Head of Service Management

FCDO Services

Milton Keynes

On-Site

Expires: Expiring in less than 3 weeks

Part time

£59,955 per year

Job summary

At FCDO Services we protect the UK’s interests at home and overseas. We design and construct secure government buildings and courier diplomatic packages worldwide, safeguard government tech and a whole lot more. Our work is as varied and vital as it gets, but we never lose sight of our people. Their skills, aspirations and growth mean as much as the global mission we’re on. In our world, it all matters.

Job description

Length of Contract: 12 month Fixed Term Contract,

Type of Contract: Part time / 50% job share role (18.5 hours per week)

Salary Details: FTE £59,955 per annum, pro-rata for term of contract.

Our Service Management community works with global customers, delivery experts and other stakeholders to ensure our services are of the very highest quality. Committed to meeting agreed outcomes, offering great value for money and aligning with business needs, we’re flexible, efficient and always ready to listen and adapt to the needs of our customers. Now, you’ve got the opportunity to join them.

Supporting customers globally.

Developing new ways of working.

Making an impact internationally.

It all matters.

Make a major contribution to the success of our global operation

When you join us as Head of Service Management you’ll be accountable for the consistency and effectiveness of the Service Manager community, provide leadership across all service lines, and ensure the highest principles, policies, governance requirements and ways of working are adopted by all our teams. Building capabilities, promoting the sharing of knowledge, strengthening resilience and driving continual improvement, you’ll be focused on developing a high-performing, collaborative and inclusive culture throughout our function while setting clear objectives, expectations and performance standards.

You’ll have a wide range of additional responsibilities – these include conducting regular performance discussions, balancing service portfolios, taking the lead on workforce and succession planning, and identifying skill gaps and development needs. Owning and maintaining our authoritative Service Manager handbook, and being accountable for the consistent implementation and adoption of agreed standards, we’ll also expect you to ensure that documentation and records are maintained and stored correctly. Other key tasks will include representing the function at forums, acting as a key escalation point, raising the profile of Service Management, ensuring our achievements are effectively communicated and understood, and strengthening stakeholder engagement, confidence and collaboration.

Use all your service management skills as you work to defend the nation’s interests

To be a success in this important senior role you’ll have significant experience of leading Service Management teams in a complex operational environment, a well developed background in a leadership role, and the ability to line manage, coach and develop high-performing teams. Capable of embedding forward-thinking standards, frameworks, processes and ways of working, and ready to build our organisational capabilities and resilience, your excellent writing skills will see you producing an inspirational range of operational handbooks and professional documents. Committed to leading change, collaboration and improvement initiatives, you should also be ready to influence senior stakeholders while working across organisational boundaries.

When it comes to your formal education you should hold ITIL Certification, Project Management Foundation, ISO/IEC 20000 and Level 5 Leadership and Management qualifications or have equivalent practical experience. With a strong understanding of Service Management disciplines, principles, frameworks, best practice, operating models, standards and governance arrangements, you should also be capable of operating in complex and geographically dispersed environments. In addition, an ITIL Managing Professional, ITIL Expert, ISO/IEC 20000 Practitioner, Auditor or Lead Implementer qualification would be desirable, as would Lean Six Sigma, Agile or PRINCE2 status.

Discover the support you need to grow your career further

But we’re always looking to improve – just like you. That’s why when you join us, expect to receive a competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement and a Civil Service Pension. Along with this, you’ll also have access to training and other development opportunities to help grow your career with us. Our offices have an on-site gym, nursery, café, and restaurant, and we offer interest-free loans on season tickets and bikes to help you get there. It's a great set of benefits made to support all you do, and all you need.

Want to see your future team’s work in action? Step into our Virtual Embassy and select a guide to take you round to see how we deliver for government customers and how you could help. Explore the embassy now at virtual-embassy.fcdoservicescareers.co.uk

Every single colleague must be security cleared before joining us. If you’re successful in your application, we’ll ask you to undergo our vetting process. You can find out more about this at fcdoservicescareers.co.uk/how-to-apply/

To find out more about our benefits and our organisation, please visit fcdoservicescareers.co.uk

It takes a diverse team to protect a diverse world

The vital work we do takes an incredible community of colleagues, with different skills, backgrounds, cultures and identities. We support every individual, so that you always know you’re welcome and valued. It’s what makes us a Disability Confident employer. And why we’re recognised as a ‘Carer Confident’ workplace. And it’s how you know you’re joining an inspiring, inclusive organisation.

Person specification

We are looking for people with:

Qualifications

ITIL Certification
Project Management Foundation qualification, or equivalent practical experience.
ISO/IEC 20000 qualification, or equivalent experience
Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification, or equivalent leadership qualification / experience.
Evidence of continuous professional development.
Strong literacy, numeracy and digital capability

Knowledge

Service Management disciplines, principles, frameworks, best practice and ITIL Service Management processes.
Service Management operating models, standards and governance arrangements
Service performance management, reporting and KPI development.
Workforce planning, succession planning and organisational resilience.
Organisational change and transformation.
Risk, issue and dependency management.
Operating within complex and geographically dispersed environments.

Experience

Significant experience leading Service Management teams or functions within a complex operational environment, typically gained through five or more years, and can evidence a significant background in Management, operational leadership, account management or relationship management roles.
Experience line managing, coaching, capability development techniques and developing high-performing teams.
Experience embedding Service Management standards, frameworks, processes and ways of working.
Experience building organisational capability, resilience and professional communities of practice.
Experience creating and maintaining operational guidance, standards, handbooks and professional practice documentation.
Experience using performance data, metrics and insight to drive improvement and inform decision-making.
Experience influencing senior stakeholders and working across organisational boundaries to achieve outcomes.
Experience leading change, collaboration and continual improvement initiatives.

Qualifications

Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification, or equivalent leadership qualification / experience., ISO/IEC 20000 qualification
if selecting “or similar equivalent” please provide details of qualification or experience you are using as equivalent

Behaviours

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

Communicating and Influencing
Managing a Quality Service
Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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

Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification, or equivalent leadership qualification / experience.
ISO/IEC 20000 qualification. or equivalent experience
Service Management disciplines, principles, frameworks, best practice and ITIL Service Management processes.
Workforce planning, succession planning and organisational resilience
Significant experience leading Service Management teams/functions within complex operational environment, gained through 5+years. Can evidence a significant background in Management, operational leadership, account management/relationship management.
Experience embedding Service Management standards, frameworks, processes and ways of working.
Experience building organisational capability, resilience and professional communities of practice.

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification, or equivalent leadership qualification / experience.
ISO/IEC 20000 qualification. or equivalent experience
Service Management disciplines, principles, frameworks, best practice and ITIL Service Management processes.
Significant experience leading Service Management teams/functions within complex operational environment, gained through 5+years. Can evidence a significant background in Management, operational leadership, account management/relationship management.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,955, FCDO Services contributes £17,368 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Learning and development tailored to your role.
Annual leave starting at 25 days.
9 days per annum public and privilege days
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
A Civil Service pension.
Free shuttle bus available between central Milton Keynes and Hanslope Park

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, Experience and Technical skills.

To apply for this role, you will be asked to provide your CV, a personal statement, and provide answers to some job specific/Technical questions.

Your CV and personal statement will not form part of the assessment they will provide an insight into your work history and experience.

Your CV should include:

No personal identifying details
Career history with key responsibilities
Skills and experience
Achievements
Qualifications

Your personal statement should outline your interest in the role.

Candidates will only be sifted on answers provided to the technical/ job specific questions which are outlined in the application form.

Those that are successful will be invited to a face to face interview

At the interview you will be asked a blend of questions on technical skills and behaviours.

The candidate will need to complete a presentation along with the interview questions.

Candidates who are judged to be close to meeting the criteria may be considered for other positions in FCDO Services which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

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.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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

Salary range

£59,955 per year