and monitor the Occupational Health and Judicial Assistance Programme, including participating in meetings with external providers and MoJ to discuss the services with the aim of getting the best service provision for the judiciary.  You will monitor monthly MI reports ensuring contract KPIs are met and challenge failures seeking feedback from colleagues.  The role may also include some responsibility for the procurement processes for the Judicial Helpline and Occupational Health contracts, including the drafting of our requirements/specification for the tender exercise and consulting with the head of welfare and casework.  

6. You will work closely with a team of HR regional advisors (HRAA) and senior HRBPs to provide a seamless HR service to all judicial office holders. 

7. You will undertake project work to support the delivery of the wellbeing action plan including creating new guidance, supporting the delivery of wellbeing services, leading on new areas of work including  piloting new services and generally raising the profile of the well being offer including presenting on the topic at judicial conferences and Judicial College events. This work also includes preparing papers on wellbeing initiatives for the Judicial HR Committee.   

8. You will work closely with the judicial HR strategy and policy team to support work on revisions to existing judicial HR policies including drafting and/or reviewing policy documents and obtaining feedback from key stakeholders, JO colleagues, HMCTS, and the Judiciary on amendments to policy.  

9. You will need to be organised and efficient, updating and maintaining the HR casework activity log using a data base system on Microsoft Lists ensuring you keep an accurate record of activity on your cases. You will also contribute to producing accurate statistical data.  

Management of Resources

There is no direct line management associated with this role, although the post holder will be expected to project manage, coach and/or support any of the 2 HEO’s on the team assigned to project delivery.  

Essential Experience 

1.    Excellent communication skills with an ability to draft advice and correspondence to a high standard. 
2.    HR experience, ideally having spent time in either an HR casework, HR policy or HRBP/HRRA role.   
3.    A sound knowledge of Employment Law. 
4.    Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills; being a skilled influencer with strong customer relationship skills and the ability to confidently handle difficult conversations.
5.    Ability to manage a varied workload and re-prioritise to meet competing demands.
6.    Ability to engage with senior colleagues effectively at SCS or equivalent level.  

Technical skills / qualifications (if using):

 CIPD qualification/membership preferred but not essential.  

Success Profiles  

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Communicating and Influencing.

To apply for this position please submit a copy of your anonymised CV. Your CV should be no more than 2 pages long and should show us your work history and previous experience. It should be well structured, succinct and written in clear language.

You should also provide evidence relating to each of the behaviours below. 

Behaviours:

•    Communicating and Influencing (250 word limit)
•    Making Effective Decisions  (250 word limit)
•    Managing a Quality Service (250 word limit)
•    Working Together  (250 word limit)
•    Delivering at Pace (250 word limit)

Experience: 

CV 

Interview assessment stage 

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.
o    Communicating and Influencing 
o    Making Effective Decisions  
o    Managing a Quality Service 
o    Working Together  
o    Delivering at Pace 
The interview will be a mixture of behaviours and strengths. 

For further information 

If you have any queries about the role, please contact:  vicki.arbuckle@judiciary.uk 

Level of security checks required: Counter- Terrorism Check (CTC) 

Please note the successful applicant will need to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Security Check for this post.