Role: Head of Supervision services
Business: Office of Public Guardian (OPG)
Location: National
Grade: G6
Salary: National £71,381 - £80,419 London £75,674 - £85,257
Contract Type: Permanent
Minimum Hours: 24 hours
Organisational Overview
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) protects people in England and Wales who may not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves, such as about their health and finance. We are an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), set up in 2007 following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005.
OPG is responsible for registering lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and supervising deputies who are appointed by the Court of Protection.
OPG is a fantastic place to work offering a range of development opportunities. The OPG is a disability confident employer and is committed to developing a supportive and inclusive environment that reflects the diverse community we serve.
OPG is currently delivering an ambitious transformation programme. This will change the way we provide services and help us meet the growing needs of our users, partners and our stakeholders. It will make sure our users experience a better level of support and will help us to respond to the changing needs of society. Transformation will ensure we can better support adults at risk and create high-quality services that are accessible and affordable.
Team Overview
Operations is the largest directorate in OPG containing around 1500 people who undertake all the customer facing, frontline functions needed to ensure our customers can make and register lasting powers of attorney.
A key statutory function of OPG is to supervise and assure the activities of People assigned by the court of Protections as “deputies" - people who can make decisions on behalf of someone who doesn’t have the capacity to make those decisions independently and where no LPA is in place. Deputies are often family members and friends of the person protected by the court order but can also be professionals and local authorities. As such our work is diverse in nature involving both supporting people to understand and deliver their obligations and also assuring that deputies are acting in the best interests of the person they are acting for.
Duties and Responsibilities
What we are looking for
OPG is looking for an exceptional leader who can inspire and transform our supervision Services function. As both demand for our services and the complexity of our caseload continues to rise we need to both lead the business to be ever more open, efficient and service driven. We also intend to undertake a fundamental review of our policies and processes to ensure our Supervision service is fit for the future. The successful candidate will therefore need to be a great operational leader who is also able to successfully create and deliver change in a complex environment.
Responsibilities of the role
Lead a team of around 300 people and support colleagues to deliver on a set of demanding key performance metrics to high quality and efficiency standards.
Be a role model for inclusive listening leadership in line with OPG values ensuring colleagues can bring their whole selves to work while delivering best in class public services.
Lead and represent Supervision services in senior forums (including the Court of Protection, Ministry of justice and legal and policy Committees) in an authentic credible and persuasive manner to ensure the policies and processes of those partners integrate as well as possible with those we deliver to ensure our customers receive the best service possible.
Consider, develop and deliver new ways of delivering our supervision services and ensure that those outcomes are successfully reported, and measured to high quality and efficiency standards.
Commission and supervise the work to review what the future shape of Supervision services should be, working with colleagues across the business and externally to ensure that we both have a vision of what that future state will be and plans in place ( target Q4 26/27) to implement and deliver those plans in the most effective and efficient means possible.
Communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels to ensure that our people feel informed and supported and senior stakeholders including OPG executive Committee and Board have confidence in our plans for change.
Be an effective, engaged, member of the wider Operations senior leadership team ensuring join-up, support and challenge so that Operations is a cohesive whole operating together.
Agreed Expectations
The successful candidate will be expected to work from their base location on a weekly basis in line with current Civil Service requirements, outside of any reasonable adjustments.
You will also be expected to travel to our key sites in Nottingham and Birmingham on a regular basis.
Skills & Qualifications
Essential Skills
A strong track record of leading operational service delivery in a complex environment involving diverse stakeholders and case and policy complexity.
The ability to deliver ever improving operational performance while transforming the business to be ready for the future.
Evidenced experience of leading a business area at senior level through change with implemented positive outcomes.
You will be a confident decision maker with the ability to navigate difficult legal and operational choices by gathering the right data and insight to inform decision making.
Personal resilience and the credibility to both challenge and support own team and wider stakeholders in creating and delivering the new way forward for supervision services.
Strong network building and collaboration skills to both advocate on behalf of Supervision services and OPG and actively listen and respond to feedback from key stakeholders.
Strong communication skills with the ability to flex your approach to meet the communication needs of colleagues at all levels.
Desirable Skills
The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.
Experience of working in an environment dealing either customer fraud/compliance or risk management would be an advantage but is not required
Application process
This recruitment will follow the Civil Service Success Profile process. Candidates will be expected to complete the following as part of the application:
Statement of Suitability of no more than 1000 words, to demonstrate your experience against the essential and desirable skills required for this role.
Behaviour statement of no more than 250 words against the following Behaviours, at Level G6:
Leadership
In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead Behaviour:
Leadership
Interview Process
If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview which will use the Civil Service Success Profiles. At interview, candidates should expect questions on:
Strengths relevant to the role
The following Behaviours at Level G6:
Leadership (Lead)
Making Effective Decisions
Changing and Improving
Working Together
All interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.
Reasonable Adjustments
At OPG we consider all applications on the basis of merit and want you to feel able to demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. If you require any reasonable adjustments for any aspect of the selection process, do not hesitate to get in contact with us.
As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. If you are applying for a role within OPG and would like to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the selection process.
For further information on benefits of working for OPG, such as our Flexible Working Policy and a FAQ, please check the candidate information pack attached to this advert.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, we may offer you an alternative role at the same or lower grade should one be available.