Job title: Senior Magistrates Reform Manager

Directorate: Legal Operations

Workstream: Magistrates Programme Team

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 are looking for individuals who are committed to public service and want to make a difference in people’s lives in delivering justice. If you are interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply.

About the role

Magistrates form a key part of the justice system and play a critical role in supporting the government to tackle priorities, including addressing the backlog of cases in the criminal courts. The vast majority of criminal cases start in a magistrates’ court and around 95% will be completed there.

A new and exciting opportunity has arisen to join a newly formed cross-departmental team consisting of officials from MoJ, HMCTS and the Judicial Office.

Magistrates form a key part of the justice system and play a critical role in supporting the government to tackle priorities including addressing the backlog of cases in the criminal courts. The vast majority of criminal cases start in a magistrates’ court and around 95% will be completed there.

We are looking for a passionate, resilient, and resourceful individual with experience of working with magistrates to join this new cross-departmental team. The role holder, on behalf of HMCTS, will co-manage our cross-departmental project team working closely with officials from the MoJ and Judicial Office. The team will oversee key Magistrates recruitment reform. The newly formed team will take a holistic approach to recruitment, covering the full process from target setting through to onboarding.

This comes at a particularly critical juncture: magistrates already hear the majority of criminal cases in England and Wales, as well as many vital family cases, but Ministers have been clear on their ambitions for the lower courts to play a critical role in reducing the crown court back log. As demand increases, pro-actively safeguarding the resilience of the magistrates’ court is a top priority.

The new cross-departmental team will also be responsible for delivering recommendations already approved by Ministers whilst making further new recommendations as needed. The team will have responsibility for establishing new governance arrangements (including Ministerial reporting) for recruitment; considering how the current recruitment systems can be strengthened and how approved Spending Review money can be utilised to improve such systems / processes.

Your role as the Senior Magistrates Reform Manager encompasses several key aspects (but not limited to):

• Take an active lead on policy development and have oversight of implementation of agreed policies with responsibility for the stage-by-stage review.

• Work closely with the marketing team with policy steers to ensure effective campaigns, now and in the future.

• Work closely with analysts to establish a multi-year deployment model that will ensure it suits our needs for current forecasted workload but also for outcomes suggested through the independent Review of Criminal Courts.

• Working with HMCTS, JO and private office to establish new governance and oversight arrangements.

• Leading on broader ad hoc and cross-cutting policy areas including; responsibility for the Lord Chancellor’s Directions for Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace.

• Providing high quality, timely and effective advice and briefing to Ministers.

• Leading on and supporting engagement with senior officials, stakeholders, and Ministerial Private Offices. This will also include close working with the judiciary and other policy, operational, and legal colleagues across MoJ on a range of related policy issues.

Who are we looking for? (Person Specification)

The ideal candidate for this position should demonstrate:

Essential

• A strong understanding of the criminal justice system with experience of working with magistrates

• Ability to understand complex issues and communicate them effectively to a range of audiences, including senior officials, ministers and senior judges.

• A proven track record of collaborative working.

• Ability to think strategically and keep one eye on the bigger picture while maintaining keen attention to detail.

• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment, with strong prioritisation skills and a record of delivery projects at pace.

• and planning skills, and the ability to drive a portfolio of work.

• Ability to understand and analyse large quantities of data to identify and summarise key themes, risks, and implications, and adapt accordingly

• Knowledge of the role and governance structures of lay justices (magistrates).

How to apply

Application Stage

Please submit a Statement of Suitability demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria (up to 750 words)

Please ensure you cover both ‘what’ you do but also ‘how’ you do it. (i.e., the effective skills, knowledge & experience needed to undertake the role)

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

• Working Together

• Delivering at Pace

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Changing and Improving

Further details

Working pattern

This is a full-time position only, due to the nature of the role.

Travel requirements

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

Location

The successful candidate will be based at 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ

Fixed Term Appointments (FTA) on Promotion

MoJ employees may apply for FTA opportunities in MoJ that are advertised at a higher grade than their current substantive grade. Where an employee accepts an FTA on promotion, this promotion will be temporary, and the employee will revert to their substantive grade upon return to their home business area, as per the loan policy for OGD loans. Before applying, employees must seek approval from their line managers to ensure they can be released for the duration of the FTA and can return to their substantive role at the end. If there is no role available at the end of the FTA, the employee will be subject to redeployment and potentially redundancy procedures.

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.