Private Secretary to the Senior President of Tribunals (Grade 7)

Private Offices Directorate, Judicial Office

Role Summary

The Private Secretary to the Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) is a key leadership role within the Judicial Office. The office holder is an advocate for, and representative of, the SPT, both internally with other senior judiciary and their private offices and externally across a wide range of Whitehall departments. The postholder will be responsible for ensuring that the private office of the SPT provides high quality policy and legal advice and support to the SPT and the Tribunals Judicial Executive Board (TJEB).

The role involves maintaining an overview of developments in tribunals and building strong relationships with peers and senior stakeholders across the justice system, including His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, the Ministry of Justice, other government departments, and in the devolved systems in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The successful candidate will have experience of influencing at senior levels across government and/or with the senior experts and understand the importance of the rule of law and preserving the independence of the judiciary from the executive. This is an exciting and varied role that provides unique opportunities to support the newly appointed Senior President of Tribunals, Sir James Dingemans, in the shaping and delivery of his strategic priorities.

The role of the Senior President of Tribunals

The SPT is the independent and statutory leader of the tribunal judiciary. The office of the SPT is independent of both the Executive and the Chief Justices and was established under the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

Just as the Lady Chief Justice heads the judiciary in England and Wales, the SPT heads the tribunals judiciary, although his remit extends to Scotland and Northern Ireland depending on the jurisdiction concerned.

The SPT provides leadership for all those within the First-tier and Upper Tribunals and the Employment Tribunals. This includes all the Chamber Presidents and their Tribunal Judges and members, as well as those within Employment Tribunals in England and Wales and their Scottish counterpart, and the Employment Appeal Tribunal - in all, around 5,000 officeholders.

The Judicial Office

The Judicial Office is the organisation that supports the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ) in delivering her wide range of functions as the Head of the Judiciary. It is a unique branch of the civil service, reporting direct to the LCJ. The Judicial Office consists of approx. 500 staff working across five directorates. The post holder will be part of the private office directorate, working to the deputy director, Head of Judicial Private Offices. For more information about Judicial Office please see: About us - Judicial Office - Judicial Office Intranet

Within the Private Offices Directorate, the Private Office of SPT is a team of 8 focused on supporting the Senior President across all of his statutory leadership functions. The Private Office provides policy and legal advice, and general secretariat and administrative support to the Senior President, and to the most senior tribunals’ judges (including Chamber and Tribunal Presidents) across the United Kingdom, and secretariat to the Administrative Justice Council.

Main activities/responsibilities:

The SPT will look to his Private Secretary for handling and providing advice on the highest profile and most sensitive issues of the day; and for commissioning, where appropriate, high-quality advice from the wider Judicial Office to support him. The role requires the ability to work at pace and under pressure, to anticipate urgent and important issues, to adapt to rapidly changing events, and to be able to represent effectively the SPT at the most senior levels of the judiciary and civil service.

The postholder will be required to provide high quality written and oral advice to the SPT and senior judiciary (Senior Judiciary - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary), overall leadership of the SPT’s private office team and represent the position of the SPT confidently and effectively to senior officials within the JO and across Whitehall and operational partner agencies with counterparts in relevant private offices.

Person Specification

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to identify key issues and constructively challenge when dealing with senior officials, senior judiciary, and senior experts, and to provide high quality written briefings.

• Strong organisational skills and diligence.

• Experience of working at pace, under pressure, and of taking decisions in a high-profile environment.

• Strong leadership skills, particularly leading through influencing

• Interest in the justice system, in particular civil[?] [administrative?] justice

Desirable Knowledge and Skills

• Experience of working closely with the judiciary, and an interest in the workings of the courts and tribunals system more widely.

• Experience of working with departments, or closely alongside, on the development of policy issues.

Private Secretary posts are unpredictable and can require working long hours, including at short notice, particularly as meetings often need to take place before or after court. The general expectation is that the PS will be in the office when the SPT is in the Royal Courts of Justice. However, there is greater flexibility during vacation when there are significant opportunities to work from home.

Eligibility

The post is available to existing Grade 7’s on lateral transfer and to other candidates on promotion. This post is not suitable for job-share or reduced hours working.

Location

This post is primarily based in London, at the Royal Courts of Justice but does require some travel, accompanying the SPT to events across the UK, and occasionally abroad.

Length of Deployment

We are looking for the successful candidate to be in post as soon as possible, conscious of the start of the Legal Year on the 1^st October 2025. This is a permanent post.

How to apply

The application process will follow 3 stages.

1. Written application

Experience

You will be asked to provide a 250-word statement of suitability during the application process to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Communicating and Influencing 

• Working Together

Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview. Please note, feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

2. Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out in person at the Royal Courts of Justice in London during week commencing 8^th September 2025. 

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role. 

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details.

3. Fireside chat with the SPT

Candidates successful at interview will be invited to a fireside chat with the SPT. Feedback from the SPT will inform the outcome of the campaign. Fireside chats will take place in person at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on the 18^th September 2025.

If you wish to discuss the role before submitting an application, please contact Emma Killick, Head of Operational Judicial Private Offices (emma.killick@judiciary.uk)