Operational Support Officer (Ref: 21808)

Please refer to Job Description

Locations

• Isleworth Crown Court, TW7 5LP
• Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court, KT1 2BB
• Woolwich Crown Court, SE28 0EY
• Southwark Crown Court, SE1 2HU
• Snaresbrook Crown Court, E11 1QW
• Inner London Crown Court, SE1 6AZ
• Croydon Crown Court, CR9 5AB
• London Central Employment Tribunal (London Tribunals Centre), EC1A 7AZ
• Croydon Employment Tribunal, CR0 2RF
• East London Tribunal Hearing Centre (Import Building), E14 2BE
• Taylor House Tribunal Hearing Centre, EC1R 4QU
• Court of Protection (First Avenue House), WC1A 9JA
• Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, SW11 1JU

Proud to serve. Proud to keep justice going.

Our Operational Support Officers play a critical role, providing excellent customer service and administrative support to court and tribunal users, judiciary and management.

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 court users and colleagues within HMCTS, where people and businesses access potentially life-changing justice. We’re looking for individuals who are committed to public service and making a difference in people’s lives to deliver justice. If you are interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply.

Your role

Working as part of a team, you will contribute to the overall operational, performance and service standard targets across your area of work. You will progress cases through the court/tribunal system and provide customer service and administrative support to functions within HMCTS. You will have regular contact with court / tribunal users, which could include members of the judiciary and the legal profession.

You will be adaptable, able to multi-task and effectively carry out a variety of duties, both office-based and in a court, which will include:

• Preparing papers and files for court, tribunals, hearings and meetings including processing and handling sensitive information and accurately resulting outcomes.
• Creating and updating records digitally, interpreting information required on a court file accurately.
• Communicating with the public, the judiciary, other court and tribunal users and representatives of other agencies and organisations
• Supporting the smooth running of court proceedings, preparing court /hearing rooms and ensuring court runs efficiently.
• When required, you will be an essential first point of contact for all the court users; meeting members of the public, which may include vulnerable witnesses, and their legal representatives.

Your knowledge, skills and experience

• Strong customer service skills with the ability to work in a service-led customer-facing environment.
• Good digital and administrative skills; with excellent attention to detail.
• Effective communication and organisational skills. Able to communicate confidently in person, over the telephone, digitally and in written communications.
• Resilient and empathetic to be able to deal with sensitive information and situations.
• A team player; able to work collaboratively and flexibly to deliver HMCTS objectives.

Please refer to the role profile attachment for more information.

Lead criterion at application stage: Statement of Suitability. An initial sift based on the statement of suitability may be held if a large number of applications are received.

Further details

These operational roles are customer facing, requiring successful applicants to be court based to provide HMCTS services to the public. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. HMCTS welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs and are agreed prior to appointment. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Crown Court Positions

Applications for part-time working at Crown Courts will be considered. However, due to the operational requirements of the role, a minimum commitment of three full days per week is required. Working days will be determined in line with business needs.

Tribunal Positions

Applications for Tribunal locations will be available on a full time only basis (37 hours per week). Part-time working requests cannot be accommodated due to business needs.

Counter Terrorism Check (CTC)

For some locations you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism Check (CTC). Please note, applicants requesting/allocated to the below listed sites will be required to undertake enhanced vetting checks to CTC Level Clearance.

• Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court, KT1 2BB
• Woolwich Crown Court, SE28 0EY
• Snaresbrook Crown Court, E11 1QW

To meet CTC eligibility, you will need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the date of application and applicants must not have lived/worked overseas during that time. Please do not select these locations if you do not meet these requirements. Please note, you will be required to clear CTC prior to agreeing a start date.

Skilled Worker Visa

This role is not eligible for new Skilled Worker visas in accordance with the current immigration rules.

From 22 July 2025, the Government introduced changes to the Skilled Worker visa route. The department cannot consider sponsoring you for this role unless you have held a Skilled Worker visa prior to the 22 July 2025 changes. If you have held a Skilled Worker visa continuously, please raise this during your vetting checks and eligibility will be assessed in accordance with the immigration rules and transitional provisions in place.

If you are applying for this role and you have not held a Skilled Worker visa prior to the 22 July 2025 changes, you will need to consider your options for obtaining and/or maintaining your right to work in the UK in light of these changes. Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom.

The Department will continue to comply with UK Immigration Rules applied in the UK and Civil Service. You can read more about Skilled Worker visas and the eligibility criteria here.

Occasional travel to other courts

Whilst the post holder will be allocated to a specific office base, there may be a need for flexibility to work on an ad hoc or regular basis at other local HMCTS sites/courts. Where applicable, associated travel cost/time will be applied in line with organisational policies.

Please note that some Magistrates’ Courts operate within area groups. While you will have a designated base location, the role may require travel to other courts within the group.

• Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court (with travel to Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court)

Saturday working (Applies to Magistrates Courts only)

If you select a magistrate’s court as one of your location preferences and are allocated there, you will be required to work the following shift pattern, to include Saturdays and Public Holidays as follows: 5 days over a 6 day working pattern.

Your working pattern will be confirmed by your line manager, and whenever you are required to work on a Saturday or Bank Holiday, you will receive a day off in lieu based on business needs. Please note that there is no requirement to work on Sundays.

Base Location and Reserve list information

Base locations and reserve lists for this campaign will be managed in accordance with location preference/s, as indicated in your application. We will appoint in merit list order for each location outlined in the vacancy and hold a separate locational reserve list for each of these locations. After appointments have been made using this locational appointment process, any remaining candidates who met the benchmark for the role will remain on a locational reserve list in accordance with their preferences for 12 months.

Please only indicate preferences where you are prepared to work. If you are subsequently offered a role from the reserve list for a location preference indicated in your application and decline it, you will be removed from the reserve list for the vacancy, across all locational preferences.

Technical 1

Using your CV as a reference, please provide a summary of the key responsibilities from your previous experience that is most relevant to the Admin Officer position. Begin with your most recent experience and work backwards. For each position, include the job title, duration of employment, and a concise overview of your main duties. (Maximum 250 words)

This section is intended to help us understand where and how you gained experience in: Customer service, administration, IT systems and applying attention to detail in your work

Please avoid repeating content from your Statement of Suitability. That section should focus on what you can do, supported by specific examples. This question, by contrast, is about what you’ve done and the context in which your experience was gained.

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)
• 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)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.