Registration Service Manager and Superintendent Registrar

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

Overseen by the General Register Office (GRO), the London Borough of Sutton’s Registration Service delivers a vital service to the community, ensuring the accurate and timely registration of key life events, including; births, deaths, stillbirths, marriages and civil partnerships.

Services also include issuing certified copies of certificates, taking notices of marriage/civil partnership, and conducting various ceremonies (marriage, civil partnership, citizenship), and non-statutory ceremonies like baby naming).

The Service’s achievement against key performance targets is tracked and reported monthly and is something we are very proud of. Currently 98% of births and stillbirths are registered within 42 days and 95% of deaths are registered within 5 days.

Our Register Office relocated to modern, new premises in our Civic Offices in November 2024, featuring three dedicated registration rooms and two beautiful licensed ceremony rooms for marriage, civil partnership and citizenship ceremonies.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Are you a highly motivated and experienced operational leader with a strong understanding of statutory and legal obligations? We are seeking a dedicated Registration Service Manager and Superintendent Registrar to lead and manage the delivery of our efficient and effective Registration Service.

This is a key front-line service delivery role where you will be directly accountable for performance and service quality. You will be the Council’s principal adviser on operational statutory duties and legal obligations for the registration service, as laid down by Parliament.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Leading and managing the delivery of an efficient and effective Registration Service in accordance with legislative requirements, national guidance, and performance targets.
• Acting as the Council’s principal adviser on statutory and legal obligations for the registration service.
• Providing day-to-day management and professional supervision to staff.
• Applying professional judgement to interpret and apply policies to meet specific local or service needs.
• Identifying and implementing continual improvements to deliver cost-effective services that meet agreed quality standards.
• Leading projects and implementing changes within agreed cost, time, and quality standards.
• Managing service-level budgets and resources to demonstrate value for money and support intended outcomes.

About You:

You will be focused on interpreting and applying policies to support local needs, managing the effective day-to-day delivery of the Registration Service within clear budgets and standards. You will operationalise plans and deploy resources to meet objectives.

You will have excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, this role involves working closely and collaboratively with the General Register Office, Home Office, Medical Examiner, Hospital Bereavement and Chaplaincy Teams, Coroner Service, and Maternity Services.

If you are ready to take on a challenging and rewarding management role, ensuring statutory compliance and service excellence in a key public service, we encourage you to apply.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.