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 where 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.
Role title: Human Resources Support Officer
Team/Directorate: Judicial Office HR HRBP Team
Overview of the role:
Reporting to a HR Team Leader this position sits within the HR Business Partner – Organisational Development & Design (HRBP-OD&D) function within Judicial Office HR, an arms length body of the Ministry of Justice. This is a key role in providing HR support to all Judicial Office Holders. The role includes triaging HR queries received from judicial leaders and judicial office holders, responding to these directly or escalating where needed to appropriate stakeholders.
The post holder will have a passion for providing excellent standards of service, be self-motivated, have strong organisational skills and be able to work on their own initiative but also understands when to seek guidance from others and work collectively towards a shared goal. Full training will be provided, the key behaviours and qualities, including being a team player are the primary attributes sought in the post holder.
As an entry point to a career in strategic Human Resources this post provides an ideal grounding to develop experience as a HR generalist. The HRBP-OD&D team is one of three portfolio areas within Judicial Office HR.
The Judicial Office HR Team is accountable for delivering the right judicial office holders with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time in support of the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals responsibilities for the welfare and conduct of the judiciary as set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The team also supports, advises, and appoints (on behalf of the Lord Chancellor), the advisory committees who carry out key functions in relation to the magistracy on behalf of the Lord Chancellor.
This role is suitable for blended/hybrid working with the possibility of a mix of remote and office working. The role is based in London and there may be expectation on occasion to travel to one of our other office locations or court locations in line with business need. The post holder will be required to work on a rota which covers the period 8am to 6pm.
Summary:
With a passion for people and a proven ability in administrative functions, the post holder will combine their organisational ability with the demands of analysing information, providing advisory support, or escalating to stakeholders where needed. The post holder will be responsible for delivering a high-quality HR service providing HR support for all judicial office holders and working with people data to drive improvement. Previous HR experience is not required for the position.
The role requires a proactive approach to problem solving and finding solutions to HR challenges. The post holder will be supported in gaining a detailed understanding of the judiciary and their unique position as office holders to enable accurate interpretation of HR policy, and the delivery of HR processes to maintain sufficient support to the judiciary.
At times there will be a need to handle sensitive information and the post holder will be required to provide HR advice based on policies in place or signposting to the relevant teams. The post holder will take calls and respond to emails relating to judicial sickness absences, responding appropriately in accordance with welfare guidance and conveying absence details to operational colleagues in an efficient and timely manner. HR Support Officers also work with HR data and support on wider HR tasks, allowing for the effective delivery of a HR service to the Judiciary. The role also involves providing ad-hoc support to a regional HR Advisor with casework, projects and administrative tasks as needed.
This is an excellent starting point for an aspiring HR professional and equally an opportunity for somebody with a proven administrative background to apply their skills to a new area of work.
The role will require some decision making based on the analysis of information and data. Stakeholder and customer focus will be essential as part of this key support role for the wider Judicial HR Team.
We value diversity and inclusion in our workforce and would encourage applications from under represented backgrounds.
Responsibilities, Activities & Duties:
The post holder will need to develop an in depth understanding of Judicial Office HR, and the bespoke support which is offered to judicial office holders.
Tasks and skills required for the post include:
- Providing front line support to all judicial office holders
- Excellent communication skills
- Asking questions to identify the primary nature of any query
- Escalation to other colleagues and centres of expertise where appropriate
- Undertaking transactional and administrative tasks
- Maintaining, updating, and improving a HR knowledge bank to aid future queries of a similar nature.
- Reading and understanding policies and procedures to provide query responses
- Providing clear, accurate HR advice from relevant policies to all judicial office holders
- Manage competing work demands, whilst providing a professional service to judicial office holders
- Analysing and creating data sets and charts to help inform future focus and performance of the HR service.
- Ability to identify trends and patterns escalating these where needed
- Supporting the judiciary on wider tasks relevant to HR
- Providing support to a HR Advisor on casework, administration and projects as required.
- Communicating via phone and email with judicial office holders on sensitive topics, including in relation to sickness absence.
- Attention to detail inputting HR information into relevant systems
- Identifying areas for continuous improvement and raising these with the management team.
- Working collaboratively across a team of HR Support Officers to deliver a quality service.
- Commitment to self-development
Behaviours
Managing a Quality Service
Communicating and influencing
Working Together
Making Effective Decisions
Please note, the lead behaviour is Managing a Quality Service. If high volumes of applications are received, the behaviours may be sifted on the lead behaviour only.
Strengths
Influencer
Resilient
Team player
Service Focussed
Interview
Please note if you are successful to interview there will be an in-tray exercise that will be assessed on.
Essential Knowledge, Experience and Skills:
- An ability to forge strong working relationships, and work well under pressure
- Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage your own workload effectively
- Strong IT (Information Technology) skills, able to work confidently in Word, Excel, Outlook and be able to use databases
- Able to make decisions using sound judgement
- Excellent customer service skills with the ability to communicate effectively with different stakeholders across all levels of seniority
Desirable Knowledge, Experience and Skills:
- Experience of working with Judicial Office Holders or knowledge of the judiciary
- Comfortable working with data sets and creating basic charts and graphs.
- Previous experience in a HR environment.
- Previous administrative experience
- CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) Level 3 qualified / CIPD qualified or willing to work towards.
- Counter terrorism check (CTC)
£31,169 - £32,760
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). 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, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.
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.
The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices.
The MoJ offers a range of benefits:
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.
The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.
The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.
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.
- 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 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.
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 Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
- To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
- To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. 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 SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.
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 where 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.