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General Information

Salary
£34,140 - £37,105
Working Pattern
Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Vacancy Approach
External
Location
Birmingham
Region
West Midlands
Closing Date
08-May-2025
Post Type
Permanent
Civil Service Grade
HEO
Number of jobs available
1
Reserve List
12 Months
Job ID
5273

Descriptions & requirements

Job description
Job Title & Grade:     

Team Manager – HEO     

Contract Type:     

Permanent
 
Salary range (depending on location):     

National - £34,140 to £37,105
 
Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.
 
Location:     

Birmingham
 
Directorate:     

Case Management     Team:     Civil Customer Service Team
 
Working Pattern:     

The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely (as part of hybrid working), part time or as part of a job share etc.
 
If you are applying for a part time role, please note that in order to meet business demands we need cover for a minimum of 28 hours and to cover 4 days of the week, one of the working days must include a Friday.
 
Reporting to:     

Head of Civil Contact Centre

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We are responsible for operationally administering the legal aid fund to provide criminal and civil legal aid advice to people in England and Wales.   

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service.  

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain, and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.  

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.

The LAA’s goal is to build an organisation that is open and inclusive and truly values and celebrates the diversity of its workforce. One that reflects and understands the needs of the diverse society we serve. This is regardless of social background, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, beliefs, disabilities or long-term illness or caring responsibilities.

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long-term condition (for example dyslexia, anxiety, autism, a mobility condition or hearing loss) and need us to make any reasonable adjustments to support you through the recruitment process, please let us know by adding the information to the applications system or emailing LAARecruitment@justice.gov.uk after you have applied so that we can discuss options with you.
 
Case Management

The Case Management Directorate is the operational delivery function of the LAA, and our staff ensure that each year in excess of 500,000 new clients are able to access the justice they require, and that their providers are fairly remunerated for the delivery of the legal aid. With staff based across multiple sites we deliver services for those facing both criminal and civil legal problems including family, immigration, mental health, housing, and exceptional funding cases.  
Civil Customer Service Team

The Civil Customer Service Team work closely with providers and clients receiving legal aid to resolve customer service-related matters. The team deal with these queries via telephone, webchat, email, our LAA systems and social media. The administration of the LAAs complaints process is managed within the team and we offer technical IT support to external users of LAA systems. We also process urgent casework matters and support other case management activities.

Working in the Customer Service Team is a fast paced, contact centre environment with new challenges each day. The team are supportive, collaborative and driven to achieve our key performance indicators whilst ensuring our customers are at the heart of our day-to-day decision making.

Job Summary

The role will principally be to manage a busy, multi-site contact centre in real time whilst effectively leading a team to meet Key Performance Indicators. The analysis of performance statistics will ensure daily performance measure are met. You’ll develop and support the contact centre team to ensure an effectively engaged team on a daily basis.
 
Key Responsibilities:

  • Planning of internal resources to ensure all business targets are met, including individual quality and productivity targets, collating and analysing data to inform decisions, reporting to the Head of Civil Contact Centres, escalating issues as they emerge and help to find effective solutions
  • Analyse performance management data to identify key issues and ensure appropriate action is taken to address areas of concern
  • Work with digital colleagues to ensure seamless service of our technology products.
  • Undertake succession planning for the team recognising the potential in team members and encouraging them to achieve their potential including conducting 1-2-1 meetings, touch point meetings, absence reviews, mentoring, coaching, setting objectives and developing training plans
  • Setting and communicating a clear direction for the team in relation to the Agency’s aims, objectives, purpose and vision to ensure understanding and engagement in the vision
  • Ensuring that internal processes are fit for purpose and making recommendations for improvement, showing and awareness of risks inherent in internal processes, including Health and Safety and Information Awareness. Ensure risks are logged, relevant managers made aware and appropriate action taken.
  • Ensure that performance meetings are held in line with the MoJ process; ensuring conversations are meaningful for both individuals and the LAA, facilitating constructive discussions and providing constructive and honest feedback on performance
  • Take responsibility for the effective management of poor performance and absence issues on the team from both a team and individual perspective, understanding and addressing any issues as they arise in line with MoJ policies and procedures
  • Take a leading role in the recruitment and selection of staff locally ensuring campaigns are run in line with MoJ Recruitment guidelines
  • Encourage, handle and respond to feedback from staff, customers, partners and suppliers to develop and improve services.
  • Ensure actions are completed against team action plans arising out of the annual People Survey and engage team in actions
  • Promote equality & diversity, treating everyone fairly and actively, encouraging ideas and contributions from all members of your team and across the case management teams
  • Communicate effectively with people from across the business to foster effective and productive working relationships with all stakeholders.                                                     
  • Take a leading role in team meetings, encouraging the sharing of views, ideas and solutions.
  • Supporting local initiatives in your regional office. 
 Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills     
  • Experience of working within an operational environment and setting SMART objectives 
  • Experience of observing behaviours and performance and giving constructive feedback 
  • Effective communication skills both written and verbal
  • Established problem solving skills with ability to achieve positive outcomes 
  • Experience of supporting Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace 
Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills    
  • Experience of developing others  
  • IT Literate – a good knowledge of Microsoft office
  • Ability to work with minimal supervision and as part of a team
  • Knowledge of information assurance 
  • Health & Safety Awareness
Person Specification    
  • This role is suitable for someone who enjoys working in a leadership role in a fast-paced operational background
Assessment approach  
Application Process  

To apply please provide a statement of suitability showing how you meet the essential criteria in no more than 1000 words.
 
Your statement should demonstrate your ability to do all of the essential criteria listed, using examples can help strengthen your application.
 
Please note we do not require a CV.
 
A 45 minute webinar is scheduled on 1 May 2025 starting at 3:30pm to allow applicants to discuss the role further. If you are interested in attending, please register your interest within this link.  

Interview / assessment Process

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview / assessment centre in person or via Microsoft Teams where you will be assessed against the following: 
  • Some or all strengths relevant to the role
  • Some or all of the following Behaviours: 
  • Delivering at Pace
  • Developing Self & Others
  • Leadership
  • Making Effective Decisions
Delivering at Pace
  • show a positive approach to keeping the whole team’s efforts focused on the top priorities
  • promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation
  • ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively
  • regularly monitor your own and team’s work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks
  • act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance
  • allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility
Developing Self & Others
  • identify capability gaps for yourself and your team
  • ensure development objectives are set and achieved to address any gaps and enable delivery of current and future work
  • take time to coach, mentor and develop other colleagues to support succession planning
  • promote inclusiveness by respecting different personal needs in the team and use these to develop others
  • reflect on your own work, continuously seek and act on feedback to improve own and team’s performance
 Leadership
  • ensure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and timeframes
  • take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all
  • consider the impacts of own and team’s activities on stakeholders and end users
  • role-model commitment and satisfaction with role
  • recognise and praise the achievements of others to drive positivity within the team
  • effectively manage conflict, misconduct and non-inclusive behaviour, raising with senior managers where appropriate
Making Effective Decisions
  • understand your own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate
  • analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions
  • invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making
  • display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular
  • consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered
  • present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks
  • Your Experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy - Diversity is the presence of difference, this can include one or more of the protected characteristics (Gender, Age, Race, Disability etc.) or it can be about working patterns, whether we like to jump into a task or reflect on it before acting. Inclusion is how we welcome, value, and celebrate diversity, giving everyone a voice, tapping into ideas, and enabling everyone to be themselves at work and achieve their potential.
For this grade/ role we would expect the candidate to demonstrate understanding of the terms Diversity and Inclusion and be able to explain why they are important to them, their team and to where they work. We would also expect examples of action they have taken (in or outside of work) to embrace diversity (e.g., increasing understanding) or improve inclusion at a team or group level.  
 
Shortlisting is planned for week commencing 12th May 2025
I
nterviews are planned for week commencing 2nd June 2025

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact – Rachael Pratt (Rachael.pratt@justice.gov.uk)

Additional Information

A 45 minute webinar is scheduled on 1 May 2025 starting at 3:30pm to allow applicants to discuss the role further. If you are interested in attending, please register your interest within this link. 

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised role: all successful candidates will be appointed to the nearest viable office nearest to their home postcode and on its respective pay scale.  This will be at either a HQ building (subject to desk allocation, a Justice Collaboration Centre (JCC) or a Justice Satellite Office (JSO) – See Map. All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity). 

For current MoJ employees, your base location will need to be changed to the nearest viable office (to your home postcode), either at a HQ building, JCC or JSO within the National Office Network and moved its location’s respective pay scale (any legacy arrangements/locations will need to be amended).

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.

All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Support

  • A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
  • Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
  • For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www.GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
  • Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
  • Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the TBS Recruitment Enquiries Team.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ is committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ is able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidates will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

Civil Service Nationality Rules

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) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
  • 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) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Reserve list

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.


Contact Information

MoJ:

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference 5273

HMPPS

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Please quote the job reference

Application form stage assessments

Experience
We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
Experience Questions, Statement of Suitability
Experience Questions Application Form Question Word Limit
250
Evidence of Experience
Experience Questions, Statement of Suitability

Interview stage assessments

Interview Dates
Interviews are expected for week commencing 2nd June 2025
Behaviours
Delivering at Pace
Developing Self and Others
Leadership
Making Effective Decisions
Experience
Your Experience for this role will be assessed at interview. To learn more about Experience and how they are assessed please click here.
We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
Experience Questions
Strengths
Strengths will be assessed but these are not shared in advance. To learn more about Strengths and how they are assessed please click here.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)
You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application, including your CV, statement of suitability and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
Level of security checks required
Baseline Personnal Security Standard (BPSS)