About the job

Job summary

The Shared Services Supplier Management Team (SSSMT) is responsible for the operational supplier relationship management of 8 outsourced contracts that provides DWP’s Finance, HR and Payroll Shared Service (SSCL Contract) and a suite of 7 Business Travel outsourced contracts. The team provide on behalf of DWP:

• A centre of excellence in supplier management to deliver the required service outcomes and performance standards, optimising value for money and supplier partnerships and working across boundaries to minimise risk and ensure the smooth functioning of an effective supply chain to line managers, employees and professional end users of the services.
• A means to challenge both supplier and employee behaviours through application of performance management techniques to ensure service delivery fulfils contractual/framework agreement obligations.
• A mechanism to provide robust project management disciplines to manage the procurement and implementation of replacement contracts and to ensure the safe exit from contracts when they expire.

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 roles available will be based in:

• Birmingham – 3 Arena Central, B1 2AX.
• Blackpool – Peel Park, Brunel Way, FY4 5ES.
• Leeds – Quarry House, Quarry Hill, West Yorkshire, LS2 7UA.
• Manchester – 2 St Peter's Square, M2 3AA.
• Newcastle – Benton Park View, NE98 1YX.
• Sheffield – Hartshead Square, South Yorkshire, S1 2FD.

In line with business need, travel will be required for the purposes of meeting suppliers, stakeholders and team members in person.

Job description

As head of SSSMT you will be responsible for:

• Developing and maintaining pro-active and effective relationships with suppliers, DWP and external stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of outsourced services, utilising and working in collaboration with DWP subject matter experts to address and resolve performance escalations and concerns and reconcile conflicting positions between suppliers, stakeholders when conflicts arise.
• Oversee the holistic assessment of contractual and framework obligations, including service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs), their measurement and the reporting regime between the suppliers and DWP to ensure required service outcomes are achieved and any service failures addressed.
• Monitor supplier performance, ensuring that management information accurately reflects agreed contractual and framework obligations and that end user experience reflects reported performance.
• Provide incident support & issue resolution by managing escalations on behalf of the business (or supplier) ensuring appropriate stakeholder and supplier engagement, collaboration and partnering at all stages.
• To consider future business needs and develop strategic plans with both stakeholders, partners, and suppliers to ensure the continued delivery of effective services through continuous improvement and effective change control.
• To work with other Government departments and framework authorities in the development of specifications for future contract/framework requirements to meet DWP needs.
• To ensure DWP service continuity by working in partnership with relevant DWP suppliers, stakeholders, framework authorities and leading projects to ensure effective commercial strategies are in place to ensure the timeous replacement or extension and then safe exit from the DWP SSCL and Business Travel contracts as and when they expire.

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.

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

Person specification

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

• Lead Criteria: Excellent communication skills to engage a range of stakeholders and suppliers, securing their engagement and commitment to achieve the required aims and objectives to deliver better outcomes for the Department.
• Demonstrate the professional and personal credibility to operate as a senior leader and advisor and generate confidence in stakeholders and team members.
• Experience in improving the performance of processes and systems in terms of accuracy, security, efficiency, and value for money.
• Experience of leading, collaborating and applying strong communication skills with a wide range business and corporate stakeholders in DWP, across Government and/or the private sector.
• Experience of using strong negotiation and influencing skills to achieve positive outcomes.
• A Professional qualification is not necessary but an understanding of delivering HR/Payroll, Finance and key business processes via an outsourced contract is desirable.

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%

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 1250 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: 

"Excellent communication skills to engage a range of stakeholders and suppliers, securing their engagement and commitment to achieve the required aims and objectives to deliver better outcomes for the Department.".

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a video interview.

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.

Please note that you are not required to produce behaviour-based examples in the content of your Personal Statement as these are not assessed at sift. 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 are successful at the sift stage, you will be invited to a video interview using MS Teams, where you shall be assessed on your experience against the Behaviours listed below

• Leadership (lead behaviour)
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture

Assessment Process

This interview will take place via Microsoft Teams and should take approximately between 40 - 50 minutes. It will consist of the following:

Blended Interview

You will be asked Behaviour questions.

A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation at interview offering a more inclusive approach. 

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?

Sifting is expected to start week commencing 8th July 2024.

Interviews are expected to start week commencing 29th July 2024.

Please note that the dates for sift, interviews, and results are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change.

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. 

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.

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

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.