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General Information

Salary
£33,551 - £35,564
Working Pattern
Full Time, Flexible Working
Vacancy Approach
External
Location
London
Region
London
Closing Date
23-Feb-2026
Post Type
Permanent
Civil Service Grade
EO
Number of jobs available
1
Reserve List
12 Months
Job ID
14565

Descriptions & requirements

Job description

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:

o   Delivering at Pace

o   Communicating & Influencing

o   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.


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

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

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

Application form stage assessments

Experience
We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
CV or Work History, Experience Questions, Statement of Suitability
Experience Questions Application Form Question Word Limit
250
Statement of Suitability
Guidance for the Statement of Suitability
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. Structure your response using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and highlight the outcomes achieved.
Evidence of Experience
CV or Work History, Experience Questions, Statement of Suitability

Interview stage assessments

Interview Dates
Earliest date for interview: Thursday 19th March 2026 (subject to change)
Behaviours
Delivering at Pace
Communicating and Influencing
Managing a Quality Service
Experience
Your Experience for this role will be assessed at interview. To learn more about Experience and how they are assessed please click here.
We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
Experience Questions
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.

Other Assessments

Which assessment methods will be used?
Role Play
Level of security checks required
DBS Basic

Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.  Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.