Operations Manager (Certification Office)

Job summary

This role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to the work of the Certification Officer (CO), an independent statutory officeholder responsible for regulating trade unions and employers’ associations in the UK. As Operations Manager, you will support the CO’s mission to uphold compliance with statutory requirements and promote transparency and good governance across the sector. Working within a small, specialist team, you will help ensure that trade unions and employers’ associations operate within the legal framework, maintaining public confidence in their financial and democratic practices.

The postholder will lead on assessing complaints and jurisdictional matters, providing clear, independent advice on straightforward cases and preparing well-evidenced recommendations for more complex issues. Your work will involve direct engagement with trade union members and officials, supporting them through judicial processes and hearings.

Beyond casework, the postholder will contribute to the CO’s Annual Report to Parliament, drafting content and coordinating publication. You’ll also liaise with key stakeholders including the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Acas, and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

This is a varied and stimulating role that offers the chance to work within a high-profile, independent regulatory environment, and to contribute to the modernisation of a respected public office.

Job description

The successful candidate's main accountabilities will be:

• To act as case manager when complaints are submitted to the CO, including:
  • Taking responsibility for independently assessing straightforward questions of jurisdiction.
  • Preparing advice for the CO and the CE on more complex questions of jurisdiction.
  • Being comfortable using a variety of communication methods depending on the needs of individual applicants.
  • Working with trade union members and trade unions to prepare cases for judicial determination.
• To make initial enquiries where allegations of financial irregularities within trade unions are received and to make recommendations to the CO about the use of her statutory powers.
• To consider applications for listing and Certificates of Independence according to the requirements of the 1992 Act and prepare advice with supporting evidence, so that the CO can ultimately determine the application.
• To oversee amalgamations and transfers of engagements of trade unions and employers’ associations.
• To provide responses to Political Fund enquiries and requests for approval of rules and ballot rules.
• To contribute to the content and the publication of the Certification Officer's Annual Report to Parliament, including drafting chapters and where directed, overseeing the process.
• To liaise with partner organisations such as DBT, Acas, Government Legal Department and the TUC.
• To take lead responsibility for certain projects allocated by the CE and CO aimed at achieving the CO’s objective of becoming a modern, open, and effective regulator.

If successful, you will be employed by Acas but will work permanently within the Office of the Certification Officer – an independent statutory body. Although your contract will be with Acas, your role will support the Certification Officer’s independent regulatory functions on a day-to-day basis.

Who we are

The Certification Officer is the regulator of trade unions and employers’ associations. His responsibilities include maintaining a list of trade unions and employers’ associations, certifying their independence, making inquiries into financial irregularities and dealing with complaints about trade unions and employers' associations. His team are all employed by Acas but are permanently on loan to work with him and are operationally independent. The team is led by the Certification Officer’s Chief Executive.

The Certification Officer has achieved the Gold accreditation from Investors in People.

Person specification

The successful candidate will have the following:

Essential criteria

• Experience of adapting communication styles to a range of audiences — e.g., legal professionals, union officials, lay people, etc. (Lead)
• Experience of communicating difficult outcomes to customers
• Experience of advising senior colleagues through a variety of communication methods
• Experience of explaining legal concepts to lay people
• Experience of using IT systems including Microsoft Office

Desirable criteria:

• Understanding of the role of trade unions in the workplace
• Experience of Dynamics 365 and .GOV.UK
• Experience of the UK legislative system and following established procedures

Please note that the Desirable criteria will only be assessed in an tie-breaker scenario at interview. In this case, the Desirable criteria points noted above will be assessed in rank order from top to bottom.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £50,920, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service contributes £14,751 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We are big believers in rewarding people for the amazing work they do. Take a look at some of the fantastic benefits we offer:

• Learning and Development
• Health and wellbeing
• Pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Volunteering opportunities

Could you ask for anymore?

You will have access to a Lifestyle website where you will be able to grab savings on a wide range of products, from holidays to your weekly shop.

To find out more, check out: Working for Acas

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.

Please click on the 'Apply now' button.

Application stage

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete and will be assessed on the following items:

• CV: Your CV should reflect the Experience requirements as listed in the Job Description
• Personal Statement: Your evidence-based Personal Statement should also reflect the Experience requirements as listed in the Person Specification section of this advert and should be no longer than 1,250 words long. It should avoid generalised assertions and instead include specific examples of achievements, explaining the degree of challenge, what you did, and the outcomes. Please respond to each of the essential experience criteria listed in the Person Specification section. We recommend that the statement is set out with each criterion as a subheading.

Should a high number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the:

• Lead Essential Criterion: Experience of adapting communication styles to a range of audiences — e.g., legal professionals, union officials, lay people, etc.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift of all the above requirements or progressed straight to interview.

If a high number of applications meet the minimum standard, an interview wait list may be created for this position. This means that if you have met the minimum requirements at sift, you may be placed at a ‘Hold’ status for up to 12 months, and if we are able to invite you to an interview, we will be in touch.

Interview Stage

If you are successful at the Sift Stage, you will be invited to an in-person interview in London, which is likely to take place from week commencing 16 February 2026.

It will be a Behaviours, Strengths, and Experience based interview. The interview will also include a Written Exercise; instructions related to this will be sent to candidates who are invited to interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

A reserve list will be created for this position; this means that if you have passed the interview, but we were unable to offer you this position, you will be placed on a reserve list for 12 months and may be considered for similar positions during that time.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader, Acas is committed to creating an inclusive recruitment process. If you have a disability and feel that any part of the recruitment process puts you at a disadvantage, we will aim to make Reasonable Adjustments that support your needs where possible. If you require any changes to help you apply:

• Please contact Acas HR Recruitment Service via HRRecruitment@acas.org.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Please complete the “Assistance Required” section on the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to let us know about any adjustments or support you may need during the recruitment process. For example, this might include accessibility arrangements for entering a building or interview room, communication support, modifications to assessment methods, etc.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident Scheme and Reasonable Adjustments by clicking these links.

Want to learn more about Civil Service recruitment? You can find out more on Civil Service Careers, including information on Success Profiles, writing a Personal Statement, acceptable use of Artificial Intelligence, and what to expect at Interview.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader, Acas is committed to creating an inclusive recruitment process. If you have a disability and feel that any part of the recruitment process puts you at a disadvantage, we will work with you to make Reasonable Adjustments that support your needs. If you require any changes to help you apply:

• Please contact the Acas Recruitment Team via HRrecruitment@acas.org.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Please complete the “Assistance Required” section on the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to let us know about any adjustments or support you may need during the recruitment process. For example, this might include accessibility arrangements for entering a building or interview room, communication support, modifications to assessment methods, etc.
• You can find out more about the Disability Confident Scheme and Reasonable Adjustments by clicking these links.

Want to learn more about Civil Service recruitment? You can find out more on Civil Service Careers, including information on Success Profiles, writing a Personal Statement, acceptable use of Artificial Intelligence, and what to expect at Interview.

For applicants requiring a visa to work in the UK

Please be advised that Acas does not hold a sponsorship licence so cannot consider sponsoring a visa applicant or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship.

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.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

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 : Michael Kidd
• Email : Michael.Kidd@certoffice.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : HRRecruitment@acas.org.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Code and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact us on HRRecruitment@acas.org.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Job Description - Operations Manager (Certification Office) Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)