Operational Support AdministratorMinistry of Justice

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Job Title:               Operational Support Administrator

Grade:                    AO

Directorate:           HQ Operations

Location:                National

Contract Type:       Permanent

Working Pattern:   Full-time/ Part-time/ Flexible Working/ Job Share

Successful applicants will be expected to be office based 3 days per week in any HMCTS Office (subject to business availability).

Introduction

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

Job Description

As Operational Support Administrator you will work as part of a flexible team within the National Support Unit (NSU) to provide consistent, high quality, effective administrative and technical support to the wider functions in the NSU. This will include central support, business continuity and resilience, operational performance, incident response, information requests, and safety and security.

The NSU is a dedicated national operational team that delivers centralised functions supporting Operations, in conjunction with Regional Support Units (RSUs) that support operations locally.

You will support the NSU and wider operation by carrying out a variety of general administrative duties to support NSU managers and Regional Delivery Directors (RDDs) and their teams in the effective delivery of our service to users, including providing clear information support and guidance, monitoring work progress and dealing with day-to-day issues as they arise. The NSU operates virtually, and Operational Support Administrators may be based in any location and managed remotely.

Please refer to the attached role profile for a comprehensive overview of the role.

Your role as the Operational Support Administrator encompasses several key aspects (but not limited to):

Support NSU managers in delivering secretariat service for various boards, meetings and teams; following up action points, checking that deadlines are being met and helping create meeting agendas. You may also be required to organise and attend meetings, take notes and prepare documents.

Aid the development of administrative and operational processes and systems, including data management and filing for any of the NSU functional areas.

Maintain and update corporate memory databases and records, providing or seeking information on operational issues to allow decisions and actions to be taken at a higher level.

Provide ad hoc administrative support to projects, initiatives and specialist functions in the NSU, including collation and analysis of information, producing spreadsheets, datasets and reports as requested. This may include supporting national response and recovery activity that is coordinated by NSU.

Support the Operational Performance function by presenting data and management information to help support service improvements

Provide administrative support to the Safety and Security Senior Manager and the wider, nationally based, Regional Safety Security Officer (RSSO) team, assisting with monitoring progress and reporting concerns to the team.  The role holder will also support the tracking of national safety and security audit outcomes

Provide central administration for Health and Safety (H &S) training and secretarial support for Safety and Security meetings across the country

Who are we looking for? (Person Specification)

The ideal candidate for this position should demonstrate:

Essential skills

Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to engage with stakeholders to provide information, advice and guidance on areas covered by the NSU.

Strong written communication skills to be able to draft responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and respond effectively to queries

Project administration and support skills to help support the delivery of ad hoc national projects

Analytical skills to analyse and interpret performance data and provide useful insight to help drive operational delivery across HMCTS

Proficient use of Microsoft Windows Office 365 tools (Excel, Microsoft Teams, Word, PowerPoint)

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.

Desirable skills

Experienced in use of Power BI & OPT

Good understanding of Operations and regions to be able to provide operational context to delivery of plans

Application process:

Stage 1 - Sift:

To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application:

·       An anonymised CV, setting out your career history, key responsibilities and achievements. Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Essential Skills section of this advert.

·       A Statement of Suitability which should give us real life examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. We recommend following the STAR format.

·       Behaviour examples illustrating the Civil Service Behaviours listed under the Application form stage assessments section.

Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift may be conducted on the Behaviour. Candidates who pass the pre-sift will be fully assessed on all the sift criteria.

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance

Stage 2 - Interviews:

Successful candidates who passed the sift will be invited to interview via Microsoft Teams. At interview stage, you will be assessed against Strengths and Behaviours. Details can be found under the interview stage assessment section on the advert.

For further guidance on the interview process please click here.

Important information

Salary details

New recruits to the Civil Service joining MoJ are expected to join at the band minimum.

Existing Civil Servants applying on promotion, will usually be appointed on the salary minimum of the new pay band, or receive an increase of 10 percent on the current base salary, whichever is higher (This is restricted to the pay maximum of the new band).

Travel requirements

There will be a requirement to travel occasionally to any HMCTS site in line with business needs.

Skilled Worker Sponsorship

This role does not meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship in accordance with the current immigration rules if you are looking to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa for the first time.

The Department cannot consider sponsoring you for this role unless you have held a Skilled Worker visa continuously since before 22 July 2025. 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 do not meet the new eligibility criteria for sponsorship (or the transitional provisions), 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.

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.