Operational Support Officer

£25,582

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Alongside your salary of £25,582, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £7,411 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

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

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.

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 Operational Support 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 your experience.

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.

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.

The role is primarily based within the courtroom, supporting the smooth running of court proceedings. Administrative duties will also be incorporated into the post.

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.

Duties undertaken within the Court may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Speak publicly and manage courtroom proceedings.
• Court usher duties which include preparation and management of a courtroom by communication with court users (members of the public).
• Ensuring court video link technology is prepared and working correctly.
• Communication with stakeholders and professionals including Police, Probation Service and Solicitors.
• Administration work including pre and post court functions.

In addition, within these vacancies there may be opportunities to undertake additional duties as either a Listing Assistant or as a Digital Support Officer. If either of these areas is of interest to you, please make the interview panel aware during your interview.

• Provide administrative and operational support to ensure the efficient preparation and progression of court hearings.
• Manage court listings and hearing schedules, ensuring cases are accurately recorded and judicial time is used effectively. Prepare and check case documentation ahead of hearings, ensuring information is complete, accurate and available when required.
• Support judges by coordinating hearing information and managing booking and vacancies.
• Liaise with a range of stakeholders, including prisons, probation services, magistrates' courts, interpreters and legal professionals to support the smooth running of court business.
• Coordinate video hearings by arranging links ensuring all necessary documentation is in place.
• Process criminal casework, including breaches, appeals and applications
• Arrange interpreter and British Sign Language support
• Maintain accurate records and case information across digital platforms, ensuring compliance with information management requirements.
• Record statistics to support performance monitoring and resource planning.
• Effectively prioritise workloads, respond to changing business needs and deliver high-quality customer service while working to tight deadlines.
• Identify and resolve routine issues, escalating complex matters where appropriate and contributing to the effective delivery of justice
• Act as a first point of contact for digital and IT support, resolving or escalating issues as appropriate.
• Support the implementation of new digital tools and technologies across the business.
• Carry out routine checks of digital equipment, identifying and reporting faults to minimise disruption.
• Manage system access requests and support colleagues with digital service requirements.
• Maintain accurate records of IT incidents, requests and equipment issues.
• Liaise with support teams, suppliers and contractors to ensure effective resolution of technical issues.
• Provide guidance and basic training to colleagues and judicial office holders, improving digital confidence and capability.
• Support compliance activities and digital assurance checks in line with organisational requirements.
• Attend training, briefings and network meetings to maintain knowledge of emerging technologies and best practice.
• Share knowledge and collaborate with colleagues to identify solutions and improve digital service delivery.
• Maintain local communication channels and digital support information for users.
• Balance operational and digital support responsibilities

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.

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

We currently have two positions available at Cheltenham Magistrates Court, full-time only (37 Hours per week Monday - Saturday)

This role involves Saturday working and you may be required to work a 5 days over 6 working days shift pattern, which can occasionally include Saturdays. Your working pattern will be confirmed by your line manager. Where you are required to work on a Saturday, you will receive a day off in lieu in line with business needs. Please note that there is no requirement to work on Sundays. While Saturday working may be required, this is expected to be occasional and based on operational requirements.

Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 23rd November 2026

489835

Administrative Officer

AO

Permanent

Administration / Corporate Support

2

This position is based at CHELTENHAM MAGISTRATES CHELTENHAM, GL50 3PF

Please refer to Job Description

These operational roles are customer facing, requiring successful applicants to be court based to provide HMCTS services to the public.

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.

Please refer to Job Description

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Please refer to Job Description

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)

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/24038?entityId=24038

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