Current vacancies

Salary: Fee based position, £533 per day (pay award pending) Closing date: Midnight - Sunday 30th March 2026 

Interview date: Thursday 11th and Friday 12th June 2026 

Cumberland Council is seeking to appoint two (2) additional Assistant Coroners for the Cumbria coroner’s area, to support the Senior and Area Coroners across the full range of coroner duties, and to help ensure the delivery of high-quality coronial service to the people of Cumbria. 

About the post: 

Cumberland Council is looking for exceptional candidates, with excellent proven organisational, management and efficiency skills, as well as experience of exercising sound judgement and communicating effectively. You will work closely with the Senior Coroner and Area Coroner to ensure the running of an efficient coroner service that puts the bereaved at the heart of its service. 

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

The successful candidate will be required to carry out the duties and responsibilities of a coroner as defined in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and associated rules and regulations and as further described in various guidance issued by the Chief Coroner. 

These are fee paid positions, although they are likely to require a regular commitment, which is to be agreed between the Assistant Coroner, HM Senior Coroner and the local authority. 

Assistant Coroners are required to work a minimum of 20 days a year, with a mix of court sitting days and office / case progression days. You will be required on occasion to be available to assist on any out of hours rota system to meet statutory requirements. 

You will also be required to attend the Coroner Continuation training, arranged through the Judicial college. 

Key is that you demonstrate an ongoing commitment to supporting the work of the service in Cumbria and HM Senior Coroner. 

Who can apply: 

The successful candidate will be a barrister or a solicitor or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and satisfy the judicial-appointment eligibility condition which means they will have 5 years of experience whilst holding that qualification. 

They will be under the age of 75 and be subject to the appointment and eligibility conditions within the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (s.23 and Schedule 3). 

Statutory terms of the appointment: 

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. 

How to apply: 

If you have any specific questions regarding the post, or the area, or would like an informal discussion, please contact Ms Kirsty Gomersal (HM Senior Coroner, Cumbria) via hmcoroner@cumbria.gov.uk   Suitably qualified applicants are requested to email their CV and their application / supporting documents, and a covering letter, to: 

- Chris Fleming: Christopher.Fleming@cumbria.gov.uk 

For further details and to view the recruitment pack, please click HERE

Important information 

Key to note is that all successful candidates, if not already an Assistant Coroner, will be required to attend the mandatory Assistant Coroner Induction training course, to be held on 1st and 2nd December 2026, and a follow up course in June 2027 (dates to be confirmed). 

Failure to attend would preclude a candidate from being appointed. 

Notification 

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

We are looking to appoint a Coroners Coordinator to join the busy team of officers who support the work of HM Coroner in Cumbria.

Salary - Full time equivalent salary is £34,434 to £35,412 - paid pro-rata 0.60 fte

Hours -  0.60 fte - 22.2 hours / part-time - Tuesday to Thursday (3 days), 8.30am to 4.30pm.

Location – Allerdale House, Workington. However, the option to work remotely may be available once training is complete and/or where business needs allow. 

Contract – Part-time, permanent

To note: The post holder will be required to work additional days (Monday and Friday) to cover annual leave/absences, peaks in demand, etc. Therefore, the ability to be flexible and have capacity to vary your working days is important.

The role

The role is to provide professional and high quality, and efficient and effective support, to HM Coroners Service in Cumbria, and to help coordinate and manage the sudden death referrals made to HM Coroner. 

You will be part of the team providing the necessary support to enable HM Coroner to fulfil their legal and statutory responsibilities as an Independent Judicial Officer (‘Judge’).   

The role will require commitment and enthusiasm, and you must have the ability to work under pressure and at pace, to very tight timelines, multi-tasking and balancing a number of conflicting priorities. 

You will need to be conscientious and hard working, and have the desire to provide high quality and professional support to HM Coroner, and to go that extra mile to help families / bereaved at what is one of the most difficult periods in their lives. 

This is very much a front-line position, and as part of the role you will be required to have difficult conversations with families, and must the ability to challenge stakeholders where appropriate and ensure the information provided to the HM Coroner is accurate and timely. 

A proven back ground in a regulatory service or environment, with experience of the work of HM Coroner, police, medical and / or related field is highly desirable and will be an advantage to any applicant. Previous experience dealing with difficult subject matter, distressed individuals or the bereaved is also desirable.

Ultimately, the role is both interesting and extremely rewarding as it supports the judicial and statutory role of HM Coroner, and crucially helps families, the bereaved and next of kin at what is a difficult time in their lives having lost a loved one suddenly or in difficult circumstances.

PLEASE NOTE:

It is important to stress that whilst employed by the local authority you will be working directly for HM Coroner (an Independent Judicial Officer / Judge), and dealing with multiple matters relating to sudden and unexplained deaths on a daily basis.  

The subject matter and referrals received will include discussions, details, information and/or images which can be of a difficult, potentially distressing and/or even of a graphic nature. The nature of the role requires working to extremely tight daily timelines, and talking to families and the next of kin of the deceased about very sensitive matters at a difficult time. 

Therefore, it is important to advise potential applicants that this area of work is not for everyone! And prior to considering submitting an application, you should fully consider and understand the nature and scope of the work of the HM Coroners Service, and be confident that you have the ability to work at pace, in a service / operating environment of this nature, and deal with the topic of sudden deaths.

Closing date for applications – Sunday 29th March 2026 (midnight)

Interview date – Wednesday 29th April 2026

If you have not had a response by 5pm Friday 17th April, please assume you have not been shortlisted for interview.

(NB: Due to the volume of applications we receive for these positions, unfortunately we are unable to offer feedback to those applications who were not shortlisted for interview).

TO APPLY - Please click HERE