Operational Leader - Southern

at  Department for Work and Pensions

JOB SUMMARY

Do you have a passion for public service? Would you like to make a difference to someone’s life? If so, we would like to hear from you. DWP help people lift themselves out of poverty and to stay out of poverty, through work, saving and support. This is a hugely important public service and our challenge is bigger than ever.
As part of Counter Fraud and Compliance and Debt (CFCD) you will be at the heart of DWP’s front line operations helping to change people’s lives and supporting CFCDs purpose of fighting fraud in the welfare system.
With varied and exciting roles, you will be involved in reviewing fraud, error and debt within the department. This role is unique and challenging, with the aim of helping drive down the level of fraud and error within the benefit system.

JOB DESCRIPTION

CFCD Higher Executive Officer (HEO) Team Leaders support the flexible, effective, personalised delivery of customer service, quality and performance across sites. HEO Team Leaders inspire colleagues through difficult situations, transform performance and are accountable for the effective utilisation of operational resources, delivering improved value for money and driving out inefficiencies.

LEARNING REQUIREMENTS

The DWP is committed to investing in people and ensuring their teams are a professional workforce. It is a requirement of counter fraud post holders within DWP to attain, and retain, membership of the Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP) at Practitioner level. This means if you are successful in applying for this role you will need to undertake an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience within your role to attain and retain practitioner level membership. We provide post holders with a learning routeway to support them in achieving as well as any workplace adjustments they may require. Failure to attain membership of the GCFP at practitioner level may result in DWP seeking an alternative role for you.

STAGE 3 – WRITTEN APPLICATION AND SIFT

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a Personal Statement detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role. In no more than 500 words per question (1000 words in total), please carefully consider the questions below. You should address these when constructing your personal statement.

• Can you explain a time when you have displayed strong leadership and communication skills to achieve required outcomes while changing priorities at short notice to meet business requirements.
• Tell us about a time when you have identified risks to productivity / performance or quality, and what you did to improve and influence change to deliver the required outcomes.

You should also consider both the job description and person specification details above when providing your evidence.
Your Personal Statement needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role.
If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your education, professional qualifications and full employment history. Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement.

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)

KEY TASKS INCLUDE:

• Directly line manage a team, provide clear, visible and strong leadership and engage with colleagues to drive high performance and quality.
• Create an inclusive team environment, embracing different individual needs, views and ideas, making it clear to all that bullying, harassment and discrimination is unacceptable.
• Work with internal and external stakeholders, encourage collaborative working between teams, build relationships and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Motivate, develop and encourage teams, undertake regular performance reviews, provide coaching, learning and development and one to ones to develop skills.
• Identify risks to performance achievement and drive forward continuous improvement.
• Monitor and improve the quality of the face-to-face/telephony and end-to-end customer experience, ensuring that ‘one customer, one service, one business’ becomes a reality within DWP.
• Provide relevant information to colleagues regarding changes to policy, legislation and statutory requirements as appropriate, and identify and implement best practice.
• Ensure all security matters (including information protection) are dealt with promptly and sensitively, in line with DWP policies and procedures.
• Use networking and influencing to create, maintain and improve service delivery for all customers.
• Support the identification of priorities and work collaboratively to ensure the delivery of both your own and others’ objectives.

We will be holding two Microsoft Teams events to let you know more about these roles. These will take place on the following dates:

• Friday 1st November 2024 - 12:30 to 13:30 Join the meeting now
• Wednesday 6th November 2024 - 17:30 to 18:30 Join the meeting no

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a Personal Statement detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role. In no more than 500 words per question (1000 words in total), please carefully consider the questions below. You should address these when constructing your personal statement.

• Can you explain a time when you have displayed strong leadership and communication skills to achieve required outcomes while changing priorities at short notice to meet business requirements.
• Tell us about a time when you have identified risks to productivity / performance or quality, and what you did to improve and influence change to deliver the required outcomes