18483 - Legal Team Manager - 18483 - Ministry of Justice

Descriptions & requirements

Job description

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.

HMCTS Legal Operations are in the process of implementing a new organisational design structure. The Legal Team Manager role is a core focus of this work as a key role in leading legal teams into the future legal operations operating model.

As a Tier 3 Legal Team Manager you will be at the forefront of delivering this improved service and experience to our customers both in and outside the court room.

This new chapter brings a stronger focus on people leadership, strategic influence, and wellbeing, designed to empower our Tier 3 Legal Team Managers to lead with clarity, purpose, and impact.

This structure will also enable our legal managers to focus on legal specialisms whilst contributing to wider legal initiatives, talent development, and cross agency collaboration.

About us

Magistrates’ Courts deal with approximately 95% of criminal cases, 70% of civil cases, and 60% of family cases. Dealing with cases justly and speedily, and in ways that meet the needs of our court users, is at the heart of what we do. We advise magistrates in criminal and family hearings, manage cases in preparation for tribunal hearings, and make important decisions in civil money claims and probate cases.

Your role as the Tier 3 Legal Team Manager encompasses several key aspects (but not limited to):

The role of the Tier 3 Legal Team Manager is to provide strong leadership of Legal Advisers and other legal staff within their business area. Legal Team Managers support the Senior Legal Managers (SLMs) and the Head of Legal Operations (HoLO) in the management of National legal operations services across their part of the business. A key part of this role will involve creating, developing, and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders and managing their varying and complex needs.

The role holder will have considerable influence and responsibility over legal service provision within the region and be responsible for high-quality delivery of day-to-day legal operations. They will provide clear direction and focus, leading by example and visibly championing a culture which values the legal profession, delivering quality legal advice and driving performance to support the delivery of justice.

This role has significant people leadership responsibility and will work closely with Senior Legal Managers, members of the National Legal Operations team and National Service to ensure all staff within their business area have the right skills and knowledge to exercise legal functions, can support sound judicial decisions and have access to the opportunities to develop their careers as lawyers. They will provide clear strategic direction and focus, leading by example, and visibly championing and leading change which delivers results and improved performance across the region. The role holder will create and enhance effective working relationships to support the local judiciary and magistracy and ensure hearings operate effectively and efficiently, supporting the SLMs and HoLO and representing them as required. The scope of the role is significant, contributing substantially to the achievement of business objectives across their part of the business.

They will establish and build effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including working with magistrates and other judicial office holders, local operational leaders and partner organisations to ensure hearings operate effectively and efficiently.

They will have oversight of legal queries and complaints in their area of the business and make sure their teams are able to use these as opportunities for driving continuous improvement where appropriate. They will also champion continuous professional development and knowledge sharing within their business area.

The role holder will take courts in order to maintain their legal specialism but also take up a portfolio of responsibility for providing legal and jurisdictional leadership on regional business priorities and where called upon for national projects.

Please ensure that you read the attached role profile for a full overview of the main activities, responsibilities and essential skills required for this position before applying.

Eligibility

• To be eligible for this post the role holder must satisfy the Authorised Court Staff (Legal Advice Functions) (Qualification Regulations) 2020;

• And have demonstrable substantial experience as a legal adviser or Senior Legal Officer in either the magistrates’ criminal / family / civil / tribunals jurisdictions and relevant up‑to‑date legal practice knowledge and skills relevant to a specialist legal practice area

Desirable

• Excellent communication skills – able to communicate complex information clearly in a format all stakeholders will understand

• Excellent leadership and people management potential to drive a professional and performance driven culture, including the ability to coach and mentor others to build their legal knowledge

Application process

Behaviour (250 words)

Communicating and Influencing

You will be required to answer the following question:

Legal Team Managers are expected to engage and influence having to deal with Senior judiciary, Senior Leaders, and external stakeholders. Can you tell us about your experience and approach in this area?

Statement of Suitability (500 words)

Please submit a statement of suitability explaining how your skills, substantial practical experience, and personal qualities make you a strong candidate for this role. Your statement should highlight transferable skills and demonstrate your knowledge and experience.

Anonymised CV

Please upload your anonymised CV in a simple format to avoid formatting issues when it is reviewed. Your CV must confirm whether you are, or have been, qualified at Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3 (LTM) or a Senior Legal Officer

What to include

Include your legal and professional qualifications, highlighting any relevant modules or accreditations.
Only include jurisdictional work (including legal adviser tier / Senior legal officer roles) that is relevant to this role. Do not include a full employment history.
Provide dates for those roles.
No additional info is required in your CV

Important

Be clear and concise.
Ensure all information is accurate and your own.
Plagiarism includes presenting the ideas or experience of others, or content generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

Technical – Locational Preference - this will not be assessed

Please refer to the advert for the full list of available roles and locations and list up to three role/location preferences in ranked order (1st, 2nd and 3rd). If you are only interested in one role or location, please state a single preference. Only select locations you are genuinely prepared to travel to and work from daily. While you may choose up to three preferences, if you are offered a role in any of your stated locations (for example, your 2nd or 3rd choice), you will not be able to decline it and remain on the merit list for a higher preference. Appointments will be made in merit list order for each role, based on the preferences you have selected. If you are applying only for the National Civil and Tribunal roles you should also specify this here.

Interview Schedule Notice

Interviews are scheduled to take place in July 2026. Please note that rescheduling will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, and any rearrangements must still occur within the interview period.

Working Pattern

The roles are offered on a full-time basis. However, requests for part-time/reduced hours working will be considered at the point of provisional offer, subject to meeting business requirements within the relevant business area.

LOCATIONS

We have 49 positions available:

National

7 roles in Civil and Tribunal jurisdictions. Successful applicants will be expected to be office based 3 days per week in any HMCTS Office (subject to business availability) and national travel will be required to visit their teams.

London (dual site in brackets):

9 roles in East London (Croydon), West London (Barnet), Westminster (City of London), Wimbledon (Lavender Hill), Willesden (Hendon), Thames (Stratford)

Midlands

4 Family roles in Coventry, North Staffordshire - Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Lincoln, Northampton

1 Civil and Family role in Leicester

1 Advisory Committee role, can be based at Lincoln, Leicester, Northampton, Nottingham, Derby, North Staffordshire - Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Telford, Kidderminster, Worcester, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Birmingham, or Coventry

South West

2 roles in Crime; 1 at Bristol, Bath or Cheltenham and 1 at North Somerset or Taunton

South East

9 roles in Crime at High Wycombe / Milton Keynes, Folkestone / Maidstone, Brighton, Worthing, Guildford, Norwich, Chelmsford / Basildon, Ipswich, Luton / St Albans / Stevenage

8 roles in Family at Canterbury / Medway, Reading / Oxford / Milton Keynes, Cambridge / Watford / Luton /Peterborough / Bedford, Chelmsford / Basildon / Colchester, Luton / St Albans / Stevenage

North West

2 roles in Family at Preston and Manchester Civil Justice Centre

3 roles in Crime at Manchester Mags

Wales

3 roles in Crime at Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff and Caernarfon

Dual-Site Working

These positions involve dual-site working. A base location will be assigned; however, post-holders should expect to travel between designated court sites in line with operational requirements

If you have a question about locations, dual-site working and travel requirements please contact the Vacancy Holder by email to hqlegal@justice.gov.uk during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role.

Base Location and Reserve list information

It is important to note that whilst you may select up to three preferences, you should only indicate locations where you are prepared to travel to and work from every day. If you are offered a role in one of your stated location preferences (for example, your 2nd or 3rd choice), you will not be able to decline this and remain on the merit list for a higher preference. Or if you are offered a role in any one of your stated preferences and decline it, you will be removed from the reserve list for all your preferences.

We will be allocating roles and base locations using your selected preference location/s. We will appoint in merit list order for each location outlined in the vacancy.

After appointments have been made using this locational appointment process, any remaining candidates who met the benchmark for the role will be placed on a reserve list, based on your selected preferences. This will be for a period of 12 months in the event of a similar opportunity arising in one of these locations.

Further Information – Webinars

We will be holding Microsoft Teams Webinars on the following dates and times:

Wednesday 10^th June 2026 @ 1pm link to join 10 June - 1pm - Legal Team Manager Webinar

Wednesday 17^th June 2026 @ 1pm link to join 17 June - 1pm - Legal Team Manager Webinar

What’s in store:

A short presentation from our Learning and Development team and Civil, Family and Tribunals Senior Leadership team.
A live Q&A session where you can submit questions via chat
Cameras and microphones will be off for attendees.

Why register?

It helps us plan the session and tailor it to your interests
It provides you with the opportunity to ask questions about the campaign, including, Eligibility criteria, Nature of the role and application process
You’ll receive a confirmation email with the joining link and reminders
Opportunity to ask questions around the different jurisdictions for vacancies

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing more about this exciting opportunity.

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 roles: 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.

Eligibility

Staff on fixed term appointments must have been recruited through fair and open competition.

Vacancies advertised “cross-government” are only open to all Civil Service employees and employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who were appointed on merit following a fair and open competition; or were appointed to a permanent post through an exception in the Civil Service Commissioners' rules.

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.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

To Transformative Business Services (0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk);
To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

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.

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.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos.

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.

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 18483

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

Ministry of Justice

18483 - Legal Team Manager

General Information

Descriptions & requirements

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Application form stage assessments

Interview stage assessments