About the job

Job summary

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is one of the largest Government Departments, with an ambitious and challenging agenda to deliver welfare reform to all aspects of benefit payments.

The Payment Systems team within BPSG operates as the Expert Domain to safeguard the Departments benefit payment and accounting system infrastructure, in the interest of all its users and customers whilst maintaining the integrity of the system.

The successful candidate requires the ability and flexibility to support various business critical roles. 

Benefit Payment Systems Group specialise in pre and post payment resolution, including resolving issues and exceptions for bank payments, third party deductions, control of payment files and other complications arising from the payment process. Our customers include DWP, Other Government Departments, Banks, Building Societies, and the public.

Places for Growth and Social Mobility

As part of the Places for Growth Programme, we are committed to delivering a more geographically diverse Civil and Public Service that will better serve the public and ministers. As part of this initiative, we are continuously reviewing how we recruit into each location.

Postings

Posting will be made in merit order by location, this will be based on the geographical requirement at the time. A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location. Successful candidates will be posted to a specific role and will have the opportunity to express a preference as part of the selection process, although final decisions may come down to business need, and the skills and development needs of candidates. Standard promotion rules will apply, and successful candidates will be placed on the pay scale and terms and conditions of DWP. The role available will be based in:

• Blackpool – Peel Park, Brunel Way, FY4 5ES.

Job description

Candidates can expect to be involved in the following activities:

• Professional control and review of the Departments payment and accounting system user access controls, implementing our core audit responsibility and maintaining 100% accurate security documentation for our specialist, incompatible, and general, user access roles.
• Check and reconcile benefit payment files, ensuring reporting issues are escalated through the incident management process to successful resolution.
• Provide support, guidance, and expert advice to benefit processing areas of DWP that utilise the departments payment and accounting systems. Produce and issue bulletins to client group contacts and field staff.
• Supporting the Bank Holiday payment advancing process to avoid late customer payments.
• Administration of RBS Bankline ensuring effective payment controls are in place via bi-annual reviews.
• Regularly reviewing teams Business Continuity Plans to ensure all Priority 1 key tasks are captured and mitigated.
• Work closely with our Sponsor Banks to address issues and support the wider business.
• Impact technical changes across the teams work processes.
• Supporting the annual testing of the departments payment contingency systems.

An understanding of the payment cycle process and knowledge and experience of Oracle based applications would be beneficial. 

Person specification

Candidates should be able to demonstrate the Essential Criteria as outlined below:

• Ability to critically analyse processes including data, to identify areas for action, resolving issues and making suggestions for improvement in order to deliver good customer service. - LEAD CRITERIA
• Proven experience of managing a range of competing tasks and demands within a team with a proven ability to communicate effectively across a wide range of stakeholders in varying methods.
• Proven experience of working flexibly within a team, changing organisation and adapt as needed to support business needs.
• Ability to demonstrate the use of effective team-working to identify areas for improvement, using business knowledge to support sound, evidence-based decisions to influence change.
• Good level of IT literacy with a working knowledge of Microsoft Office.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Location

Applicants should apply for suitable posts where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.   

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed. 

Hybrid working

This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need, but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Written Application

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a 1,250 word personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. 

Your Personal Statement should demonstrate how you meet the Essential Criteria set out within the Person Specification.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the following lead criteria: 

Ability to critically analyse processes including data, to identify areas for action, resolving issues and making suggestions for improvement in order to deliver good customer service.

Candidates who pass this will progress to a full sift on the remaining Essential Criteria.

Stage 1 Assessment - Sift:

At sift, we will assess your application by using your Personal Statement only. To be successful, you must demonstrate your experience matching the Essential Criteria listed in the personal specification above.

Applications will be sifted and scored based on the information supplied in your Personal Statement and entered as one overall score within the results.

Stage 2 Assessment - Interview:

If you have been successful in sift stage, you will be invited to a face-to-face interview at Peel Park, Blackpool. You will need to produce evidence of ID at the interview.

You will be assessed on your experience against the Civil Service Behaviours listed in the advert. 

The interview

This will take place via a face-to-face interview at Peel Park, Blackpool and should take approximately between 40 - 50 minutes. It will consist of the following:

You will be asked Behaviour based questions. The Behaviour based questioning explores what the candidate can and has done, but also their potential.

An example of a Behavioural question would be.

Tell me about a time when you’ve 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 the task/work was,
• How you approached the task/work/situation and
• 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?

Further Information

Find out more about Working for DWP

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to DWP from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. 

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

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.

Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & 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.

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.