Role Title Head of Service Performance and Improvement
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Grade Grade 6
Status For internal use
Role Purpose The Head of Service Performance and Improvement is a key leadership role with responsibility for change, driving significant business improvement and
(250 words max) performance across all jurisdictions and services within the region, improving the experience of those who use our services. Working alongside the Regional
Delivery Director (RDD), the Head of Service Performance and Improvement will plan and shape the organisational context, delivering change and improved
performance levels across all areas of service delivery and ensure the rapid and robust integration of new policies, procedures, and systems.
The Head of Service Performance and Improvement is an essential link between Service Owners, who are responsible for central development and
improvement of services, and the frontline operational delivery of those services. They will share regional insight via matrix relationships with Service Owners to
shape and inform ongoing service development, anticipating and predicting long-term developments needed and playing a significant role in the achievement
of key regional business plan objectives.
The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will represent HMCTS and influence external relationships with key stakeholders in strategic discussions on
service provision. A key part of this role will involve creating, developing, and maintaining relationships with these stakeholders.
Key Accountabilities (600 words max)
The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will:
• Develop strategy and plans for implementation of change and continuous improvement across the region and support the Heads of Operations/ HoLO/ Senior Legal
Managers to implement change within their jurisdictions.
• Work with the Heads of Operations (HoO) and HoLO/ Senior Legal Managers to agree and set service level targets and analyse performance.
• Input operational knowledge into national project streams, sharing regional operational insight and feedback from Heads of Operations via matrix relationships with
Service Owners, acting as the regional link with services to inform ongoing service development.
• Work with the regional senior leadership team to undertake business planning and set and agree strategic direction for all jurisdictions across the region, supporting the
Regional Delivery Director in strategic delivery of regional operations.
• Monitor service performance across all jurisdictions within the region to ensure continued improvement to the services we offer our end users. The role holder will deliver
business improvement to all aspects of crime, civil, family and tribunals business, supporting the RDD in the strategic delivery of service improvements.
• Work collaboratively with the Heads of Operations in each jurisdiction to identify opportunities to make efficiencies, corrective actions and potential improvements,
monitoring service levels to identify and prevent risk to service delivery and support operational delivery across all services.
• Execute significant representational and external facing responsibility on behalf of the organisation. Establish, build, and maintain effective relationships with key internal
and external justice system stakeholders and leadership judges across the region to influence, negotiate and deliver strategic improvements which impact service delivery,
convincing others to follow a course of action to drive service improvement.
• Provide expert insight and advice to inform the annual distribution of sitting day resources across the region, the Head of Service Performance and Improvement will liaise
with Heads of Operations to forecast, prioritise, and review the situation regularly and make any adjustments as required across services to ensure effective operation
within the region.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships and use influence and persuasion with Service Owners and Service teams to shape the organisational context and
improve services and ensure the impact of proposed legislation and policy changes within operations is understood by service teams. Provide information and feedback to
Service Teams and Service Boards on locally driven change and continuous improvement activity to improve national service provision.
• Have a national jurisdictional portfolio and attend governance boards to ensure that the operational voice is heard. They will work collaboratively with their Head of
Service Performance and Improvement colleagues to share and disseminate the strategic outputs nationally to ensure consistency in implementation and ways of working
across HMCTS. In addition, the Head of Service Performance and Improvement may also have national leadership responsibilities and represent the Head of Service
Performance and Improvement community and operations on national boards.
• Provide strong leadership, clear direction, and support to change teams and set benchmarks to manage effective performance standards in line with strategic objectives.
Ensure their teams have the right skills and access to continuing professional development, supporting our people to grow and engage in their own personal and career
development.
• Embed organisational values and behaviours, ensuring wellbeing, inclusion, diversity, and equality is at the forefront of all people and change activities.
• Be visible as a leader, making best use of modern ways of working. Act as representative of the senior leadership team in providing visible, collective senior leadership
across service/ jurisdictional boundaries to staff in all parts of the region.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience (500 words max)
Service Improvement and Performance Leads will have:
• Excellent leadership skills with proven ability and experience of leading and managing teams in accordance with appropriate management practices, policy and strategy.
• A breadth and depth of specialist service knowledge and expertise and experience of service management to analyse and understand key service improvements.
• The ability to analyse conflicting, complex evidence and statistical performance information to anticipate and identify strategic, performance issues.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills, understanding the needs of our end users- reflecting the diverse needs of our customer base from professional
justice partners to vulnerable victims and witnesses.
• Influencing skills, to deliver through others, collaborating and negotiating to deliver excellent levels of service across the region.
• A demonstrable track record of strategic planning and delivering substantial change and significantly improved performance levels.
• Excellent stakeholder relationship management skills and experience of supporting stakeholders/partners.
• Advanced negotiating skills, to manage conflicting views and implement organisational change, deliver strategic outcomes.
Problem Solving and Decision Making (300 words max)
• Responsible for making decisions on the prioritisation of service improvements across the whole region, using creative thinking and experience to make well-informed
and authoritative proposals, balancing risk, strategic impact, and short and long-term needs across all jurisdictions in the region.
• Responsible for leading the resolution of complex strategic problems across the region, for which there may not be existing guidance or procedures, and which may
involve one or more service dependencies. The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will be expected to take responsibility for the resolution of a range of
complex problems, escalating to the Regional Delivery Director only those which are outside of current policy area or level of authority.
• The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will work effectively in a highly complex customer and stakeholder environment, building effective relationships
across all jurisdictions and managing the expectations and concerns of a variety of senior stakeholders, with complex and often competing needs.
• In this role, there is a requirement to shape the organisational context and to deliver significantly changed or significantly improved performance levels across all areas of
service delivery in the region.
• The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will make use of specialist service knowledge, expertise, and insight to inform effective decision making. They will
assess jurisdictional service performance to anticipate issues and analyse and interpret complex and possibly conflicting evidence and data to make sound judgment on
the most appropriate solutions that consider the views of important stakeholders.
• Use initiative, originality, and creativity to develop new concepts, solve problems and deal effectively with the issues that arise in driving forward service improvement
across the region.
Management of Resources (250 words max)
Service Improvement and Performance Leads will:
• Have significant leadership responsibility across the region and will be expected to share knowledge of the ‘big picture’ to help people understand their roles in improving
services for users and contributing to the success of HMCTS.
• Lead and directly manage the regional change teams to drive national and local service change and enable effective implementation across the region.
• Support the RDD in achieving appropriate allocation of sitting days across the region and work with the Heads of Operations on making best use of resources to achieve
business objectives. They will take steps to maximise efficient use of judicial sitting day resource allocation for all jurisdictions to achieve the key priorities in the regional
business plan.
• Liaise with the Heads of Operations and HoLOs / Senior Legal Managers (as appropriate) to forecast and prioritise and maximise efficient use of sitting day resource
allocation for the jurisdiction(s) for which they are responsible and to liaise, manage and report on risks and implementation of change.
• Champion a culture that values innovation and creativity in pursuing service performance improvement and supports appropriate risk taking in accordance with our MoJ
Shared Values.
Autonomy (250 words max)
The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will;
• Have considerable discretion and full responsibility for improvements in service and performance within the region and identifying issues which may have wider political
or policy implications that could impact on regional and national service performance.
• The role holder will have considerable freedom to set aims and objectives in service improvement, change and continuous improvement for the region, working within
strategic and wider operational plans.
• Operate independently in making decisions that drive forward service performance improvements across all jurisdictions within the region, the Head of Service
Performance and Improvement will seek guidance only where possible solutions would go beyond current policy or levels of authority.
Key Relationships and Contacts (300 words max)
The Head of Service Performance and Improvement will
• Establish, build, and maintain effective relationships with key internal and external justice sector stakeholders across the region to influence, negotiate and deliver
strategic improvements which impact service delivery, convincing others to follow a course of action to drive service performance improvement.
• Represent and promote HMCTS externally, brokering agreement and influencing relationships which are of major importance to HMCTS. This may include but is not
restricted to; Criminal Justice Agencies, Police, Witness Service, CAFCASS etc, to work jointly to implement national strategies, problem solve and drive forward
improvements.
• Play a lead role in the development of strategy for services advocating operational position for their national portfolio at Service Boards to shape organisational context
and convince others to follow a course of action to drive service performance improvement.
• Work closely with Head of Service Performance and Improvement colleagues across regions, bringing joined up service oversight across all operational regions including
National Services. Attend the Head of Service Performance and Improvement forum to collaborate, share and cascade information, influencing others and leading
through persuasion to agree a course of action to resolve common issues across HMCTS.
• Provide supportive challenge, operational expertise, insight, and feedback to service owners to support the future development and provision of services.
• Work collaboratively with HoO colleagues to understand regional priorities, negotiate and agree prioritisation activity and allocation of resources with the regional SLT
• Establish, build, and maintain relationships and partnerships with key internal stakeholders and leadership judiciary who may hold conflicting views, this could include
Resident Judges, Designated Family and/ or Civil Judges, Regional Tribunal Judges, Magistrates Bench Chairs etc.
• Promote cross government working and relationships with other government agencies including but not limited to; Home Office, HMPPS, DWP etc, at a strategic level.
• Liaise with Regional Trade Union to discuss regional issues as part of the regional SLT.