About the job

Job summary

Here at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives. 

Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you’re thinking of joining us, there’s never been a more exciting time. 

We have over 3,500 staff who are based in 20 offices across the UK. 

The Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service is one of the Government’s key digital portfolios, enabling citizens to register to vote online. The IERDS has grown considerably with the introduction of the Elections Act 2022, bringing the total services within it to 8. The portfolio is a Tier A GMPP which is categorised as Tier 2 on the Critical National Infrastructure scale, and containing two of the Top 75 digital services across government.

We are looking for an organised, adaptable, and motivated individual with good customer service skills and demonstrated technical understanding to assume responsibility of the new elements of the IERDS – this role will primarily have lead responsibility for both the existing Choose My PCC service, and the EU VCR service that is about to launch in May 2024.

As an Operational Service Delivery Manager, you’ll manage day-to-day running of the services and work with the team to identify opportunities to improve the service so that it meets user needs, is efficient and sustainable, and supports Ministers’ priorities for change. You’ll work closely with the Technical/Digital Delivery Leads to organise and plan work, liaising with technical colleagues, policy leads and key stakeholders.

We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work. 

Find out more about what it's like to work in a digital, data and technology role at DLUHC including our culture, ways of working, career progression and staff benefits. You can also read the DLUHC Digital blog to learn about the work we're doing. 

Job description

As an Operational Service Delivery Manager, you will:

• manage the day-to-day running of the CMPCC and EUVCR services using agile methods
• ensure elector and local authority enquiries and other correspondence relevant to the IER Digital Service are responded to in a timely manner
• ensure enhanced service support arrangements are effectively implemented in advance of major electoral registration events
• work with the team to identify and deliver enhancements to the service, leading an internal multi-disciplinary squad of product, policy and delivery colleagues
• able to deputise for the Technical/Digital Delivery Lead when required
• support on product, risk management and contingency planning
• co-ordinate the accurate production of statistics and data for CMPCC and EUVCR for relevant colleagues and partners as required
• line management responsibility of colleagues at HEO/EO level
• prioritise and manage multiple incidents and issues at one time
• represent the services at relevant governance meetings
• be able to support the day-to-day running of the other services in the IERDS portfolio (Register to Vote, Voter Authority Certificate, Online Absent Voting, EROP and Overseas Electors) as dictated by business needs
• assume SDM responsibilities for new services as appropriate, subsequent to the deprecation of the EUVCR service in 2025

Person specification

We will use the essential criteria below to evaluate you during the recruitment process. Make sure your CV and cover letter details how you meet the criteria.

As an Operational Service Delivery Manager, you'll have experience of:

Agile and Lean practices

You can identify and compare the best processes or delivery methods to use. You can recognise when something does not work and encourage a mindset of experimentation. You can adapt and reflect, be resilient and have the ability to see outside of the process. You can use a blended approach depending on the context. You can measure and evaluate outcomes.

Communication skills

You can listen to the needs of technical and business stakeholders and interpret them. You can manage stakeholders’ expectations and be flexible. You are capable of proactive and reactive communication. You can facilitate difficult discussions within the team.

Life-cycle perspective

You recognise when to move from one stage of a product life cycle to another. You can ensure the team is working towards the appropriate service standards for the relevant phase. You can manage delivery products and services at different phases.

Maintaining delivery momentum

You can facilitate the delivery flow of a team, managing the pace and tempo. You can actively address internal and external risks, issues and dependencies including where ownership exists outside the team.

Making a process work

You can identify and challenge organisational processes of increasing complexity and those processes that are unnecessarily complicated. You know how to guide teams through the implementation of a new process.

Planning

You understand the environment and can prioritise the most important or highest value tasks. You can use data to inform planning. You can manage complex internal and external dependencies. You can provide delivery confidence. You can remove blockers or impediments that affect plans and can develop a plan for difficult situations.

Team dynamics and collaboration

You know how to bring people together to form a motivated team. You can help to create the right environment for a team to work in and can empower them to deliver. You can recognise and deal with issues. You can facilitate the best team make-up depending on the situation.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,732, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £10,457 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

We are for everyone 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role. 

We are for everyone 

CV and Cover Letter Declaration 

We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment. 

Please remove references to your: 

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. 

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors. 

At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing: 

Experience 

Technical Ability 

In your Covering Letter, please include why you are interested in this specific role, and what transferable experience you have from previous roles. This should be no longer than 1 page.

 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of behaviour and strength based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates. The following behaviours will be tested:

. Changing and Improving

. Making Effective Decisions

. Working Together

. Delivering at Pace

The Vacancy Manager has also requested that any candidates invited for interview will be asked to prepare a presentation. Details on the topic/focus of the presentation will be given within the invitations to interview. The presentation will look to assess the ability success profile.

 

In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

Experience: Experience will be tested against the essential criteria in the person specification at sift

Technical: Technical will be tested against the essential criteria in the person specification at sift

Strength: Strength based questions will be asked at interview

Behaviours: The following behaviours will be assessed at interview - Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Working Together, Delivering at Pace

Ability: The presentation will look to assess the ability success profile

We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs: 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign. 

SEO salary 

• The salary for this role is £42,208 (London) or £38,732 (National).
• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.

Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.   

Benefits 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 

Any move to DLUHC 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. 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

Location 

• London
• Wolverhampton
• Leeds
• Birmingham
• Manchester
• Bristol

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

Sift and Interview dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place from Monday 22/04/2024 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

Reserve List 

In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Due to the length of time CTC checks can take, our HR Shared Services team will contact reserve list candidates for London based roles to commence CTC checks. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

SC (Security Check): 

Important note 

Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 

Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the Security Check – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Security Check (SC).  

Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database. 

 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.