About the 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.

Overview of the Organisation:

Are you looking for a new challenge in the operational field? Do you want to work across a wider team, developing skills and specialist knowledge as you go along? You have come to the right place!

The Judicial Office is a small organisation (c200 people) which works in support of the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals. The team also supports and advises the advisory committees who carry out key functions in relation to the magistracy, on behalf of the Lord Chancellor.

More generally, the Judicial Office is a very collegiate place to work and there are opportunities to get involved in a range of things, be it by becoming a member of the Shadow Board, joining the Learning & Development Group or work-shadowing colleagues.

Summary of the roles:

Led by the Head of Judicial HR, the Judicial HR team is accountable for delivering the right judicial office holders with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time in support of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals as set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

The Judicial Office Holder Appointments team provide advice and support to the senior judiciary and the Lord Chancellor concerning judicial appointments and retirements.

The roles involve providing advice in respect to recommendations for new appointments of courts and tribunals judicial office holders, including magistrates. This involves working with the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), the Ministry of Justice, HMCTS and Advisory Committees. The team assist in planning JAC recruitment campaigns, through to advising the senior judiciary and the Lord Chancellor on whether to accept recommendations for appointment.

The team also works on the deployment of candidates following selection, and supports the swearing-in ceremonies of certain judicial office holders. The team provides support to the Senior Presiding Judge on the appointment of magistrates , drafting advice recommending appointments. Once office holders are in post, the team provide advice on the authorisation of judges and the deployment of individuals to other roles, including leadership roles.

The team also action the retirement of all judicial office holders, including the appointment of individuals to sit following retirement.

The team is also accountable for managing the fee-paid resignations, renewals and deaths in service, producing valedictory letters and accurately updating both electronic records. They also manage resignations ,retirements and deaths in service in the magistracy.

For more information, please see the Judicial Office website.

Responsibilities, Activities & Duties:

• Provide accurate and timely advice to the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, the Senior President of Tribunals and the Senior Presiding Judge on JAC reports that recommend candidates for judicial appointment, renewals, resignations and extensions of appointments.

• Handling the renewals of judges’ appointments using the teams e-HR, I.T database system.

• To support the Band C in managing the appointments process for both courts and tribunals from High Court downwards in a timely and efficient manner

• To draft accurate offer letters and public announcements, and to take forward medical checks and secure Royal Warrants and Instruments of Appointment.

• To draft valedictory letters on behalf of the senior judiciary.

• To arrange and assist with swearing-in ceremonies for Circuit Judges and above. To provide assistance at the ceremonies and to lead as and when required, ensuring that ceremonies run smoothly.

• To support the Band C in identifying resources for recruitment campaigns and being responsible for refreshing the pool of judges.

• Provide support and advice to the senior judiciary on post appointment queries when necessary.

• To provide assistance with HR Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests

• To ensure that e-HR (the records management system) is kept up to date.

• Ad hoc duties, including oversight of the budget, assistance with scanning of documents, the provision of statistics and assistance across the team when required

• Supporting the Band C in dealing with nominations for magistrates to receive a public honour, including helping with the preparation of case papers for the two annual sift meetings led by Magistrates’ HR.

• Collaborating with the Advisory Committees on the production of long service certificates for magistrates

• Responsibility for recruitment page web updates which involves proactive engagement with Advisory Committees on timings of recruitment and appointment submission

The job duties are not exhaustive, but this provides an overview of the various areas of work Band Ds support in the HR Operations team.

We are looking for candidates who are excellent team players with strong organisational skills and an eye for detail. You will need to have the confidence and ability to work under your own initiative and be able to manage competing priorities effectively.

The successful candidates will have an induction period and support from their line manager throughout. They will also be supported by colleagues in the Judicial Office HR Teams on how the team works with senior judiciary and key stakeholders such as the JAC, MoJ, HMCTS and the Judicial College.

Please contact Ali Ahmed (ali.ahmed1@judiciary.uk) if you would like further information about the roles.

Behaviours (for Recruitment/Success Profiles):

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Making Effective Decisions

• Managing a Quality Service

• Changing and Improving

If a large volume of applications are received the sift will focus on Seeing the Big Picture.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and Skills:

• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage your own workload effectively.

• Strong IT skills (should be able to work confidently in Word, Excel, Outlook including the ability to make formatting and layout changes to documents, manipulate data in Excel using basic formulae, sorting and filtering and be able to use databases confidently).

• Able to make decisions using sound judgement.

• Excellent customer service skills with the ability to communicate effectively with different stakeholders across all levels of seniority.

• Strong team player with the ability to support colleagues across HR Operations.

• Excellent attention to detail.

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and Skills:

• Knowledge of the work of the judiciary.

• Experience of working with Judicial Office Holders

Security clearance required:

CTC

Responsibilities

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving