Senior Deputy Superintendent Registrar in Portsmouth

Salary: Band: 7 £32,061 - £36,363 per annum plus 80 hours contractual overtime. 37 hours per week Monday - Friday, plus 80 hours per annum contractual overtime (worked on Saturdays) and part of on-call rota, including weekends and public holidays.

Your new role:

Are you an experienced Registrar who is passionate about delivering exceptional ceremonies and supporting colleagues to provide outstanding customer experiences? We are looking for a Senior Deputy Superintendent Registrar to join Portsmouth Register Service and play a leading role in our ceremonies operation. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced registration professional to help coordinate and oversee the delivery of marriage, civil partnership and citizenship ceremonies at Portsmouth Register Office and licensed venues across the city.

As a senior member of the team, you will provide day-to-day support to the Assistant Registration Service Manager, help maintain high professional and technical standards and support the smooth running of one of the busiest areas of the service. Centred around the planning, coordination and delivery of ceremonies, you will be responsible for conducting marriage, civil partnership and citizenship ceremonies, ensuring all are delivered professionally, legally and to the highest standards.

You will support ceremony planning and allocation, manage the ceremonies diary, book ceremonies, assist with rota coordination and act as a subject matter expert for ceremony-related enquiries from colleagues, customers and venues. Alongside your ceremony responsibilities, you will undertake registration duties including taking notices of marriage and civil partnership, checking legal documentation, issuing schedules and certificates and providing expert advice on registration legislation and procedures.

You will also help support and develop colleagues, maintain technical standards, contribute to staff training and assist managers with service improvements and operational planning across the ceremonies function. The role requires flexibility to support ceremony delivery throughout the year, including working Saturdays on a rota basis and occasional Sundays and public holidays where required and being on call to support emergency death registration and Registrar General ceremonies.

Who is the person:

You will be an experienced registration professional with a strong knowledge of marriage and civil partnership legislation and a passion for delivering memorable and professional ceremonies. You will be confident speaking in front of large groups, comfortable leading ceremonies independently and able to adapt your approach to meet the needs of different customers and situations. You will enjoy supporting colleagues and helping maintain high standards across the team.

Whilst this is not a formal line management position, experience of supervising, mentoring, coordinating or managing staff is highly desirable, as the role involves providing day-to-day guidance and support to colleagues. With excellent communication and organisational skills, with the ability to remain calm under pressure you will have the confidence to make decisions whilst delivering exceptional customer service. Ideally, you will hold the Registration Officers Qualification (ROQ) or equivalent. However, applications are welcomed from candidates who are willing to undertake and successfully complete the qualification as part of their professional development.

If you are looking for an opportunity to take the next step in your registration career and play a key role in leading and developing Portsmouth's ceremony service, we would love to hear from you.

About Portsmouth City Council:

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR):

As part of Local Government Reorganisation, current plans will see Portsmouth City Council combine with the district and borough councils of Fareham, Gosport and Havant and parts of East Hampshire and Winchester district councils to form a new, larger unitary authority for south east Hampshire. We are working towards an implementation date of 1st April 2028, known as vesting day, subject to Parliamentary approval. Until then, we remain focused on maintaining continuity, supporting our workforce, and continuing to deliver excellent services to our residents throughout the transition to the new unitary authority. This is an exciting time to join us, offering the opportunity to contribute to organisational transformation, develop your career, and help shape future services for our communities.

Additional Information:

Please ensure that you read the job profile for full details on the post. We are not able to offer sponsorship for this position. Interview date: 24, 25 and 28 September 2026.

Our recruitment process:

Full information about our recruitment process can be found on our support for applicants' page. You must demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work/personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal. You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it. Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage.