Job title: Diary Manager
Directorate: Development
Grade: EO
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 Diary Manager to the Strategy, Development and Change Director is a critical role within the Directorate. Reporting to the Director’s Business Manager, you will be expected to work effectively with senior colleagues within HMCTS, the Ministry of Justice and wider Government.
Joining a dynamic team, this role provides an excellent opportunity to work at the heart of HMCTS HQ and Operations in a vibrant environment, learning how HMCTS operates on a national level. Working closely with the Director’s Office, Deputy Directors and other Directorates, the role will be fast paced, challenging, and rewarding.
The successful candidate will need to be organised, assertive and confident with the ability to prioritise a busy workload and work at pace. As a representative of the Strategy, Analysis and Planning Director and wider Directorate, excellent communications skills, and the ability to remain calm and reliable under pressure are also essential.
Your role as the Diary Manager encompasses several key aspects (but not limited to):
To have overall responsibility for the management of the Director’s diary and to enable the smooth running of the Director’s Day-to-day activities.
To ensure that the diary is updated immediately as meetings are arranged, changed, or cancelled, ensuring that all details are accurate; to keep the Director and all interested parties advised of any changes in a timely fashion.
Use own judgement to manage conflicting diary engagements and find ways of resolving them; to process all meeting invitations, planning ahead to ensure effective use of the Director’s time in line with their priorities.
To arrange and co-ordinate all necessary details of the Director’s visits, including all travel and hotel bookings, and to ensure that the Director is fully briefed.
Set up systems to track and monitor action points from meetings, ensuring these are followed up and resolved using appropriate means of escalation.
Attend meetings to take minutes/notes as required by the Director.
Ability to produce clear and concise drafts at pace, with support of Business Manager.
Supporting inbox management alongside the Business Manager, including arranging all internal/external meetings, booking rooms and equipment, issuing calendar invites, preparing agendas and papers.
Foster effective working relationships with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders within and outside of HMCTS, including the CEO’s office, other Directors’ offices, Ministers’ Private Offices, and Judicial Office, demonstrating good team working and communication skills.
Corporate responsibilities to support the Directorate, such a purchase orders, leave charts and IT and induction support for new starters, including security checks/passes.
Effectively engage with the relevant people to obtain the most accurate information and get advice when unsure of how to proceed.
Support with requests from the Senior Management Team on an ad-hoc basis.
Other duties
You 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
Skilled in the Microsoft office suite (specifically Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint).
Experience of diary management and arranging meetings / preparing papers.
A strong communicator, able to communicate messages clearly to a range of audiences at all levels - both verbally and in writing.
Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise work.
The ability to build productive working relationships quickly and to engender confidence with colleagues and stakeholders.
Experience of managing conflicting priorities in a fast paced, constantly changing work environment to achieve successful outcomes.
Strong stakeholder management skills, with ability to work confidently with senior officials.
Desirable Skills
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
Experience of working in government and/or the wider public sector
Experience of taking minutes and/or drafting meeting documents
Previous experience of managing a diary for a senior official.
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. Please provide examples from your previous experience that demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for this role. We are particularly interested in your experience of diary management and coordinating meetings, including managing conflicting priorities in a fast-paced environment. 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 an in-person interview at 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ
During your interview, you will be assessed against the following Civil Service Success Profiles which will include:
A desk-based exercise to test written communication and judgment.
Questions in relation to the following Civil Service Behaviours Civil Service behaviours:
Delivering at Pace
Communicating & Influencing
Managing a Quality Service
Strengths will also be assessed however these are not shared in advance.
Further details
Working pattern
Full time only - This is a full-time position only due to the nature of the role.
Location
102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ
Opportunities for development
HMCTS is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.
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.