Ministry of Justice

Job title: Deputy Service Manager (Civil)

Directorate: Development

Workstream: Civil Jurisdiction

About us

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Our roles support our service users and colleagues, where people and businesses access potentially life-changing justice.  We’re looking for individuals who are committed to public service and want to make a difference in people’s lives in delivering justice. If you’re interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply.

About the role

The Development Directorate (part of HQ) is responsible for service strategy and development, operational policy and modernisation of courts and tribunals.  The Civil Team in Development Directorate supports the business of the County Courts. It is responsible for service management of existing services; the design of new digital services; maintenance of operational policies for the jurisdiction and providing operational support to court and business centre staff on these; the implementation of change arising from government policy, legislation, or judicial initiatives; and for improving performance. It is also responsible for Service Management of Help with Fees (HwF), the national cross-jurisdictional online fee remission scheme, and coordinating cross-jurisdictional fee changes.

The Deputy Service Manager (DSM) will be responsible for identifying and leading improvement, change and problem-solving activity across several priority areas in the Civil Team. A key member of its leadership team, the postholder will be the subject matter expert for a portfolio which may flex over time but could include being the lead on specific case types and processes within county courts or responsible for delivering the strategy for Help with Fees.

As a DSM, you will progress the jurisdiction’s or service’s priorities facilitating their delivery and ensuring the issues that can impact on the running of services are managed effectively. Supporting a Service Manager, you will take forward ongoing continuous improvement of existing services and for reforming products and processes.  You will take action across significant operational, multi-disciplinary and complex policy areas, influencing internal and external stakeholders and judiciary to help reconcile differing priorities and representing the organisation’s position will feature in these roles.

You will deliver through leading and co-ordinating change projects, identifying and monitoring dependencies and risks within the Team and wider policy landscape and ensuring a cohesive set of changes are successfully delivered at pace. You will uphold the strategic vision for their service and ensure design and delivery are aligned with HMCTS’ operating model, digital architecture and strategic vision, and meet the needs of all users including members of the public, judiciary, and staff. 

Key interactions will be with:

• Judiciary – at all levels including leadership judiciary.
• HMCTS operational colleagues – court staff and leadership.
• HMCTS finance, governance, digital, commercial, data/analysis/insight, performance teams.
• HMCTS change projects – including digital teams.
• MOJ policy and finance teams, and legal advisers.
• Other Government Departments including HMRC, DWP and LAA.
• External stakeholders – claimants, defendants, representative bodies, representatives of the legal professions.

Your role as the Deputy Service Manager encompasses several key aspects (but not limited to):

Jurisdictional strategy, service design, service development and improvement, governance

Focusing on the outcomes of live services across the whole delivery chain, you will be responsible for:

Continuous improvement strategy and process:

• In collaboration with operations and corporate functions, identify opportunities and challenges in your services and develop strategies for addressing them, consistent with the vision for the jurisdiction/service, HMCTS operating model and business architecture.
• Work with policy teams on policy and legislative proposals, ensuring that policies meet the needs of HMCTS and are operationally deliverable.
• Develop standard business processes and operating procedure, overseen by organisational governance (service board / business authority / project governance), to deliver improvement initiatives.

Developing service design in keeping with the organisational vision:

• Develop and iterate digital and offline service design which meets all users’ needs and is consistent with HMCTS’ operating model and the service model, in collaboration with operational colleagues, the judiciary and other users and stakeholders.

Quality of services: 

• Manage and shape services in line with the jurisdiction’s priorities and users’ needs, looking end-to-end and ensuring the issues that can impact on the running of the service are addressed. Identify national performance issues and take forward problem solving activity and continuous improvement.  
• Deliver nationally driven changes arising from policy, legislative or judicial initiatives, improving service delivery and aligning with the service strategy and vision in so doing.

Corporate responsibilities:

• Provide high quality written and oral advice to colleagues and to governance boards, and advice to senior civil servants, judiciary and Ministers as required and in a timely manner ensure high standards in analysis, advice and drafting to enable effective decision-making.
• Ensure high quality operational support is provided to courts and court staff on the postholder’s areas of jurisdictional and service responsibility.
• Ensure performance is maintained against correspondence, FOIs, MCs, PQs.
• Contribute to briefings, reports, and lines to take as required and in a timely manner.

Engagement and representation:

• Sustain collaborative relationships with MOJ policy and other Government departments, public bodies, justice agencies and the judiciary to ensure HMCTS strategy and plans are aligned to wider justice policy and the Government’s agenda.
• Sustain collaborative relationships across HMCTS operational and HQ functions to ensure shared understanding of vision, plans, and activities and to ensure these are operationally viable.
• Confidently engage with staff and stakeholders, build trust, and ensure understanding of users’ needs.
• Represent HMCTS both internally and externally in areas of own responsibility and wider civil jurisdictional matters.

Leadership:

• Deputy Service Managers may be responsible for line management in a small team. They give a clear sense of direction and purpose; lead, coach and mentor; and develop capabilities in line with business needs.
• They are an active member of the Civil Team, contributing to priorities across the team, sharing learning, promoting effective working, and upholding and role-modelling our team pledge and supportive culture.
• They work with integrity and impartiality, and work to eliminate bias by building diverse teams and promoting a working environment that supports the Civil Service code and MOJ Values.

Accountability:

• Reporting to a Service Manager in the Civil Team.

Other duties:

The successful candidate will be required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Who are we looking for? (Person Specification)

The ideal candidate for this position should demonstrate:

Essential Skills

• Experience or operational knowledge of the civil jurisdiction with experience in interpreting policy, supporting service delivery, and understanding the impact of operational processes on court users, stakeholders, and staff.
• Experience of designing business processes and developing operational solutions across organisational boundaries, with a focus on delivering value to the people who use our services.
• Proven ability to use evidence-based insights to make sound decisions, effectively communicate new processes to operational teams and senior stakeholders, and demonstrate resilience in supporting and implementing those decisions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly, provide high-quality briefings and advice, and engage confidently with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders.

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates 

Desirable Skills

• Experience or operational knowledge of digital and offline service design.

How to apply

Application Stage

Please submit:

• An anonymised CV. Please ensure your CV is uploaded in a simple format to prevent any formatting issues when it's downloaded or reviewed. 
  
  Your CV should: 
• Be succinct and clear.
• Be factually accurate – You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, is 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. 
• Include your qualifications, highlighting any modules or accreditation relevant to the role.
• Include your relevant experience, providing dates. 
• Provide detail – we are interested in how your knowledge, skills, and experience demonstrate the capabilities we are looking for in this role.

• Statement of suitability demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria (up to 750 words).
  
  Your Statement of Suitability should be no more than 750 words and should give us real life examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. Consider addressing particular points in the person specification requirements and key responsibilities. We recommend following the STAR format. 
  
  You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, 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.  

Interview Stage

If successful at sift, you will be invited to attend a remote interview, via Microsoft teams. During your interview, you will be assessed against the following Civil Service Success Profiles which will include:

• Questions in relation to the following Civil Service behaviours;
• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service.  

Strengths will also be assessed however these are not shared in advance.

Further details

Travel requirements

There will be a requirement to travel occasionally to any HMCTS site in line with business needs.

About our benefits

We reward our people for their hard work and commitment. We have a number of family

friendly and flexible working polices that will help you achieve a healthy work-life balance. In addition, we offer a range of employee benefits which include generous annual leave, a highly competitive contributory pension scheme, childcare benefits, season ticket and bicycle loans.

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.