Senior Operational Leader

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced and skilled Senior Operational Leader to join our Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt (CFCD) Directorate. As a key member of our team, you will play a critical role in tackling fraud encountered through our Economic, Serious and Organised Crime (ESOC) team.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a large, geographically diverse team of HEO Investigators, setting strategic business priorities and driving performance against key objectives.
• Be a self-starter, able to use your own initiative and make sound, complex decisions at pace.
• Instil technical knowledge and use initiative to seek solutions to problems, making interpretative judgements where circumstances fall outside of available guidance.
• Lead performance within your business area, undertaking regular face-to-face performance reviews with your direct reports, identifying risks to performance achievement, and driving forward continuous improvement.
• Oversee business change, leading others through the implementation and embedding of new policies and procedures.
• Work alongside multiple, senior representatives from other government departments/external bodies, building strong, collaborative relationships which enhance our reputation and achieve excellent outcomes.
• Provide visible, effective leadership through regular site visits, taking a personal lead in engaging with and communicating key messages with clarity and passion to obtain buy-in.
• Motivate teams to operate flexibly, seeking feedback, listening and acting on this, setting performance standards and personalising services for our customers.
• Encourage creative thinking and collaborative working between teams and directorates to drive innovation and service improvements.
• Contribute to people planning activities, ensuring appropriate and effective deployment of people and resources within and between sites.
• Develop a holistic grasp of all customer types, enabling you to lead, design and manage new business roles and processes that continuously improve the quality of customer experience.
• Ensure all matters are dealt with promptly and sensitively, in line with DWP policies and procedures, and legislative frameworks, managing risk exposure by overseeing compliance.

Person Specification

We are looking for a Senior Operational Leader who possesses:

• Strong and effective leadership experience, with the ability to lead through others and make sound business decisions at pace.
• Knowledge and experience of leading criminal or financial investigations, steering, planning and ensuring quality investigations.
• Ability to communicate with clarity, conviction and enthusiasm with colleagues, partners and stakeholders to drive positive outcomes.
• Experience and knowledge of leading diverse teams, through effective coaching and mentoring, to improve service delivery.
• Ability to drive performance improvement through proactive management of processes and ensuring compliance with performance management policies and procedures.
• Flexible, agile outlook, able to innovate and display creative thinking.
• Resilience to overcome difficulties, taking ownership for resolving issues.
• Knowledge of risk assessment processes, business continuity planning and diversity impact assessments.
• Understanding and engagement with change, inspiring and obtaining buy-in from colleagues by encouraging discussion, initiative, and ideas in support of the long term DWP vision.
• Ability to effectively monitor performance, with sound analytical skills, and the ability to effectively interpret and use management information to deliver against performance objectives while maintaining quality.

Desirable Skills

• Empower and encourage your diverse workforce, providing real opportunities for people to develop their strengths and innovate.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with a high level of emotional intelligence and the ability to remotely manage staff.
• Honest, with integrity and probity, and a personal demeanour that inspires confidence and loyalty.
• Understanding of the political context within which DWP operates.
• Excellent presentation and communication abilities.
• Solid understanding of equality and diversity, and how it impacts upon service delivery.
• Excellent planning, delegation, and organisational skills, as well as strong negotiating and influencing skills.
• Excellent collaboration skills, particularly as a DWP representative in national multi-agency meetings, requiring strategic decisions.
• Ability to speak Welsh (desirable if based in Wales).

Essential Criteria

Please note that the role requires National Security Vetting (NSV) to the level Security Check (SC). You can find more information at [insert link].

If you are successful in your application, you will need to attain SC clearance before you can take up post. This is mandatory and is in addition to completion of Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS).

The purpose of the NSV process is to provide a level of assurance about an individual's trustworthiness, integrity and reliability, and other factors that increase their vulnerability to corruption or risk of committing a security breach. It involves the investigation of an individual's background and circumstances to achieve this aim.

To be eligible to apply, you will need to have 5 years continual UK residency prior to the date of your application. In certain circumstances, a minimum period of 3 years may be considered with additional checks. If you do not have continual UK residency, we will not be able to proceed with your application, because you will be unable to obtain Security Clearance.

The application process will ask for personal details about you, your address history, previous relationships, your parents, your employment history, your financial circumstances, and details of any pending, spent or unspent convictions. This list is not exhaustive. Please view the [insert link] for more information.

If you require any further information, please contact the vacancy holder - the details are on the jobs portal through which you made your application.

If you are successful in your application, we recommend that you familiarise yourself with the NSV process and advise that you collate as much information as you can prior to starting your vetting application.

If you go on to attain Security Clearance, then you should be aware of the following:

Behaviours expected of you to maintain clearance.

Keeping your clearance is dependent upon maintaining good security behaviours. You must:

• Not take any illegal drugs.
• Always act with honesty and integrity and, if you are a Civil Servant, adhere to the [insert link].
• Always act in a way that will not put you at risk of being unduly influenced, exploited or blackmailed by people such as criminals and journalists.

In addition to the above, candidates who are successful will be asked about the following before we offer them a position.

Candidates must declare to the best of their knowledge:

• Any disciplinary finding of guilt / failure to meet the appropriate standard of conduct relating to their employment they have ever had.
• Any charge of a disciplinary offence / notification of a failure to meet the appropriate standards they have ever had where the case has not yet been concluded.
• Any past convictions, criminal findings, or police cautions, regardless of whether they are spent, they have ever had.
• The disclosure of this information will not automatically disbar the candidate from this role but we need to be aware of any event or issue which could impinge on the candidate's credibility if questioned in court.

What Checks are Involved?

• Successful completion of the Baseline Personnel Security Standard.
• Completion, by the individual, of a security questionnaire.
• A departmental/company records check which will include, for example personal files, staff reports, sick leave returns and security records.
• A check of both spent and unspent criminal records.
• A check of credit and financial history with a credit reference agency.
• A check of Security Service (MI5) records.
• Exceptionally, if there are any unresolved security concerns about the individual, or if recommended by the Security Service, the individual may also be interviewed.
• In the event of any unresolved financial concerns, the individual may also be required to complete a separate financial questionnaire so that a full review of personal finances can be carried out.

Checks may extend to third parties included on the security questionnaire.

Technical Knowledge:

To apply for this post, all candidates must already hold at least one of the following:

• Accredited Counter Fraud Investigations Program (ACFIP).
• Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA).
• An equivalent such as PINs (Professionalism in Security).
• SAO accreditation via the National Crime Agency.

Or be an experienced Criminal or Financial Investigator willing to work towards:

• Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA).

DWP endorses the use of apprenticeships and successful candidates meeting the Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA) eligibility criteria will be required to complete this learning programme and achieve the level 4 award (as a condition of their appointment).

CFIA includes face-to-face learning elements which the applicant needs to be aware could require them to travel outside of daily travelling times and incur overnight stays away from home.

Functional Skills at Level 2 for English and Mathematics are a requirement of all apprenticeships. Learners who are not already qualified to this level or who are unable to produce certificates verifying this will be required to complete functional skills assessments as part of their learning journey.

More details on what is involved in this learning can be found in the links below:

Candidates are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the requirements of this learning.

You must be willing to attain the appropriate accreditation to undertake the technical functions of the role. This may be attained through completion of a qualification or apprenticeship (see slide in candidate pack Accreditation and Functional Requirements).

Where a qualification is not achieved, it would not be possible to fulfil the role requirements and candidates will be redeployed, within CFCD where possible, following Workforce Management Policy. If you have questions about equivalent qualifications, please contact the vacancy holder.

Travel Requirements:

You are required to attend and oversee:

• Briefings and operational planning with external stakeholders such as Police, Lawyers and Barristers.
• Participate in high-profile arrests, search, and seizure exercises.
• Attendance at Court to support criminal or financial proceedings and hearings.
• Due to the nature of the role, this could be at any location nationally and during unsociable hours (both night/day and weekends). A Departmental vehicle OR hire car may be made available if you hold a full UK driving license.

Learning Requirements:

DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) is committed to ensuring their teams are a professional workforce.

Where entry routes are available, it is a professional requirement of Counter Fraud roles within DWP to attain, and retain, membership of the GCFP (Government Counter Fraud Profession) at Practitioner level.

After you have completed your learning routeway, this will entail undertaking an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience within your role to attain and/or retain practitioner level membership.

Further Support:

If you have questions or concerns at any point, please talk to the Vacancy Holder. It is much easier to discuss and address an issue at an early stage than after concerns have been raised.

Behaviours:

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits:

Alongside your salary, the Department for Work and Pensions contributes towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave - at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro rata for part-time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family-friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year's continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry-recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women's Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

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