Area Coroner, South London

Salary – £113,778 per annum

Closing date: midnight Sunday 13 April 2025

The London Borough of Croydon is seeking to appoint an Area Coroner to support the Senior Coroner for South London providing a high-quality coronial service to residents of the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley, Bexley and Sutton. This is an exciting opportunity to become a full-time independent judicial office holder and to work closely with an experienced coronial team which covers a broad and complex geographical area.

We are looking for an exceptional candidate with excellent proven organisational, management and efficiency skills, as well as experience of exercising sound judgement and communicating effectively.  Collaborative working with the senior coroner, local authority, the police and other stakeholders is essential.

You will be required to demonstrate knowledge and experience of coronial law and of basic medicine, have proven skills in conducting investigations and an advanced understanding and experience of court procedure. You will also need to demonstrate the excellent communication and interpersonal skills necessary to deal with sensitive situations.

It is essential that the successful candidate has proven experience of working as a coroner including carrying out investigations, case management, and hearing inquests.  It is desirable that the successful candidate has some experience of running or sharing running a coroner’s jurisdiction.

The Area Coroner will work closely with the Senior Coroner to provide judicial leadership to the coroner team as well as conducting their own coronial investigations and inquests. The Area Coroner will be the nominated deputy for the Senior Coroner when the Senior Coroner is absent.

We are looking for an exceptional candidate who is a Barrister or a Solicitor or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and satisfy the judicial appointment eligibility condition of a minimum of 5 years in practice.  You will be under the age of 75 and be subject to the appointment and eligibility conditions within the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (s23 and Schedule 3).

An excellent communicator, you will need to demonstrate the excellent communication and interpersonal skills necessary to work effectively with a wide range of partners and manage sensitive situations and be passionate about providing an empathic service to bereaved people. 

The service operates the Civica cloud coroner’s case management system and you must have experience of using this software (or an alternative equivalent system) and have excellent IT skills and be able to use MS Office, and digital court platforms.

Once a coroner is appointed, they are then a Judicial Office holder until they reach the age of 75 years (compulsory retirement age) unless they choose to resign or are removed by the Lord Chief Justice or Lord Chancellor prior to their 75^th birthday. 

The vacancy for this post has been notified to the Chief Coroner and Lord Chancellor as required by statute.

If you would like to have an informal discussion or arrange a visit, please contact Giles Adey, Interim Head of Coroner Service (giles.adey@croydon.gov.uk).