26.20 SEO Casework Decision Making Team Manager

Job summary

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was established under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 on 1 December 2012, operating from two sites, Liverpool and Darlington. We operate on behalf of government delivering Disclosure functions in England, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and Barring functions for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

DBS operates within the safeguarding arena alongside our multi agency partners. Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect.

We provide a service that enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make better informed, safer recruitment and other decisions. We do this by providing information to enable them to determine whether individuals are unsuitable or unable to undertake certain work, particularly with occupations involving regular contact with vulnerable groups, including children.

DBS has a number of strategic priorities:

1. Providing high quality, reliable, consistent, timely and accessible services for our customers.
2. Embracing technology to drive improvements to the quality of our work.
3. Developing a talented and diverse workforce that understands how their contributions help to achieve our objectives.
4. Building a flexible, vibrant, and contemporary workplace where our staff will be able to do their jobs using modern ways of working that are smart and which promote OneDBS.
5. Raising awareness of the DBS and the services we offer, keeping people informed through our communications, to increase public understanding and confidence in our organisation.
6. Becoming a respected and trusted organisation, working with our partners to play an influential role in the environment in which we operate.

DBS operates in a complex partnership landscape, with both public and private sector stakeholders, and a variety of commercial arrangements.

Job description

Do you have the ability and experience to lead a team of caseworkers who make decisions about someone’s suitability to work with vulnerable groups?

Can you set and monitor performance expectations for your staff to manage delivery and provide support to team members to ensure team and individual caseloads are effectively prioritised and progressed?

The role of Team Manager is at the heart of Case Decision Making within our Operational Services Directorate. It involves managing a casework decision making team or an operational support team to produce timely and accurate safeguarding decisions on referrals to the DBS.

Through effective caseload and quality management, you will lead the team to ensure that cases within your team’s responsibility are timely and accurately progressed to ensure quality safeguarding decisions, within agreed service level agreements.

You will be the point of escalation for your team of caseworkers for advice and guidance on how to make defensible barring decisions and have overall responsibility for the quality of decisions made on your team.

Using internal data sources, you will review cases within your region and/or team to support you to progress cases in line with internal caseload management principles to ensure our range of internal and external measures and service level agreements are met and exceeded.

You will utilise support from the directorate’s quality teams, receiving and giving feedback on a 1:1 basis to caseworkers to ensure learning from quality findings are embedded within your teams’ working practices whilst balanced with timely decision making.

You will work as part of a team providing and receiving support from colleagues within Casework Decision Making.

Team Managers must have or be successful in achieving Casework Decision Making Authority (CDMA). Training to obtain CDMA is provided in the form of a 19-week training course comprising of 6 weeks facilitated learning and 13 weeks consolidation.

Successful candidates will need to be resilient - the nature of casework can be challenging. You will need to be confident that you can manage on a daily basis with reading and assessing material which relates to the abuse of, and harm caused to vulnerable people.

In return you will have the support of your Head of Service and Directorate Management Team, access to peer support, comprehensive guidance, and continuous professional development.

Roles may rotate and at times you could be asked to manage any of the teams within the Directorate at the SEO grade.

Corporate Duties:

• Responsible and accountable for the management and performance of a team, which may include:
• Ensuring a consistent, quality, fair and objective approach across all casework.
• Encouraging the personal development and learning of individuals within their team
• Embedding the Quality Framework for the team and overseeing the quality of decision making,
• Pro-actively monitoring and addressing performance (quality and output) issues as required.
• Defining the workloads, performance expectations, and distribution of work, in discussion with peers for consistency across teams.
• Monitoring and meeting key performance indicators such as Speed of Service targets.
• Ensuring delivery of a quality management service.
• Support and participate in the delivery of the DBS Strategy and the Operational Services Delivery Plan.

Leadership

• Provide all members of the team with a coherent vision of the work of the DBS – Casework Decision Making, ensuring a common understanding of the DBS’s values and objectives.
• Clearly articulate expectations for the team (including both quality and output); monitor performance and achievement; take prompt appropriate action if expectations not met.
• Support the Associate Directors and Heads of Service in developing and implementing the changes required in line with the Operational Services Delivery plan.
• Plan with a team operation and focus.
• Be alert to blockers to progression, identifying, forging, and building on good relationships with stakeholders (both internal and external to Case Decision Making) to support casework movement.
• Encourage a culture of continuous improvement, identifying and leading on opportunities to improve processes and realise efficiencies.
• Be accountable for the team’s caseload, including overall caseload management and for the quality, timeliness and consistency of work delivered by team members.
• Developing team capability by coaching staff to produce well‑written, robust, and defensible casework decisions.

Casework

• Achieve and maintain Casework Decision Making Authority (CDMA)
• Provide support, advice, and guidance to Caseworkers on casework issues where needed; identifying at the earliest opportunity the need to consult others, for example when legal or specialist advice is required.
• Review and approve casework decision in accordance with guidance and quality standards to ensure decisions are legislatively correct and defensible, and proved comprehensive casework feedback.
• Ensure effective caseload management is undertaken on the team and that all cases are actively managed, providing regular feedback and clear direction and support to caseworkers.
• Make balanced and fair decisions in relation to more nuanced cases by assessing often complex and conflicting evidence and authorise decisions/recommendations made by casework team members.
• Participate in case conferences and lessons learnt sessions/workshops to drive good quality in decision making.

Management

• Monitor through regular discussions, the health and wellbeing of their team, providing advice and support where necessary.
• Manage the induction of new recruits within their team, ensuring they are inducted effectively into the DBS and provide ongoing support (which will be supported by the People and Development team).
• Actively manage the performance, learning and development needs of team members, to ensure they meet with expectations and standards required to be effective in their role.
• Contribute to the effective management of casework processes, identifying and implementing process improvement opportunities and contributing to a culture of continuous improvement.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, structured and well-reasoned written arguments to support decisions.
• Ability to flexibly manage and prioritise a varied workload, delivering high quality outputs within required timescales while balancing multiple and often competing demands.
• Ability to apply critical thinking to the analysis and evaluation of a range of complex (case) information, identifying key issues and reaching sound, evidence-based findings.
• Ability to make clear, fair, and defensible decisions using evidence and sound judgement, weighing competing factors and knowing when to seek advice or escalate.
• Experience of effective leadership, including setting clear expectations, motivating teams, and fostering a culture of accountability and high performance.
• Proven ability to develop others, providing coaching, feedback and support to build capability and ensure staff meet performance expectations.
• Commitment to continuous learning and openness to feedback, using reflection and new knowledge to improve decision making and maintain consistent quality.
• Ability to lead and support change by identifying more efficient ways of working, engaging others in the process, and ensuring effective implementation.

Desirable Criteria:

• Ability to identify and assess risk, using professional judgement to reach proportionate and defensible decisions in line with policy and guidance.
• Experience of making safeguarding, risk-based decisions, including assessing potential harm and taking proportionate action to protect vulnerable groups.
• Experience of applying legislative criteria, policy and guidance to decision making, ensuring decisions are lawful, consistent, and defensible.

Important Information:

The role of SEO team manager encompasses a mandatory training period of 19 weeks where there is a requirement for you to attend a training centre within 30 miles of Darlington for a proportion of this time. For successful applicants who reside in a location in excess of 50 miles from the training centre, DBS will cover the cost of travel and accommodation during this period. Please note that this will be considered a taxable benefit and may impact on your personal tax allowance. Due to the nature of the training, successful candidates will be required to work full time throughout the training period.

To view the DBS Recruitment and On-boarding Privacy Notice, please click the link below:

DBS Recruitment and On-boarding Privacy Notice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Developing Self and Others
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,221, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes £12,810 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees. These can include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Excellent maternity, paternity and adoption schemes (after a qualifying period)
• Commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Flexible working opportunities
• Eyecare voucher scheme
• Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy
• 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Legislative changes and the closure of Employer Supported Childcare scheme on 4 October 2018 will mean that if you are already a Civil Servant and move across the Civil Service, your ability to claim Childcare Vouchers will be impacted. However, you may still be eligible to claim Tax Free Childcare. For further information and to check if you are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare see Get Tax-Free Childcare: step by step on GOV.UK.

The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. To do this, the DBS is committed to being an employer that is able to attract, develop, retain and engage diverse talent that is representative of the communities we serve, and to be an organisation providing outstanding service to all our existing and new customers, who are diverse and have a range of different needs. We want all our staff to be able to bring their ‘whole self’ to work.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

To apply for this role please complete the online Civil Service Verbal Test. Upon successful completion of the Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test, you will also have to provide a CV and personal suitability statement of not more than 750 words outlining how your skills, experience and qualifications meet the requirements of the role, including all essential and desirable criteria, and the key responsibilities.

Please start the application well in advance to make sure that you have enough time to complete the online verbal test, CV and personal suitability statement. Closing date and time will not be extended even if candidates start their application but fail to submit it within the closing time. If you are facing any technical issues, please reach out to us along with the screenshot of the error.

The online Civil Service Verbal Test will be Stage 1 of the recruitment process.The hiring manager reserves the right to raise the pass mark to reach the next stage of the process if we receive high numbers of applications. If the required benchmark is reached you will be invited to the 2nd stage of the selection process.

There will be maintenance for online tests on Sunday, 29 March 2026. This means you will be unable to access the online tests between midday to 1pm, and 4pm to midnight. Your progress will be saved, and you will be able to continue once the tests are available again.

Stage 2 is a timed online written exercise, assessed against the Making Effective Decisions behaviour. If your application progresses to this stage, you will receive an email inviting you to book a time slot. The exercise will be released to you at the start of your chosen slot, and you must complete and submit your response before the slot ends. Full instructions will be provided when the exercise is issued.

Please note that the suitability statement sift will not take place until the online Civil Service Verbal test and Written Exercise have been successfully completed.

Candidates who are successful in the timed online written exercise will reach the Stage 3 of the selection process. In Stage 3, the suitability statement will be blind sifted to eliminate bias and scored using a 1-7 scoring scale on meeting the essential criteria in the person specification.

Your CV and employment history won’t be scored. It will be used to give context to your application and support discussions at interview.

Successful candidates from stage 3 will then be invited to Stage 4, which is a virtual interview. The interview will consist of a presentation and panel based virtual interview on MS Teams, the aim of which will be to assess your ability to demonstrate these behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing (Presentation)
• Developing Self and Others
• Changing & Improving
• Leadership

A selection of relevant Strengths-based questions will also form part of the interview. There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

More information regarding the presentation will be provided if selected for interview.

Candidates who do not achieve the highest scores at the suitability‑statement sift may be placed on hold at this stage while interviews are undertaken for the initial cohort of top‑scoring applicants.

Reserve List:

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer.

Probation:

This post is subject to a 9-month probationary period as this role has specific training requirements and a 19-week training period. Your performance, conduct and attendance will be monitored and reviewed during this period.

Recruitment Timeline:

The following timetable outlines indicative dates. Please note, these dates may be subject to change without prior notice.

Written exercise: 15 April 2026 – 22 April 2026

Suitability statement sift: 30 April 2026 – 07 May 2026

Interviews: W/C 18 May 2026

Whilst we will endeavour to provide some flexibility with regards to dates wherever possible, it is unlikely that we will be able to offer an alternative date once an appointment has been scheduled.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

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)
• 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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

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

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : DBS People Support Team
• Email : dbspeoplesupportteam@dbs.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSPeopleSupportTeam@dbs.gov.uk

Attachments

1. Success Profiles Candidate Overview Opens in new window (pdf, 635kB)Success Profiles - Behaviours Opens in new window (pdf, 1043kB)SEO TM Job Description 2026 Opens in new window (docx, 335kB)SEO Team Manager FAQs 2026 Opens in new window (docx, 53kB)