Area Coroner for South London22/09/2025 17:00
Davis House, Mint Walk, Croydon.
Area Coroner, South London
Salary – Full Time £113,778 per annum (pay award pending)
Closing date: 5pm 22 September 2025
The London Borough of Croydon is seeking to appoint an Area Coroner to support the Senior Coroner for South London in 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. This is a full-time appointment and part time working is not an option.
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 software and the Area Coroner will have a special responsibility as an advocate on behalf of the coroner cohort to work with the council’s Head of Coroner Service and the software supplier to develop the workflows and processes to maximise the efficiency and benefits of the software to the coroners, coroner’s officers and admin team. Candidates must be able to demonstrate experience of using this software, or an alternative equivalent case management system on a daily basis and have the necessary practical IT skills (including the use of MS Office and digital court platforms) to be able to drive forward and deliver the necessary changes.
This is an exciting time to join the South London Coroner Service which is not without its challenges! There is a mounting backlog of cases, and the Area Coroner will be required to carry a significant and varied caseload of inquests, with a view to the service clearing the backlog within 18 months to 2 years. In addition, the Coroner’s Officer function will be transferring from the Metropolitan Police Service to the council, and the service will be moving to new premises in early 2026. The Area Coroner will play a key role in ensuring continuity in service delivery during what will be a very interesting and challenging period, and which will provide invaluable experience for aspiring Senior Coroners.
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 75th birthday.
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).
Appointment Pack with detailed instructions as to how to apply is here: final area coroner pack september 2025
Applications (CV and supporting statement only) must be emailed to Giles Adey (giles.adey@croydon.gov.uk) by 5pm on the 22nd September 2025
The vacancy for this post has been notified to the Chief Coroner and Lord Chancellor as required by statute.