Senior Crown Prosecutor – Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Unit - March 2026

Job summary

Are you a driven and talented barrister or solicitor with experience in criminal law? Do you thrive on complex, sensitive casework and want to take the next step in your career?

A Senior Crown Prosecutor specialising in Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) plays a critical role within the Crown Prosecution Service and the wider criminal justice system. This specialist position requires a high level of legal expertise, sound professional judgement, empathy and resilience. Alongside the full responsibilities of a Senior Crown Prosecutor, you have a unique and varied portfolio of complex casework, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders.

The role is for experienced lawyers with a background in criminal law. Based within the RASSO unit, you work on a wide variety of sensitive and complex offences. Your responsibilities include providing early investigative advice to the police, authorising charges, developing effective case strategies for trial, and presenting cases in court. You work closely with the police, counsel and other criminal justice partners to ensure cases are progressed to the highest standard.

This is a largely office‑based role, focused on reviewing evidence and making robust prosecution decisions in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. You collaborate closely with colleagues across the Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) within the Crown Prosecution Service and partner agencies, including the police and judiciary, playing a vital role in maintaining public confidence in our work.

As a prosecutor, you are typically based within a RASSO unit for about three years. As part of ongoing career development, wellbeing considerations or changing business needs, you may have opportunities for deployment into other Senior Crown Prosecutor functions, including Crown Court units dealing with a broad range of indictable cases.

Working within a RASSO team is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles the CPS offers. You receive high‑quality specialist training covering trauma‑informed practice, complex forensic evidence, and how to understand and challenge rape assumptions and misconceptions. With the support of experienced colleagues, mentors and managers, you take ownership of significant casework and make finely balanced legal decisions that have a lasting impact on the lives of those we serve.

The CPS is committed to being an inclusive organisation and supporting the professional growth of its people. You benefit from a structured induction, access to an individual learning account, and clear progression pathways, including opportunities to supervise trainees, shadow colleagues and apply for promotion.

Job description

Find out what Danielle, RASSO Senior Crown Prosecutor, says about working at the Crown Prosecution Service:

Your roles and responsibilities

• You advise police and other investigators on casework to shape and develop a case from a very early stage.
• You review cases, providing legal advice to the police and making decisions in line with the Code as to whether there is sufficient evidence for a case to proceed to court.
• You own and have conduct of a case through the trial process, working collaboratively with counsel to ensure a proportionate and evidentially sufficient case is presented to the jury. You apply legal principles including bad character, hearsay, considering jurisdictional issues and expert advice where appropriate.
• You explain our decisions clearly to stakeholders including Judges, magistrates, counsel, victims, witnesses and the police.
• You work effectively as part of a multiskilled team and maintain up-to-date knowledge of criminal offences.

The prosecution teams

Each Crown Prosecution Service area has a Crown Court, magistrates’ court, and a Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) team.

In our RASSO team, you have a personal caseload comprising rape and serious sexual offences. You give charging and early indicative advice to the police on RASSO cases, working with our paralegal staff and counsel to prepare cases for court.

A more detailed job description document is attached to this advert.

Person specification

• Essential - You must be a qualified lawyer with criminal law experience.
• Essential - You must have a minimum of three years post‑qualification experience or demonstrable, evidenced experience of conducting and managing complex, sensitive cases.
• Essential - You must demonstrate your commitment to public service, making a difference to the communities we serve and our Crown Prosecution Service values.
• Essential - You’re focused on personal development and career progression.
• Desirable – Previous experience in RASSO casework is desirable but not mandatory as full training is provided.

Qualifications

Qualifications

Legally qualified: You must be a qualified solicitor or barrister able to obtain a valid Practising Certificate for England and Wales by 27 April 2026.

If you’re a CILEx lawyer, you must be a Fellow of CILEx and a CILEx Advocate/Litigator holding all three advocacy certificates providing you with a ‘general qualification’ within the meaning of s71(3)(c) Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. You must have a right of audience in relation to any class of proceedings in any part of the Senior Courts, or all proceedings in County Court or magistrates' courts, to meet the requirements for a Crown Prosecutor as specified by section 1 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. If you don’t meet this definition, you’re not eligible to apply for this vacancy. If you’re unsure whether you have qualified through CILEx, contact us to establish your eligibility for this role.

Solicitors - You must hold a qualifying law degree or equivalent, have passed the Common Professional Examination and/or the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), have completed two years of qualifying work experience and be admitted to the roll of solicitors by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or have full exemption from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Barristers - You must hold a qualifying law degree (or Common Professional Examination), have completed the Bar Training/Practice Course (also known as the Bar Professional Training Course), been formally called to the Bar and successfully completed pupillage, or have full exemption from the Bar Standards Board.

We don’t accept equivalent qualifications. If you’re unsure about your eligibility contact nationallawyerrecruitment@cps.gov.uk.

You must be a fully qualified solicitor or barrister by 27 April 2026. If successful, we must receive your practising certificate as soon as possible. We won’t be able to progress pre-employment checks until we’ve received your practising certificate, and a deadline for this may be set in line with business need. If you’re able to meet these requirements by this date, you’re eligible to apply.

If there are any restrictions or special arrangements about your practising certificate, let us know by email as soon as possible.

If we find you don’t have any of these academic and professional qualifications, we will withdraw your offer of employment or terminate your contract.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

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

• You must meet the professional and academic requirements.
• You must be a qualified solicitor or barrister and must be able to obtain a valid Practising Certificate for England and Wales by 27 April 2026.
• You must demonstrate motivation.
• You must demonstrate sufficient legal intellect
• You must have a minimum of three years post‑qualification experience or demonstrable, evidenced experience of conducting and managing complex, sensitive cases.
• You must hold a criminal law background. If you do not hold a criminal law background, you are not eligible to apply for this role.

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• You must meet the professional and academic requirements.
• You must be a qualified solicitor or barrister and must be able to obtain a valid Practising Certificate for England and Wales by 27 April 2026.
• You must hold a criminal law background. If you do not hold a criminal law background, you are not eligible to apply for this role.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £54,080, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £15,666 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home, and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. Our hybrid working policy requires you to spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.

Delivering justice is a complex pursuit with work that is sometimes emotionally challenging, which is why we offer a range of benefits including:

• a Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.9%
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• flexible working and a family-friendly approach to work
• a Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings
• a range of learning and development activities, an individual learning account, and central and local development opportunities.

Pay at the Crown Prosecution Service varies depending on your location.

Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle, Exeter, Hull, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Mold, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Preston, Sheffield, Stoke on Trent, Swansea, Swindon, Truro: £55,975 (starting pay), £63,500 (maximum pay)

Brighton, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Eastleigh, Guildford, Portsmouth, Reading: £61,750 (starting pay), £71,400 (maximum pay)

St Albans: £61,750 + £1,050 RRA (starting pay), £71,400 + £1050 RRA (maximum pay)

London: £61,750 + £3,150 RRA (starting pay), £71,400 + £3,150 RRA (maximum pay)

You should expect to join on the starting pay unless you are joining on a level transfer from another government department.

Meet and Engage Sessions

We’re holding an online question and answer session whilst the vacancy is live. This is your chance to ask any questions about the role or the recruitment process. You can register for this now.

• 18 March 2026 – 1pm-1.45pm - https://meetandengage.com/amlb37jxo
• 26 March 2026 – 1pm-1.45pm - https://meetandengage.com/amlb3ar3s

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, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Application

CV

Submit your CV through Civil Service Jobs by 11.55pm on Sunday 29 March 2026.

You need to attach your CV as one document of no more than two A4 pages. This won’t be assessed but provides the panel with an insight into your work history and experience. Your CV should not be anonymised.

Your CV should include:

• contact details (email address and contact number)
• career history with key responsibilities
• skills and experience
• achievements
• qualifications
• postcode

Your CV isn’t marked – it’s used for eligibility requirements and provides the panel with an insight into your work history and experience at assessment and interview.

And your postcode is only used to help with team allocation if your application is successful. It won’t affect your application outcome or merit ranking.

If you can’t provide three years’ employment or academic history, you need a character reference for clearance purposes.

You need to provide the specified application information in the requested format to ensure you’re considered for the post.

Personal data

In line with GDPR, don’t send us any information that can identify children, or any of your own sensitive personal data such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning health or sex life and sexual orientation, genetic or biometric data in your CV and application documentation.

Assessment and interview – between 13 and 24 April 2026

If you meet the eligibility criteria, you’re invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting where you complete a legal assessment followed by a short interview. You are assessed and interviewed by a panel of Crown Prosecution Service colleagues to assess your suitability.

Assessed at legal assessment and interview

Motivation - assessed at interview

We want to understand why you’re interested in the law and why you want to work for the Crown Prosecution Service. We’re looking for you to address the following three things in your application and at interview.

1. A demonstrable interest in criminal prosecution and public service.
2. A demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the work of the Crown Prosecution Service and our role in the wider criminal justice system.
3. A strong focus on continuous learning and able to apply knowledge of criminal law gained from study and experience.

Ability: Legal intellect - assessed at legal assessment:

We want to understand your legal abilities and your aptitude for criminal law. We’re looking for the following six things.

• An in-depth knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and principles of criminal law.
• Reliable legal judgement and an appreciation of legal risk.
• Able to think strategically and creatively, see legal issues in their wider context and advise accordingly.
• Sound analysis, using secure legal research to produce timely and fit-for-purpose advice.
• Fluent oral and written advocacy skills.
• Demonstrable knowledge and an understanding of the work of the Crown Prosecution Service and our role in the wider criminal justice system.

Behaviours - we use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to help you do a great job in this role. Senior crown prosecutor candidates are assessed against level 4 in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing three behaviours.

1. Making effective decisions (lead behaviour) - assessment and interview
2. Communicating and influencing - assessment
3. Managing a quality service - interview

Please be aware - you are responsible for booking your own interview and assessment slot through Civil Service Jobs. Once you’ve selected your preferred time slot, we send you a Microsoft Teams link at least 48 hours beforehand.

If you’re invited to interview, you are assessed and interviewed by an appropriate panel and offers are made in merit order.

Please note that the lead behaviour at interview stage is making effective decisions. We may use this to determine merit order where candidates have the same overall score.

Making offers - from 27 April 2026

You can choose three office location preferences from the list provided. If you’re successful, we aim to offer one of your choices in the first instance. Whilst every effort is made to accommodate your location preferences, the Crown Prosecution Service is a national organisation with differences in operational recovery, vacancy levels and caseloads around the country – which means you may be offered a role in another Crown Prosecution Service area outside your stated preference.

If you are successful and already work for the Crown Prosecution Service, we will request a reference from your line manager following your offer.

If you are successful, your CV will be forwarded to the Area team to assist with unit allocation.

Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service is about inclusion, embracing differences and ensuring our workforce truly reflects the communities we serve. We want you to feel that you belong and can thrive, whatever your background, identity or culture. As a Disability Confident employer, we're happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments and improve your recruitment experience. If you'd like any reasonable adjustments made to our recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact nationallawyerrecruitment@cps.gov.uk.

Crown Prosecution Service values

https://www.cps.gov.uk/about-cps

Other

This is a full-time post. However, requests for flexible, part-time working and job share are considered – bearing in mind the operational needs of the business. This role is a mixture of home working, office working and travelling to courts. How this is split depends on the business needs.

You must consider if the commute from your home to the office is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. If you are successful, this is discussed before you take up the post.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of granting this approval.

The job you are applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act does not apply. For the reasons outlined you are required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions, including spent convictions. Failure to make a full declaration results in the withdrawal of an offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that have not been disclosed.

Reserve list

If all the posts are filled for your preferred locations, you’re put on a reserve list. You may be approached about an opportunity at a location outside your initial preference. Offers are always made in merit order.

There may be instances where you’re offered the opportunity to work on our central prosecution team – to complete work remotely for business areas around England and Wales. If offered, this is for a minimum 12-month period with the possibility of an extension up to 24 months. Once completed, you return on a permanent basis to your Crown Prosecution Service area.

The reserve list expires 12 months after the interviews take place and positions for your first preference can’t be guaranteed.

Timeline

Dates advertised are subject to change and it may not be possible to accommodate alternative requests for interviews and assessment.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Fraud check

The Crown Prosecution Service provides a Fair Processing Notice to all new applicants after they’ve been successful at interview. These candidates are informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details – name, National Insurance number and date of birth – are checked against the Internal Fraud Database. Anyone included on the database is refused employment unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.

The Crown Prosecution Service, on behalf of the vacancy holder, informs applicants when they are refused employment because they’re included in the Internal Fraud Database.

Civil Service Commission
If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.

If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, you can do that through the Civil Service Commission complaints page.

Here are our Civil Service Commission recruitment principles.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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 : National Lawyer Recruitment Team
• Email : NationalLawyerRecruitment@cps.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk

Attachments

Senior Crown Prosecutor Opens in new window (docx, 12kB)CPS Terms and Conditions 2025 Opens in new window (docx, 255kB)