Job Title: Operational Support Officer
Grade: Executive Officer (EO)
Overview
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an agency of the Ministry of Justice. We provide support for the legal system across England and Wales, along with non‑devolved tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland, ensuring justice works for everyone.
Our Justice system defends our fundamental rights and freedoms. It is a cornerstone of our modern society. It protects some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, from families in crisis to claimants and commercial businesses. We have a responsibility to deliver a Justice system that is accessible to everyone and operates efficiently.
The key purpose of the role is to:
The Operational Support Officer will work as a pooled resource within the Regional Support Unit (RSU) to provide consistent, high‑quality, effective administrative and personal support for the regional Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
The role is varied and challenging and will provide administrative and technical support to other functions in the RSU. This will include progressing regional business, collation and analysis of operational and people‑related information across the region to help inform service improvement and staff engagement.
Provide administrative support to the members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
Monitor the flow of work to and from the SLT, including the Heads of Operations and the Service Improvement & Performance Lead (SIP), including screening and filtering correspondence, queries and requests for information on behalf of the SLT, and drafting, managing and processing responses on their behalf.
Manage the office and diary commitments of the members of the Regional SLT, negotiating with others to resolve conflicting priorities and ensuring diaries and calendars are kept up to date and emails are managed effectively.
Support the Head of RSU with preparation of the Quarterly Finance Review.
Arrange travel and accommodation for the SLT where required, following guidance and protocols.
Provide secretariat support for the SLT and other regional meetings, circulating papers, taking notes, recording actions, and tracking completion of actions.
Track and monitor the completion of Combined Risk Register and Governance Statements (CRRGS) and Statements of Compliance (SOCs).
Collate and produce management information as required.
Provide ad hoc project support to the SLT, Head of RSU, People Lead, Performance Lead, and Operational Support Managers on various projects as required, undertaking research and creating and maintaining project records.
Channel incident management communications to the relevant people, ensuring key messages convey a clear picture of incidents and the actions required or progressed.
Collate Trade Union Side (TUS) facility time returns.
Provide administrative support to the Performance Lead and Operations Support Managers, and assist in producing ad hoc reports, collating information and data across the region.
Signpost users to performance reports and, where necessary, assist in producing reports.
Produce financial and performance‑related information to assist the SLT, Head of RSU, and Leads for Performance and People in understanding regional performance and measures to improve or maintain this.
Assist the Heads of Operations and the SIP with the production of performance information for the different jurisdictions and the region as a whole.
Provide administrative support to the People and Communications Lead and Operational Support Managers in all aspects of people and communications activity for the region.
Draft communications, update the regional intranet pages, post articles, proof‑read documents for content, grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting and accuracy, and return documents to authors where content does not meet business needs.
Gather data and insight on people activities, including tracking Fixed Term Contract (FTC) / agency details, Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workbooks and vacancies for the region.
Assist with recruitment exercises and support vacancy managers in the recruitment process.
Maintain records and manage all areas of people and communications activity, including Diversity and Inclusion, staff engagement, and health and well‑being initiatives.
Schedule and track Reward & Recognition (R&R) activity, including panel frequency and spend, and analyse data on usage, providing information to the People Lead.
Undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.
Interpersonal skills to deal with queries on behalf of SLT members and engage with stakeholders internally and externally, including the judiciary at all levels.
Organisational and planning skills to support the work and diary commitments of the Regional Delivery Director (RDD), Heads of Operations, SIP, and to support the activities of the Head of RSU, People Lead, and Performance Lead.
Project delivery skills to support the delivery of ad hoc regional projects.
Analytical skills to analyse and interpret regional data and provide useful insight to help drive operational delivery across the region.
Good understanding of the operation and region is desirable to provide operational context.
Good communication skills, written and verbal, with knowledge of Microsoft Office (training will be given).
Responsible for managing the inbox and calendar for members of the SLT and assessing the relative priorities and importance of competing requests, deciding what requires SLT attention and what can be actioned or delegated.
In supporting the work of the SLT, People Lead and Performance Lead, collect, organise and analyse performance and people information, identify issues needing escalation, and prepare reports to support higher‑level decision‑making.
No line or budgetary management responsibilities, but responsible for the effective management of the RDD’s and SLT’s time and resources, ensuring key priorities receive focus and delegating other matters appropriately, often in a fast‑changing environment.
Responsible for checking that SLT and other actions are being progressed within timescales and reporting progress.
Responsible for regular maintenance and upkeep of the region’s intranet pages to ensure colleagues have access to correct information.
Reports to the Operational Support Manager and will receive guidance where needed, but expected to exercise judgement and initiative when managing SLT office and diary commitments with minimum supervision.
When supporting the People Lead and Performance Lead, expected to work mainly without regular supervision, organising own workload and adjusting priorities to deliver objectives.
Expected to follow organisational policies and procedures for people and communications‑related activities.
Responsible for maintaining the inbox and calendar for the SLT and RDD, regularly engaging with others to determine key priorities and negotiating to determine where time is best spent, including engagement with internal and external stakeholders and judiciary.
Support Heads of Operations, SIP, People Lead and Performance Lead by providing analytical support and may commission information from the wider business.
Maintain strong internal relationships to support team and individual performance — working as a pooled resource across the RSU, liaising with other Operational Support Officers to ensure full support.
Maintain relationships with staff, and occasionally the judiciary, across the region to enable delivery of duties.