23624 - Operational Support OfficerGeneral Information

Salary

£25,582

Working Pattern

Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working

Vacancy Approach

External

Location

Bedlington

Region

North East

Closing Date

09-Nov-2026

Post Type

Permanent

Civil Service Grade

AO

Number of jobs available

1

Reserve List

12 Months

Job ID

23624

Descriptions & requirements

Job description

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.
• 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 (Monday to Saturday). 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

Working Pattern .

Applications for part-time working will be considered however due to the nature of the role the minimum hours would be 30 hours per week which must include full days.

You will be required to work at least 12 Saturdays/Bank Holidays per year that will be agreed in line with business needs on a rota basis. The expectation is to work the Saturday with a day off in the week.

Location

You will be based in Mid and South East Northumberland Law Courts. The address is Schalksmuhle Road, Bedlington, NE22 7LX.

Occasional travel to other courts

For this post, occasional travel across the Cleveland Durham and Northumbria (CDN) area may be required for cover when needed.

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.

Additional Information

Working Arrangements & Further Information

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). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

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 role: all successful candidates will be appointed to the nearest viable office nearest to their home postcode and on its respective pay scale. This will be at either a HQ building (subject to desk allocation, a Justice Collaboration Centre (JCC) or a Justice Satellite Office (JSO) - See...