Job Description

General Information

Working Pattern
Full Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Vacancy Approach
External
Location
London
Region
London
Closing Date
02-Dec-2025
Post Type
Permanent
Civil Service Grade
SCS 1
Number of jobs available
1
Reserve List
12 Months
Job ID
12074

Descriptions & requirements

Job description

About the role

The justice system is an essential public service, relied upon by millions of victims, families and businesses across our country. The work we do at HMCTS has a direct impact on people's everyday lives. Our justice system defends our fundamental rights and freedom and is respected throughout the world.

The Deputy Director Legal - Royal Courts of Justice Group & Upper Tribunal provides a leadership and accountability structure for legal staff who have been authorised by the judiciary to exercise the jurisdiction of the court or tribunal across the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) Group.
This encompasses the Court of Appeal Criminal Division, Court of Appeal Civil Division, the High Court (Family Division), King's Bench Division and the Chancery Division), Upper Tribunals (including Employment Appeals Tribunal [EAT]).
The Courts of Appeal, High Court and the Upper Tribunals (UT) are the senior courts in England and Wales and attract greater scrutiny and have higher levels of accountability than other courts in the country.

The role is a specialist legal post with overall responsibility for the professional and operational leadership of lawyers and legal professionals working across the RCJ Group. Working with senior judiciary, they are responsible for protecting the independence of those who exercise the jurisdiction of the court with the authority of the judiciary and for promoting and upholding the highest legal professional standards and ensuring justice is at the heart of what we do.

For more information on the key responsibilities of this role and how to apply please see the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert.

Essential Experience:

Strong leadership skills with a proven track record of delivering in a complex and political stakeholder environment, building and developing relationships with senior professionals and working with them across organisational boundaries to achieve common goals. Solicitor or barrister with significant post qualification experience in a relevant field. Significant knowledge of a relevant area of law. Demonstrable experience of building strong and productive working relationships with senior lawyers and the Judiciary.


Additional Information
We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace w everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wver it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.




Contact Information
If you require any assistance please contact us on scsrecruitment@justice.gov.uk. Please quote the job reference in your email to enable us to support you more quickly.

Attachment

Deputy Director Legal - RCJ Group Upper Tribunal.docx ( Supporting Documents) Deputy Director, Legal - TRCJ Accessible Pack.docx ( Supporting Documents 2)

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Application form stage assessments

Experience

We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
CV or Work History, Statement of Suitability

Statement of Suitability

Guidance for the Statement of Suitability
It is important that your CV and Statement of Suitability give evidence and examples of how you meet the below essential experience:



Strong leadership skills with a proven track record of delivering in a complex and political stakeholder environment, building and developing relationships with senior professionals and working with them across organisational boundaries to achieve common goals. Solicitor or barrister with significant post qualification experience in a relevant field. Significant knowledge of a relevant area of law. Demonstrable experience of building strong and productive working relationships with senior lawyers and the Judiciary.



Your statement of suitability should be no longer than 1000 words.
Evidence of Experience
CV or Work History, Statement of Suitability

Interview stage assessments

Interview Dates
Week commencing 5th January 2026

Behaviours

Communicating and Influencing
Leadership
Seeing the Big Picture
Changing and Improving
Managing a Quality Service

Other Assessments

Which assessment methods will be used?
Presentation

Level of security checks required

Security Clearance (SC)

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. W 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.