Operational Leader- Scotland

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., 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.
If successful you will be assigned to one of the three different Team Leader roles, we have available.
+ Compliance Team Leader
+ Investigations Team Leader
+ Identity Team Leader
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., 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 GCFP (Government Counter Fraud Profession) 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.
In applying you will have indicated that you have read and fully understood the professional requirements for this Counter Fraud Officer role.
Successful candidates assigned to the Investigations Team Leader role will be required to undertake and obtain ACFIP (Accredited Counter Fraud In Professions) qualification or an Investigations Apprenticeship.
Microsoft Teams Events
We will be holding two Microsoft Teams events to let you know more about the roles. These will take place on the following dates:
Thursday 31/10/2024 10:00 to 11:00
Tuesday 05/11/2024 17:30 to 18:30
If you would like to join one of these events, please click on the following link HEO Operational Leader - Scotland Candidate Information Sessions and complete your details to register your interest. You will then be sent a MS Teams link 24hours before your requested date to enable you to join the event .
Those who attend a Microsoft Teams event may be contacted following the event for evaluation purposes to improve our service.

Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Leadership
+ Managing a Quality Service
+ Working Together
+ Making Effective Decisions, Communications will be electronic and/or by telephone therefore it is important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder. Telephone calls may show as a withheld number, it is important that you answer so that your interview can be confirmed.
Preparing for the interview
The interview will take approximately 45 minutes and will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions. A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation offering a more inclusive approach. The behaviour and strength-based questioning explores what you, the candidate, can and have done, but also your potential.
Behaviours
You will be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours listed above at level 3. To help you prepare and settle into the interview you will be sent the behavioural questions in advance of the interview. These questions should be treated as confidential and should not be shared. The interview panel may ask you other questions which will not be shared in advance, including follow-up questions on behaviours, and those about your strengths. An example of a behavioural question would be “Tell me about a time when you have had to deal with a difficult customer.”
It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:
+ WHO- What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or
+ STAR- What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Strengths
It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.
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.
If you withdraw your application at any stage, it will not be progressed any further., A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
DWP takes development seriously. Our aim is for our colleagues in these roles to be appropriately skilled and qualified – as determined by the business. To support this aim you may be required to undertake a work based qualification, which may be in the form of an apprenticeship, which will support you in further developing your professional knowledge and skills for this role and your future career development. The qualification can be undertaken in work time, you agree to take this job on the basis that you may be required to undertake a work based qualification; a candidate’s failure to participate fully in the professional programme, once appointed, may be a breach of their employment contract.
Important
If you hold a level 3 qualification (2 A levels or equivalent) then please bring your certificates with you to the interview if you have them.
Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms and conditions of employment, for example mobility, pay and allowances. Civil Servants who transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms and conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing.
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Reasonable Adjustment
At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.
We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:Contact Government Recruitment Service via DWPRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

+ Strong leadership and interpersonal skills.
+ A driven, energetic leader who is able to improve quality and consistency within our customer journey.
+ Strong collaboration and negotiation skills, with experience of influencing and managing effective stakeholder relationships.
+ Excellent communication, presentation and organisational skills.
+ Able to innovate and make sound business decisions at pace, through creative thinking and a flexible, agile outlook and approach.
+ Able to work at pace in an ambiguous and changing business landscape.
+ Able to lead remotely, promote inclusivity and hold a solid understanding of equality and diversity and how it impacts upon service delivery.
+ A high level of emotional intelligence, honesty, integrity and a personal demeanour that inspires confidence and loyalty.
+ Understanding of the political context within which DWP operates, and ability to set the vision for your teams, with an awareness of wider, long-term aims for CFCD.
+ Travel between sites may be required depending on business needs., + Tell us about 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.
+ Detail your experience in leading a team through a major change or a high-profile area of work within a tight deadline.
+ Demonstrate when you have had to work with a wide range of stakeholders to achieve a shared outcome.

Alongside your salary of £35,711, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £10,345 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
DWP 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 HASSRA 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., Working pattern
Part-time, part-year, term-time compressed hours and job-sharing working patterns within working hours will be considered but must meet business needs. We will do our best to let people with existing part time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line with current business needs. Please note that successful candidates with agreed alternative working patterns will be required to work full time for specific periods to complete all training and consolidation. Currently initial training can last for up to 6 weeks. Hybrid working will not commence until the training and consolidation period has been successfully completed.
Hours of work
The full-time working week in DWP is 37 hours. You may be required to work at any time between the hours of:
+ 7:45am and 8:00pm on any day between Monday to Friday, and
+ 8:45am to 5:00pm on Saturday.
Managers will agree working patterns with successful applicants within these business hours and review these as appropriate.
You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule.