Sevington Operations Team Leader
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 2nd December 2024
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About the job
Job summary
The post holder will work within the Infrastructure Team, they will led the Front Office team having direct line management of the 4 FO HEOs and feed into the wider BCP Operations team.
The DEFRA team at the Sevington Border Control Post (BCP) is within the Biosecurity, Borders and Trade Programme. It works with partner agencies in the delivery of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) for goods travelling across the short straights from continental Europe.
Reporting into the G7 Operations Manager, the Team Leaders will have responsibility for managing two shift teams each. Responsibilities include:
- Ensuring the appropriate teams are in place and ready for each shift.
- Managing delivery within the Front Office for each shift including acting as the first point of contact for any escalation.
- Managing the relationships with the BCP operator on the ground. This includes ensuring that commodities/lorries are moved to the relevant bays on time and that inspections if required are carried out in a timely manner.
- Managing site capacity and escalating issues as appropriate.
- Ensuring delivery against the key performance indicators.
Working collaboratively with the Operations Manager, the post holder will prioritise workloads across the team in order to achieve all expected delivery targets, minimising risk to ensure value for money and the delivery of excellent customer service.
Sevington BCP is a 24 hour operation with the front office teams working a 4 on 4 off shift pattern. The successful candidate will be required to work in a shift pattern to ensure that they have contact with all front line team members
Job description
Main Duties
Leadership
- Managing delivery within the Front Office for each shift including acting as the first point of contact for any escalation.
- Providing visible leadership to the team, monitoring performance against agreed objectives to keep work on track
- Proactively managing the performance, conduct and attendance of the field team, ensuring that all team members contribute to achieving targets and operate in accordance with policies and procedures and our values and ways of working
- Assuming responsibility for building and maintaining constructive relationships, including partnering with senior professional managers
- Accountability for meeting performance expectations and responding to emergencies by reviewing performance on a regular basis, seeking professional insight from functional partners, providing access to professional coaching and mentoring within the matrix system, implementing performance improvement and development where necessary
- Creation of effective team ethos in a fast-paced environment
- Creation of a team environment in which everyone can and does contribute effectively, and where different perspectives are heard and channelled
- Working with peers to ensure effective and consistent work across the agencies, sharing best practice and lessons learned
Service Delivery and Planning
- Responsibility for managing service provision across all of the functions in their area, including allocating, coordinating and prioritizing technical delivery work and manging resources to meet the required delivery targets
- Using management information and in liaison with functional leads, to monitor, analyse and manage outputs against expectations
- Horizon scanning, reporting and resolving delivery risks and issues, including specific subject/geographic risks and workforce/succession planning
- Ensuring all staff are clear on expected targets, ensuring assigned tasks are completed as required, or escalated as required to senior manager for resolution
- Ensuring a flexible and future-proofed approach to workforce planning, balancing local needs with wider Agency priorities. Responsible for deploying resources and organising workloads to enable the most effective and efficient delivery despite challenges. This includes working with the wider delivery team leaders to prioritise and share resource and workloads across the agency, rather than maintaining a focus on local delivery goals alone
- Overseeing all technical activity and report accurately on field activities
- Liaising with stakeholders and operational partners at local level
- Monitoring and ensuring that quality standards are met and that procedures and policies are consistently applied
- Undertaking the role of Incident Manager and participate in on-call rotas as required
- Ensuring the appropriate teams are in place and ready for each shift.
- Ensuring delivery against the key performance indicators
Change, Improvement, Safety, Health & Wellbeing
- Ensuring that the team understand and identify with the reasons for organisational change
- Providing constructive input into change discussions and planning
- Contributing to the delivery of agency-wide approaches that reflect required customer / policy differences
- Making decisions on whether, how and when to alter work processes in order to improve service delivery, ensuring field teams understand the rationale for change
- Identifying evidence and developing robust proposals for change, considering bigger picture impacts across the agency, in order to enhance quality customer service and enable effective and efficient use of resources. This includes the need to share best practice and lessons learned across service delivery and to consider the different policy and end user customer requirements
- Ensuring recommended improvements/changes in ways of working are successfully implemented across service delivery
- Using initiative in developing new solutions across field delivery. Expected to identify potential issues for the future and propose and implement well balanced solutions
- Undertaking essential training and display leadership by establishing and championing high health and safety standards and action as a role model
- Supporting staff to fulfil their health & safety responsibilities
- Managing the relationships with the BCP operator on the ground. This includes ensuring that commodities/lorries are moved to the relevant bays on time and that inspections if required are carried out in a timely manner.
- Managing site capacity and escalating issues as appropriate.
Person specification
Skills and Experience
- Strong operational background in customer facing environments
- Ability to report on activity and target delivery
- Planning skills to enable effective work allocation and resource management
- Ability to effectively lead others, managing performance and developing team members
- High standards of interpersonal skills and ability to lead and work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Competent user of IT, specifically Microsoft suites of Software, MS Office etc.
Essential Criteria
- Excellent experience of working in an operations environment
- Ability to resolve issues timely and continuously improve overall operations and ways of working within the operations teams
- Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders, sharing information, resources and support
- Proactive approach to problem solving in a fast-paced environment
- Some experience of using persuasive negotiating techniques with colleagues and external stakeholders
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and lead teams to respond flexibly to change and competing demands
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role.
- An environment with flexible working options.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Application Process Details
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete;
- A CV detailing your career history including any relevant qualifications. Your CV will be used for Information Only.
- A Personal Statement (max. 750 words) demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the job description, responsibilities, and essential criteria. Using the STAR process will help achieve a structured document. Experience (assessed in Personal statement): evidence of previous working knowledge and experience in an Operational role.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Sift and Interview Details
Sift and interview dates as well as the interview location to be confirmed.
If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to a video interview. At interview we will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
You will be required to give a 5-minute presentation, the subject will be provided to you in advance of the interview.
You will be asked questions based on the following Civil Service Behaviours:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective decisions
- Delivering at Pace
Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.
Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.
The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Salary
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.
Visa Sponsorship Statement
Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.
Criminal Record Check
If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check may be carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
- Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Internal Fraud Database Check
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
Loan and Fixed Term Appointments
Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
This is a Fixed-term Appointment as an Operations Team Leader.
The post requires temporary cover, for no more than 12 months, pending potential approval of a permanent post. The fixed term will end (if the post has been approved as permanent) when the permanent recruitment completes or will end on the fixed term end date if the post has not been approved as permanent.
Full Time Only
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : BBTP Resourcing Team
- Email : bbtp-resourcing@defra.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Click https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/ to visit Civil Service Commission.
