Role title:

Deputy Private Secretary to the Senior Presiding Judge

Team/Directorate:

SPJ Private Office

Overview of the Judicial Office

This is standardised wording and cannot be amended.

The Judicial Office (JO) reports to, and is accountable, to the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ). It was established in 2006 to provide support to the LCJ and to the wider judiciary in upholding the rule of law and in delivering justice impartially, speedily and efficiently, following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

In addition, we support, and are accountable to, the Senior President of Tribunals, whose responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The JO is an interesting and unique place to work. Everything we do is in support of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. We work closely with HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions.

We are an Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. This creates an interesting and complex environment in which to work where we agree our priorities with the senior judiciary and receive our funding to deliver them from the Ministry of Justice. The Judicial Office has been through a period of significant growth resulting from an expansion of our remit and responsibilities.

See JO staff talk about working here: https://design102.wistia.com/medias/uhgtmbtnlv

Overview of the team

The Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) is a senior member of the judiciary of England and Wales. They are appointed for a fixed two-year period.

The SPJ’s responsibilities and remit include:

• Providing support, leadership and guidance for courts judiciary and magistrates, particularly to leadership judges;

• Acting as ‘Chief of Staff’ for the Lady Chief Justice, dealing with the day-to-day issues affecting the judiciary, across a wide-ranging field including judicial appointments, HR casework, diversity, judicial security, and matters relating to the court estate;

• Representing the Lady Chief Justice on the HMCTS Board and attending a number of other high-profile boards; and

• The effective and efficient operation of the courts, including regular meetings with those involved in the work of the courts, and working with judges to understand and improve performance.

The SPJ is supported in these responsibilities by the Deputy Senior Presiding Judge (DSPJ).

The Private Office team is responsible for providing strategic support, advice, and coordination for the SPJ and DSPJ on all areas of their portfolio.

Hybrid Working Requirement

This is standardised wording and cannot be amended.

This position is eligible for hybrid working (current minimum requirement for time spent at base location is 60%, which is subject to business requirements).

Summary of the role

In 2024, the government asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake an independent review of the criminal courts and produce recommendations for how to reduce demand on the Crown Court, tackle the outstanding caseload, and improve efficiency of the system. Parts I and II of the report have been published, with the Government’s response to Part I announced in December 2025 and Part II in February 2026.

We are recruiting a Deputy Private Secretary (DPS) to join the Private Office of the Senior Presiding Judge. The role will primarily be focused on supporting the SPJ and DSPJ in their responsibilities in relation to the implementation of reforms stemming from the Independent Review of Criminal Courts (IRCC). It is a fixed-term role for a period of three years.

This is a frontline role working directly with members of the senior judiciary to deliver their priorities in relation to reform of the Criminal Justice System, ensuring operational readiness across the Crown Court and Magistrates Courts of England and Wales.

The role involves close working with teams across the Judicial Office, HMCTS, Ministry of Justice, and other partners across the justice system.

The role will also support the wider work of the SPJ Private Office, part of which will be to ensure that the office has robust processes in place to manage changes to ways of working as a result of the reforms and ensure timely judicial decision-making.

Please be aware that Private Office roles can be unpredictable and may require working long hours and, very occasionally, at weekends. It may be necessary to support the SPJ and DSPJ on visits across the country and therefore some travel will likely be required.

Responsibilities,

Activities & Duties:

Key responsibilities will include:

General

• Establishing themselves as a trusted advisor to the SPJ and DSPJ, providing high-quality briefings, advice and recommendations on all matters relating to IRCC implementation, and providing challenge where appropriate.

• Maintaining oversight of operational readiness for changes impacting on the Magistrates’ Courts and Crown Court, ensuring the SPJ and DSPJ are kept informed and their views fed in.

• Building strong relationships with teams across the JO who are involved in implementation of IRCC reforms - in particular the Criminal Justice Team and Judicial HR - understanding others’ roles and responsibilities, establishing hand-off points, and ensuring effective and timely sharing of information.

• Regular engagement with stakeholders across the wider system.

• Maintaining a forward look of known activities and remaining alert to any issues. Identifying and facilitating opportunities for judicial engagement.

• Demonstrating collective leadership as part of the management team of the private office, including line management of at least one member of staff.

Magistrates’ Courts

• Regular engagement with the Magistrates Uplift Programme (a joint JO, MOJ and HMCTS team) on their work on recruitment, onboarding, training, and recognition of magistrates. Facilitating interaction between the programme and the judiciary, magistracy and wider JO as needed.

• Developing and implementing processes within the Private Office to manage increased volumes of submissions as a result of the reforms.

• Supporting the SPJ in his engagement with the magistracy on the upcoming changes and how they will be impacted.

Crown Court

• Linking into the work of the Criminal Courts Improvement Group and helping ensure its work is sufficiently visible to those involved in IRCC implementation, where relevant.

• Supporting SPJ engagement with Presiding Judges, Resident Judges, and other Crown Court Judges, on the upcoming changes and how they will be impacted.

Estates, technology and platforms

• Liaising with HMCTS on changes that are required to the court estate, technology and platforms to implement reforms. Ensuring that judicial needs are factored into decisions.

• Supporting HMCTS engagement with judges to ensure they are prepared for changes to their ways of working as a result of such changes.

The role will involve line management of at least one member of staff.

Please note that portfolios are subject to change in the SPJ Office, and you may be required to take on other areas of responsibility depending on changing priorities.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and Skills

• Experience of influencing at senior levels: drafting briefings, providing advice, and making evidence-based recommendations.

• Experience of working at pace, managing competing priorities, and taking decisions in a fast-moving environment.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to process large volumes of complex, often sensitive, information across a variety of subject matters, understanding the detail as well as the bigger picture.

• Ability to build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.

• Experience of managing projects and / or complex, multi-stranded pieces of work over a prolonged period.

• Experience of leadership and / or line management.

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and Skills

• Knowledge of the criminal justice system.

• Experience of working in a Private Office.

• Experience of working with the judiciary or magistracy.

Behaviours (for Recruitment/Success Profiles):

• Communicating and Influencing (lead behaviour)

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Delivering at Pace

• Making Effective Decisions

Assessment process at application

• CV - not scored

• Statement of suitability (500 words) - not scored

• Behaviours - if there is a high volume of applications the panel will sift on the lead behaviour

Assessment process at interview

• Behaviours

• Strengths

Security clearance required:

Select one of the below.

(this will be determined by the location)

• DBS

• CTC

• SC

• DV

Please note:

Central Government policy dictates that applicants for National Security Clearance must be a resident in the UK for these minimum periods:

• CTC - 3 years

• SC - 5 years

• DV - 10 years

CTC