Executive Director - Judicial Office for Scotland

Job summary

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) plays a vital and visible role at the heart of Scotland’s justice system. As an independent national organisation, we are entrusted with supporting fair, efficient and accessible justice for the people of Scotland.

The Executive Director: Judicial Office for Scotland role presents a great opportunity to work with the senior judiciary at the heart of Scotland’s justice system during one of the most exciting periods of rapid change it has ever experienced. The job will provide exposure to policy and strategy, service delivery, change development and corporate governance – directly supporting the SCTS board, Chaired by the Lord President (Scotland’s most senior judge) in its leadership of SCTS as a non-ministerial department

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, this role sits right at the centre of SCTS – an organisation with over 1,900 staff based in some 60 locations across the length and breadth of the country. As part of the SCTS Executive Team you will be jointly responsible for the overall management of the SCTS and, in particular, responsible for the strategic development of civil justice.
The Executive Director will:

Provide the Lord President and Lord Justice Clerk with high quality strategic and administrative advice and support in their management of the judiciary and in their interactions with the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government and other justice agencies.

Provide direction and leadership at a strategic level to all Judicial Office teams namely:

1. The Lord President’s Private Office
2. Strategy and Governance
3. The Judicial Institute
4. Library services
5. Judicial communications
6. The Scottish Civil Justice Council
7. The Scottish Sentencing Council
8. The Office of the Auditor of Court

Job description

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and direction for the Judicial Office for Scotland, ensuring effective support to the Lord President, Lord Justice Clerk and wider judiciary.
• Lead the development and delivery of civil justice reform across SCTS, including identifying opportunities for innovation, service improvement and digital transformation.
• Contribute as a member of the SCTS Executive Team, shaping organisational strategy, performance and governance.
• Act as the key interface between the judiciary and SCTS, promoting strong relationships, collaboration and alignment of priorities.
• Provide high-quality strategic advice and support on matters relating to judicial governance, policy, welfare, conduct, deployment and recruitment.
• Lead and oversee the Judicial Office's specialist functions, ensuring the effective delivery of services and support to the judiciary.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the judiciary, Scottish Government, Parliament and justice sector partners.
• Provide leadership and direction to senior managers within the Judicial Office, fostering an inclusive, high-performing and innovative culture.
• Ensure effective governance, risk management and decision-making arrangements across the areas for which the role is accountable.
• Champion continuous improvement, organisational learning and staff wellbeing, creating an environment where diverse perspectives are valued and people can perform at their best.

Person specification

Qualifications

• A law degree or experience of working in the law would be advantageous but is not essential.

Experience

• Senior Executive leadership experience at Director or Board‑equivalent level in a large, complex organisation
• Experience of advising Boards or governance committees on strategic policy matters
• Demonstrable success in leading organisational change, cultural transformation and organisational development

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £93,667, Scottish Government contributes £27,135 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).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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. Where 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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Apply online before 23:55 on the 27th September 2026, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 750 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the advert.

If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview with presentation, leadership assessments and staff engagement panel.

Assessments are scheduled for w/c 19 October and Interviews are scheduled for 6 November , however this may be subject to change.

Recruitment Principles

As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a standard (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Scottish Government Recruitment Team
• Email : recruitment@scotcourts.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@scotcourts.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, please contact our recruitment team at: ScottishGovernmentRecruitment@gov.scot

If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of our complaints resolution process, you can proceed to make a complaint to the Civil Service Commission.