Operational Team Leader

Job summary

Are you an inspiring leader who thrives on developing others and unlocking high-performing teams?

Can you confidently coach through change, setting clear direction while empowering people to deliver their very best?

Do you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment where challenge, accountability and achievement go hand in hand?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

This is a fantastic opportunity within the Operations and Customer Service Directorate at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to shape how services are delivered, drive measurable performance improvements, and make a meaningful difference to the experience of customers. The role plays a pivotal part in leading people, championing quality, and embedding a culture where continuous improvement and collaboration sit at the heart of everything we do.

Opportunities are available in 2 key areas:

Within the Drivers Medical Group, the focus is on casework. This team manages medical licensing decisions, ensuring that drivers meet the required medical standards to drive safely. The work involves handling complex and sensitive cases, reviewing medical evidence, and delivering timely, accurate decisions that balance road safety with customer needs.

Within the Contact Centre, the focus is on customer telephony enquiries. This team manages high volumes of inbound calls, supporting customers with driver and vehicle-related queries. The role involves leading frontline colleagues to deliver efficient, high-quality customer service while driving performance, reducing repeat contact, and improving overall customer satisfaction.

Across both areas, the role is centred on strong people leadership, performance management, and service improvement. You will be responsible for fostering engagement, maintaining quality standards, using data to inform decisions, and creating an environment where teams are empowered to deliver excellent outcomes for customers.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - Department for Transport Careers

Job description

This is an exciting role, with the opportunity to lead operational teams in a customer-focused environment, driving high performance and excellent service delivery. You will build strong stakeholder relationships, coach and develop your team, and model Civil Service values. With access to leadership masterclasses and professional qualifications, this role offers the chance to grow your skills while helping shape the future and sustainability of the DVLA.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Lead and manage your team by:
  - providing advice and coaching to colleagues on current, and revised procedures
  - organising workloads and resources and planning production schedules to achieve agreed performance targets and standards.
• Effectively manage, coach and drive team performance, taking responsibility and accountability for performance outcomes, customer service, quality and efficiencies.
• Oversee and be accountable for performance, conduct and attendance processes within your area of responsibility and ensure they are adhered to and acted on in a timely manner in your role as Investigating Officer or Decision Officer.
• Promote continuous improvement by identifying and implementing better working practices.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Leading a team through change while delivering key performance indicators
• Resilience under pressure in a fast paced and sometimes unpredictable operational environment
• Being a strong advocate for change, driving continuous improvement and contributing to the development and continual enhancement of the services provided
• Motivating, coaching, and inspiring others to achieve their best, giving, seeking, and receiving feedback

Additional Information:

Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest and most diverse professional community across the Civil Service. Many of us will have an association with several professional communities or specialisms, ODP applies to all public facing roles / or a role that is primarily aligned to supporting the work of those with public facing roles. All critical to the delivery of UK public services.

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 35 hours per week, over 5 days.

If successful you could be required to work, one of the following shift patterns:

• Shifts between 8:00am and 7:00pm, Monday to Friday, with occasional Saturdays between 8:00am and 2:00pm. Various shifts will be scheduled within these hours. A full-time employee will work 8 hours per day over 4 days and 5 hours on 1 day.
• Shifts between 10:00am and 7:00pm, Monday to Friday, with occasional Saturdays between 8:00am and 2:00pm. You will be allocated a day off during the week if scheduled to work a Saturday.
• Shifts between 7:00am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday. (Drivers Medical Group)

Flexibility is essential, as you may be required to work any of the hours listed above to meet business needs.

If you are successful, you will be offered one of the patterns above based on business requirements at the time. If you choose to decline the offered pattern, no alternative role will be offered.

You will be expected to work full time hours during the initial training period, which will generally take place Monday to Friday,between the hours of 8am and 4pm. Please be advised the training period can take up to 6 weeks.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

Travel to our Swansea office may be required in the future, which may also involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Developing Self and Others

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,485, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contributes £8,831 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

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.

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

• Leading a team through change while delivering key performance indicators
• Resilience under pressure in a fast paced and sometimes unpredictable operational environment
• Being a strong advocate for change, driving continuous improvement and contributing to the development and continual enhancement of the services provided
• Motivating, coaching, and inspiring others to achieve their best, giving, seeking, and receiving feedback

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The sift will take place between Tuesday 7th April & Friday 10th April 2026.

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – Leadership, Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing & Developing Self and Others.
• Strengths

The interviews will take place week commencing Monday 27th April 2026.

This interview will be conducted in person at our Birmingham office. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document 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.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit theHow We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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.

All External applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour

Threats or acts of violence

Illegal activity or substance misuse

Sexually explicit material

Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public.

Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle—it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture.

If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : OCSD Recruitment Team
• Email : OCSDRecruitment@dvla.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here

Attachments

Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 243kB)