9083 - Business Support to the Civil Justice Council, the Private Office of the Master of the Rolls and the Deputy Head of Civil Justice, Judicial Office

General Information

Salary £33,551 - £35,564 Working Pattern Full Time Vacancy Approach External Location London Region London Closing Date 04-Sep-2025 Post Type Permanent Civil Service Grade EO Number of jobs available 1 Reserve List 12 Months Job ID 9083

Descriptions & requirements

Job description Job Specification

Business Support to the Civil Justice Council and the Private Office of the Master of the Rolls and the Deputy Head of Civil Justice

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 (LCJ) 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, communications, and HR.

Directorate:

The postholder 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.

Context:

A unique opportunity to support the work of the Civil Justice Council (CJC), a body considering how to make the civil justice system more accessible, fair, and efficient.

This role offers the scope to begin to develop broad policy making skills. Operating as a vital part of a small Secretariat team – working together with the Secretary, Deputy and Assistant Secretaries – you will be central to the delivery of a wide range of projects and research. You will occupy a critical position helping operate a statutory advisory body at the heart of the civil justice system.

The CJC has significant autonomy in fulfilling its role: you will need to make and maintain strong working relationships with members of the judiciary, officials, legal representatives and other diverse stakeholders in the civil justice system, working with them to achieve the CJC’s objectives. It is integral to the role that you are able to work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Your responsibilities will be varied and broad. They will include helping to plan quarterly CJC meetings – which you will attend – as well as regular working party meetings. You will take the lead for the administration of the CJC’s work and will be supported to have responsibility for specific working parties, helping them to deliver expediently to the full CJC. You will maintain the CJC’s website, administer its finances, and undertake a full range of wider administration tasks.

You will become a recognised figure within civil justice and you will be expected to develop and maintain your own knowledge of developments and trends across the civil justice system.

The CJC is a statutory non-departmental advisory body which is chaired by the Master of the Rolls. The CJC Secretariat, and this post, forms part of the wider Private Office of the Master of the Rolls. You will have access to the broader opportunities and experience that working as part of a busy Private Office brings. In particular, you will lead the planning and administration of a full schedule of court visits for the Master of the Rolls, the Deputy Head of Civil Justice, and a team of Senior Leadership judges, supporting them to deliver on their objective of visiting all 140 civil court centres.

With excellent opportunities to work on cutting edge projects alongside some of the country’s leading experts, this post offers significant exposure to policy making and decision making at the highest levels, from within a unique organisation which brings together the Civil Service, the judiciary, and the wider legal sector.

The successful applicant will join the team at a critical point for the development of the CJC. They will play an active role in supporting new members joining the CJC from the most recent public appointments campaign, along with supporting exciting current and upcoming projects. More details of the CJC’s current projects can be found on our website: Civil Justice Council - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.

Role Summary

The primary function of the Business Support to the CJC is to work with other members of the CJC Secretariat to deliver the Council’s statutory functions and wider responsibilities.

The Business Support role is responsible for ensuring all the administrative functions of the Council are maintained to support operational delivery. The portfolio of responsibilities and roles undertaken by the Business Support role are not exhaustive and therefore the successful candidate will need to be proactive, adaptable and able to autonomously triage work.

The focus of the role will involve delivering the practical administration of meetings, ensuring the production of papers, agendas and minutes; information management; ad-hoc administrative tasks; diary management, both of the CJC Secretariat and the wider CJC; and supporting members. Successful delivery will require the post-holder to understand the vision of the CJC, the CJC’s purpose, and the wider context in which it operates.

In parallel to working with CJC, you will support the administration of the wider Private Office, supporting two judicial principals. The post has particular responsibility for the administration of and planning for a full schedule of court visits for the Master of the Rolls, the Deputy Head of Civil Justice, and a wider team of Senior Leadership judges.

You will have impeccable personal skills and will be confident dealing directly with civil servants, the judiciary and external stakeholders – of all levels – during your daily business. You will be a natural energetic organiser, who is routinely able to adapt quickly to changing situations and successfully bring about their resolution. You will be a person who is able to apply critical thinking to problems and challenge existing assumptions, blockers, and constraints to find solutions.

Main Activities/Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing comprehensive administrative support to the CJC Secretariat, including leading within the team on the management of a shared inbox and calendar.
• Leading and acting as a central coordinating point of contact for a range of business administration activities; for example, maintaining a register of members interests and ensuring members are appraised annually, and certain corporate function processes including finance.
• Communicating and engaging effectively with a range of people, including internal and external staff and stakeholders. This will include dealing with stakeholder enquiries promptly and courteously by email, telephone, letter or in-person, referring to colleagues where appropriate.
• Organising meetings and events on behalf of the CJC, including the CJC’s annual public conference (the National Forum), as well as booking rooms, arranging catering and working with centrally-agreed budgets.
• Producing agenda, papers, minutes and reports, as well as updating action logs as required.
• Supporting and participating in relevant working parties and initiatives.
• Remaining aware of developments in the civil justice system, sharing with others as necessary.
• Adhering to and appropriately following CJC processes for administration and governance, as well as exercising judgment where necessary to support the development of improved systems and procedures, to ensure efficiency, quality and time effectiveness.
• Reporting on and tracking the development of proposals for working parties to the wider CJC and the Master of the Rolls & the Deputy Head of Civil Justice.
• Representing the work of the CJC internally within the justice system and, where necessary, providing an interface between the CJC and wider Civil Service.
• Trip planning, sequencing and travel booking for members of the Civil Leadership Group to ensure that members of the senior civil judiciary are visible and undertake regular visits to all regions of England & Wales.

The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by your line manager.

Person Specification

• The successful candidate will be organised, strategic and be able to prioritise and handle multiple issues concurrently. You should have a proactive and positive attitude to getting the job done. You will have excellent organisational and administration skills with a close eye for detail, demonstrating judgment to ensure deadlines are met.
• The best candidates are likely to be an enthusiastic team player and may be able to demonstrate experience of working within a similar small team.
• The role requires excellent and concise communication skills. The post holder must be able to perform independently at a high level. The best candidates are likely to be able to demonstrate that they can independently engage senior officials and stakeholders confidently.
• Part of the enjoyment and challenge of working in a Private Office is that work is occasionally fast-paced and unpredictable. It will be important that the job holder is willing and able to be flexible in the tasks they take on.

Desirable Knowledge and Skills

The strongest applicants are likely to have some experience of writing correspondence, Committee work, IT skills, and skills in communication and influencing. Knowledge of the civil justice system and the work of the Civil Justice Council is desirable, but not essential. Experience of working with the senior judiciary is also highly desirable.

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. This role is not suitable for reduced hours working and requires a minimum of 60% attendance in the office. 

Location

This post is primarily based in London, at the Royal Courts of Justice but does require some travel, accompanying the MR to events across England & Wales, and occasionally abroad.

Length of Deployment

We are looking for the successful candidate to be in post as soon as possible. This is a permanent post.  

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:

Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

In the event of a high volume of applications, we will sift on the lead behaviour of Managing a Quality Service 

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

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

If you wish to discuss the role before applying, please contact: Freya Prentice (Freya.Prentice@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 role: 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.

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.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.

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

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.

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.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

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: 9083

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: 9083

Job Description Attachment

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Application form stage assessments

Behaviours A sift based on the lead behaviour, Managing a Quality Service, 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 Managing a Quality Service Seeing the Big Picture Working Together Delivering at Pace 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 Managing a Quality Service Seeing the Big Picture Working Together Delivering at Pace 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)