86250 - Head of Office - Private Office to The Senior Presiding Judge, Judicial Office

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 Lady 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 will join the Judicial Private Offices directorate. The business unit include operational private offices; jurisdiction and policy private offices; and the Judicial Executive Board Secretariat.

Overview 

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a busy, cross jurisdictional Private Office, working with a number of the most senior members of the judiciary.  The successful candidate will be based in the Royal Courts of Justice and will be working at the heart of the Judicial Office in this varied and stretching role in the Private Offices Directorate. They will work alongside the Private Secretary playing a key role in overseeing and coordinating the workload of the office as well as providing advice and support to the Senior Presiding Judge and their Deputy in their leadership of 14 Presiding Judges and 8 Family Presiding Judges. 

The Senior Presiding Judge (‘SPJ’) 

The SPJ’s responsibilities and remit include:

•    providing support, leadership and guidance for courts judiciary and magistrates, particularly to leadership judges; 
•    acting as ‘Chief of Staff’ for the Lady Chief Justice, dealing with the day–to–day issues affecting the judiciary, across a wide-ranging field including diversity, HR casework, and appointments 
•    representing the Lady Chief Justice on the HMCTS Board and attending a number of other high profile boards; 
•    the effective and efficient operation of the courts, including regular meetings with HMCTS, working with judges to understand and improve performance. 
•    Providing support, leadership, and guidance for courts judiciary, in particular to leadership judges; 
•    the effective and efficient operation of the courts, including regular meetings with those involved in the work of the courts, and working with judges to understand and improve performance;

Job Description

The SPJ’s Private Office is a team of 10, consisting of a Private Secretary, Deputy and Assistant Private Secretaries and an Executive Assistant. The successful candidate will take active leadership of the team and provide oversight and co-ordination of the SPJ’s Private Office workload. They will be required to independently manage conflicting priorities daily as well as advise the SPJ on operational matters.

They will be expected to build strong relationships with the SPJ and other senior members of the judiciary, gaining their trust, respecting their confidence and providing appropriate challenge. The post-holder will need to work closely with colleagues in other parts of the Judicial Office, including with the Senior President of Tribunals Private Office, to ensure a consistent dialogue on parallel matters of interest across courts and tribunals, and in HMCTS, investing time to develop good relationships to ensure the SPJ has all the information needed to reach decisions and address the concerns of the judiciary. 

The SPJ Private Office has a cross jurisdictional role and the post-holder will be required to support on issues and priorities as they emerge based on the priorities of the judiciary and the office.  This requires building and maintaining good working relationship with other teams in the Judicial Office and working collaboratively with HMCTS, MoJ and external stakeholders as necessary.  

Main Responsibilities  

The post-holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities (the list is not exhaustive): 

•    Working closely with the Deputy Private Secretaries to provide oversight and co-ordination of the SPJ’s Private Office workload ensuring work is processed and updates on live issues are provided in a timely manner.
•    To support the Private Secretary with the induction of the SPJ/DSPJ and any potential impact on the office.
•    Ensuring all meetings are appropriately covered including agendas and briefing as necessary.
•    Ensuring mechanisms are in place to funnel information from internal and external stakeholders to and from the SPJ/DSPJ.
•    Reviewing office processes to seek more efficient and better ways of working.
•    Act as an ambassador for the SPJ/DSPJ, communicating with senior stakeholders with accuracy and sensitivity towards views/concerns/questions as required.
•    Supporting the priorities of the SPJ, DSPJ and Private Secretary as necessary across the broad spectrum of work covered by the office (including magistrates, crime, HR/Appointments, estates, security, leadership and ad hoc matters as necessary).  This will require managing conflicting priorities often with right deadlines.
•    Building and maintaining strong relationships with teams within the JO, HMCTS and the MoJ including other government agencies as necessary.
•    Establishing strong links with the Strategy and Modernisation team, and the transition of Reform into BAU, to ensure suitable processes, systems and mechanisms are in place. 

These duties are subject to change depending on the SPJ’s priorities.  

Private Office roles are unpredictable and can require working long hours and, very occasionally, at weekends. It may be necessary to support the SPJ on visits across the country therefore some travel will likely be required. This role is not suitable for job-share or reduced hours working.

Person Specification

The successful candidate must be outcome focussed, have excellent communication and leadership skills, be able to clearly set direction and be an experienced line manager.  They must be able to establish and maintain a network of contacts across various teams within Judicial Office and more widely across HMCTS, MoJ and other justice agencies. An ability to speak confidently, influence and manage upwards when speaking with senior officials or judiciary is a must.

Desirable Knowledge and Skills

Operational experience is desirable. 
Experience of working with the judiciary would be an advantage.  

Location

The SPJ’s Private Office is based in London in the Royal Courts of Justice.  

How to apply:

Behaviours

Civil Service Success Profile Framework recruitment will apply.

Applicants will be assessed against these behaviours during the selection process:

•    Communicating and influencing 
•    Working together 
•    Delivering at pace 
•    Seeing the big picture  
•    Leadership

Should we receive a large number of applications we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Communicating and Influencing. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview.

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

Candidates invited to interview 

Please note that interviews will be carried out in person at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. 

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role. 

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.  You can refer to the Civil Service Strengths dictionary for more details.

Interviews are expected to take place in early May 2024.

If you wish to discuss the role before submitting an expression of interest, please contact Stephen Sloan (Stephen.Sloan@judiciary.uk) or Emma Killick (Emma.killick@judiciary.uk ).