Role Title Head of Service Performance & Improvement
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Grade Grade 6
Status For internal use
Role Purpose These are key leadership roles with responsibility for change, driving significant business improvement and performance across all jurisdictions and
(250 words max) 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 & Improvement (HoSPI) 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 role holder will be an essential link between Service Owners, who are responsible for central development and improvement of services, and the
frontline operational delivery of those services. The HoSPI 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 role holder 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)
• 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.
• The HoSPI will work with the Heads of Operations and HoLO/ Senior Legal Managers to agree and set service level targets and analyse performance.
• The HoSPI will 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.
• The HoSPI will 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.
• The HoSPI will 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 HoSPI 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 feedback to
Service Teams on locally driven change to improve national service provision.
• HoSPI s will have a national jurisdictional portfolio and attend governance boards to ensure that the operational voice is heard. They will work collaboratively with
their HoSPI colleagues to share and disseminate the strategic outputs nationally to ensure consistency in implementation and ways of working across HMCTS. In
addition, the HoSPI may also have national leadership responsibilities and represent the HoSPI 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)
Head of Service Performance & Improvement will have:
• Excellent leadership skills with proven ability and experience of leading and managing teams in accordance with MoJ and HMCTS 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.
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 HoSPI 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 HoSPI 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 SIP 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)
• The HoSPI has 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.
• The HoSPI will 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.
• The SIP will liaise with the Heads of Operations and HoLOs / Senior Legal Manager (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.
• In the pursuit of service performance improvement, the SIP will champion a culture that values innovation and creativity and supports appropriate risk taking in
accordance with our MoJ Shared Values.
Autonomy (250 words max)
• 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.
• Operating independently in making decisions that drive forward service performance improvements across all jurisdictions within the region, the HoSPI will seek
guidance only where possible solutions would go beyond current policy or levels of authority.
Key Relationships and Contacts (300 words max)
• Establish, build, and maintain effective relationships with key internal and external 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.
• HoSPI will 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.
• The role holder will establish, build, and maintain effective relationships with relevant senior external justice sector stakeholders, and represent and promote
HMCTS externally, 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.
• Work closely with HoSPI colleagues across regions, bringing joined up service oversight across all operational regions including National Services. Attend the SIP
forum to collaborate, share and cascade information, influencing others 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 Heads of Operations colleagues to understand regional priorities, negotiate and agree prioritisation activity and allocation of resources
with the regional senior leadership team.
• 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. The HoSPI will have advanced negotiating
and influencing skills to implement organisational change and deliver strategic outcomes.
• The HoSPI will also have a role to promote cross government working and relationships with other government agencies including but not limited to; Home
Office, HMPPS, DWP etc, at a strategic level.
• The HoSPI will liaise with Regional Trade Union to discuss regional issues as part of the regional senior leadership team