
Role Title	Deputy Head of Operations / Senior Operations Manager

Job family group	Operational Delivery	Job family/ies	TBC	Grade	7	Status	For internal use

Role Purpose (250 words max)	The G7 will lead operational delivery and be responsible for high quality service provision (for one or more services across the region) and complex operations, which may include those delivered within our high profile and larger site(s). Deputising and supporting the Head of Operations, the role holder will have considerable influence and responsibility over service provision within the region. The role holder will provide a high level of support to the Head of Operations in the operational management of services across the region. A key part of this role will involve creating, developing, and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders and managing their varying and complex needs. This role has significant people leadership responsibility, and will provide clear strategic direction and focus, leading by example, and visibly championing and leading change which delivers results and improved performance across the region. The role holder will create and enhance effective working relationships to support the local judiciary and ensure hearings operate effectively and efficiently, supporting the Head(s) of Operations and representing them as required. The scope of the role is significant, contributing substantially to the achievement of business objectives across their region. The role holder will promote inclusive leadership, champion our values and behaviours and foster a culture that values innovation and creativity, ensuring everyone feels valued, supported, challenged and capable.

Key Accountabilities (600 words max)
Be responsible for leadership and day-to-day operational delivery of service provision of one or more services across the region, supporting and enabling the head of operations in the delivery of operational priorities and objectives and contributing significantly to the achievement of key national and regional business plan objectives. Take responsibility for active decision making on strategic, operational, resourcing and people management issues, which will include but not be limited to service provision within your region/ area/ site(s), maintenance of the site(s), health and safety/governance requirements, incident control and management, business continuity, information assurance, stakeholder and media relations, and the resolution of issues/ conflicts. Maintain a strategic focus across the service(s) delivered across your area/ region, realigning priorities where necessary and assigning responsibility for action against plans to ensure efficient and consistent service delivery and performance, including management and achievement of KPIs and compliance with regulatory requirements and the Service Assurance Framework. Confidently lead, manage and inspire our people to deliver high quality service and ensure effective support is in place for Digital Support Officers and Building Champions, enabling them to carry out their additional duties. Take responsibility for leading, advocating and supporting change, implementing and supporting delivery of the corporate strategy within location(s)/site(s). Identify service improvements, bringing insight and understanding of performance to the Heads of Operations. Build and maintain an effective partnership and manage relationships with staff and colleagues across functional boundaries between Courts and Tribunals, Courts and Tribunals Service Centres (CTSCs), National Business Centres (NBCs), Criminal Fines Collection and Enforcement (CFCE) and Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) to ensure positive user experience for public and professional Courts and Tribunal users and ensure support for the judiciary. Manage user expectations including those of senior stakeholders, professional bodies, the public and court users, making decisions on operational issues. Build and maintain strong and effective relationships with the judiciary, internal and external stakeholders including user groups and representative organisations, at all levels across high-profile sites, deputising for and representing the Head of Operations when required. Be responsible for resource planning in the short, medium term and the longer term, predicting and preventing issues and maintaining effective service provision. Be flexible and efficient in deploying resources and people across multiple sites and jurisdictions to match hearing demand and changing operating requirements, re-prioritising as necessary to meet business needs. Build, manage and maintain effective relationships with judiciary working across the site(s) within sphere of responsibility as their senior point of contact. Work with Leadership Judges to agree and ensure the required level of administrative support is provided to the judiciary to enable hearings to operate effectively and efficiently. Be responsible for the operation of Courts and Tribunals business, including that across our more complex site(s) and the key escalation point for issues that cannot be resolved at the level below, as well as the link between the Head(s) of Operations and the wider operation. As the final decision maker, review recommendations of other people managers to ensure adherence and compliance with HR policies for all staff across the site(s). Create a culture that reflects our MoJ Shared Values and supports innovation and creativity, to develop new ways of working and improve efficiency of operations, providing insight to Heads of Operations for onward sharing. Communicate business objectives into context for teams across the site, provide direction and help people understand how the work they do significantly contributes to the bigger picture and regional attainment of national objectives. Identify current and future capability needs, support succession planning and career development of our people, equipping them with skills, knowledge and resources to effectively carry out their role, valuing/rewarding contributions as appropriate. Embed organisational values and behaviours, ensuring wellbeing, inclusion, diversity and equality is at the forefront of all people activities. Perform any other duties as required to support the Head of Operations, business need and HMCTS objectives.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience (500 words max)
The Deputy Head of Operations/Senior Operations Manager will have; Excellent leadership and relationship management skills with proven ability and experience of delivering through others, leading and managing operational teams in accordance with appropriate management practices policy and strategy. Considerable experience of operational delivery on a large scale, across a range of services and with significant complexity. Experience of delivering complex change within an operational environment, leading the delivery and development of a quality service for a large area of functional activity. Considerable experience of leading and developing teams, including the ability to lead others through significant change, uncertainty and ambiguity and to inspire, manage and motivate teams. Foster enthusiasm to improve performance and deliver targets valuing/rewarding contributions as appropriate. Excellent communication and customer service skills to meet the needs of our end users, reflecting the diverse needs of our customer base from professional justice partners to vulnerable victims and witnesses and experiencing of engaging effectively and influencing senior managers and stakeholders. A demonstrable ability to build relationships and communicate at all levels; upwards to senior leaders and with all staff within area of responsibility. The ability to assess performance and anticipate strategic organisational issues, to analyse and interpret complex and possibly conflicting evidence and data, and to work collaboratively with others to set and review targets on performance. Experience of resolving and responding to complex problems, effectively and swiftly enacting solution with limited supervision or guidance. A demonstrable ability to use insight gained to inform effective decision making, contributing to future strategic business planning activities and supporting improvement activity.

Problem Solving and Decision Making (300 words max)
The Deputy Head of Operations/Senior Operations Manager will; Assess locational performance to anticipate strategic organisational issues, drawing evidence from multiple sources and drawing out key insights to understand workload fluctuations and variances and to identify where improvements are needed. Analyse and interpret complex and possibly conflicting evidence and data to make sound judgment on the most appropriate solutions that take into account the views of important stakeholders. Use own judgement to resolve sensitive/complex problems and or complaints as they arise, engaging personally with the key stakeholders to ensure constructive outcomes and exercising appropriate discretion approaches and taking the necessary mitigating actions. The Deputy Head of Operations/Senior Operations Manager will be responsible for reviewing potential solutions and mitigations referred by Courts and Tribunals Support Managers and for making the final decision. Identify and implement workable solutions to immediate significant issues as they arise at a Court or Tribunal on the day of a hearing. Take steps to resolve complex issues involving organisational interdependencies, collaborate with C&T Managers and Heads of Operations to influence and develop strategic solutions and improve overall service performance. Develop innovative approaches to maintaining and improving service delivery, balancing public user, professional user and judicial needs in a complex and challenging operating environment, identifying and evaluating risks to service delivery.

Management of Resources (250 words max)
The Deputy Head of Operations/Senior Operations Manager will; Be responsible for facilitating the implementation of the business plan, managing and coordinating performance in relation to service delivery, this may include that delivered across our larger, more complex site(s), managing a wide portfolio of activity within the span of control, contributing significantly to the region achieving it’s performance goals and driving user experience and satisfaction. Directly lead a team of Court and Tribunals Support Managers and indirectly lead a team of Team Leaders, as well as a large number of administrative and in-hearing support staff and be responsible for managing any associated budgets. Ensure that the significant amount of people and resources for which you are responsible are managed and deployed appropriately to maximise hearing, front of house user support and case support capacity to achieve HMCTS objectives. There will be a requirement to effectively prioritise resources across the site/ location to maximise efficiency of the operation and effectively manage risk. Enable a culture that reflects our MoJ Shared Values and supports innovation and appropriate risk-taking to drive continuous improvement.
Autonomy (250 words max)
The role carries significant autonomy, particularly on driving all activity that is needed on the day of a hearing. The role holder will have considerable freedom to set aims and objectives for the work in their area, working within strategic and wider operational plans and will be accountable for the performance of their high-profile site(s). Provide instructions and approaches for others to follow, aligned with HMCTS culture, regularly reacting and responding to high pressured situations in a fast-paced environment. Being alert to and mitigating against reputational risks, escalating only those serious incidents which are outside policy are area or level of authority to the relevant Head(s) of Operations, for example on issues of a sensitive nature or which could have serous resource, policy or reputational implications. The role will be expected to make decisions and take appropriate action without referral and, because there is limited direct supervision, the role requires a high level of self-awareness of when referral or clearance of any reply or action is required and when not. The role operates within a broad but defined set of policies and procedures and the application of these will need to be pragmatic and situation specific rather than narrow, reflecting the challenging, and complex activity and ensuring the effective delivery of operational services across this exceptional site. The nature of this unique role means the Deputy Head of Operations/Senior Operations Manager will act independently on day-to-day issues and only refer to more senior grades those issues which have serious policy or resource implications.

Key Relationships and Contacts (300 words max)
A key part of this role will involve creating, developing, and maintaining relationships with significant stakeholders. Internal Judiciary - engagement with Leadership Judges on site, dealing with daily issues at Courts and Tribunals centre, escalating exceptional incidents to the Head of Operations and agreeing support requirements for the local Leadership Judges, regularly reviewing support requirements to ensure effectiveness. Legal Operations - engagement with Legal Team Managers and Deputy Justices’ Clerks, ensuring administrative and in-hearing support is provided to maintain the smooth running of hearings. Heads of Operations - providing compelling advice and recommendations to ensure business needs are anticipated and met. Deputy Heads of Operations/Senior Operations Manager and Courts and Tribunals Managers across the region - be part of a network of Courts and Tribunals Managers, sharing best practice, collectively solving problems and support on business matters to the wider regions. CTSCs - ensuring crossover of relevant workflow with other managers, teams, e.g., complaints, to support the effective delivery of the end-to-end user journey and the delivery of initiatives and improvement activity. External Justice Partners - build relationships with professional court users, managing expectations and influencing and informing key stakeholders in relation to achieving HMCTS business objectives, representing the Head of operations in effective engagement with regional/internal stakeholders, the legal community, and external stakeholders. Third Sector Providers- collaborate with Third Sector Providers, Court and Tribunal users and internal colleagues, including Head(s) of Operations to ensure third sector providers have all information required to develop a robust offering and support for users. FM contractors - negotiations and discussions re oversight of security/estates, etc relating to support functions Media - cases heard at these locations will include some of the most serious and complex within our justice system and those attracting heightened media interest. The Deputy Head of Operations/Senior Operations Manager will be expected to lead most media arrangements, only obtaining professional support and advice from MoJ and/or Judicial Office press offices when required.