9085 - Deputy Private Secretary/Head of Office Upper Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal, Judicial Office

General Information

Salary £49,325 - £53,081 Working Pattern Full Time Vacancy Approach Cross Government Location London Region London Closing Date 04-Sep-2025 Post Type Permanent Civil Service Grade SEO Number of jobs available 1 Reserve List 12 Months Job ID 9085

Descriptions & requirements

Job description

Job Specification

Grade: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)

Deputy Private Secretary/Head of Office Upper Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal Private Office

Private Offices Directorate, 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(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, supporting Chamber Presidents of the UT.  This position 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 Presidents.  This roles involves 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 x2 HEO Assistant Private Secretary(s), and x5 EO Executive Assistant to the Chamber Presidents.

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.

Eligibility

This posts are open to high performing HEO’s temporary promotion or substantive SEO’s.

Location

This post is based in London in across The Royal Courts of Justice estate (combining the Royal Courts of Justice (Strand), Rolls Building (Fetter Lane) and Field House (Breams Buildings).

This posts is eligible for hybrid working (current requirement is at least 60% of working hours each week to be spent in the office, in line with all government departments).

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 (not scored).

Behaviours to be assessed at application stage:

Leadership, Communicating & Influencing, Working Together, Seeing the Big 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.

We anticipated that interviews for candidates successful at sift will be held during w/c 15th September 2025.

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 ).

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles: All successful candidates will be appointed to the nearest viable office nearest to their home postcode and on its respective pay scale.  This will be at either a HQ building (subject to desk allocation, a Justice Collaboration Centre (JCC) or a Justice Satellite Office (JSO) – See Map. All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity). 

For current MoJ employees, your base location will need to be changed to the nearest viable office (to your home postcode), either at a HQ building, JCC or JSO within the National Office Network and moved its location’s respective pay scale (any legacy arrangements/locations will need to be amended).

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.

All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.

Flexible working hours 

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Benefits 

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension 

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training 

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks 

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Eligibility

Staff on fixed term appointments must have been recruited through fair and open competition.

Vacancies advertised “cross-government” are only open to all Civil Service employees and employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who were appointed on merit following a fair and open competition; or were appointed to a permanent post through an exception in the Civil Service Commissioners' rules.

Support

• A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www.www.GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

• To Transformative Business Services (0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the TBS Recruitment Enquiries Team.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ is committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ is able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidates will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

Civil Service Nationality Rules

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) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
• 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) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Reserve list

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.

Contact Information

MoJ:

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference 9085

HMPPS

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference 9085

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Application form stage assessments

Behaviours A sift based on the lead behaviour, Communicating and Influencing, may be held if a large number of applications are received. If a large number of applications remain after the initial sift, your application will be progressed to a full sift, where all behaviours will then be considered. Behaviours Application Form Question Word Limit 250 Communicating and Influencing Leadership Working Together Seeing the Big Picture Making Effective Decisions Experience We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods CV or Work History Evidence of Experience CV or Work History

Interview stage assessments

Interview Dates Expected w/c 15th September Behaviours Communicating and Influencing Leadership Working Together Seeing the Big Picture Making Effective Decisions Strengths Strengths will be assessed but these are not shared in advance. To learn more about Strengths and how they are assessed please click here. Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. Level of security checks required Counter Terrorism Check (CTC)