Service Operations Manager

Job summary

Are you ready to be part of something that shapes the future of our nation? Do you thrive on variety, enjoy working with lots of teams, and want to make a real difference? If so, this could be the opportunity you've been looking for.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK's largest producer of official statistics and home to over 5,000 colleagues. We create the data that drives decisions, from measuring economic growth and tracking population changes to informing policy on everything from housing to healthcare. Our statistics don't just sit in reports; they directly influence how billions of pounds are allocated, how services are planned, and how communities are supported across the country.

Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet – a once-in-a-decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation, and community planning for the next decade.

Your work will support delivery of this transformational project that will shape how we understand and support our nation's future. You’ll be part of a team that ensures everyone is counted—and every voice is heard. We're building a culture that values collaboration, fresh thinking, and respect for diverse expertise. Whether you're a seasoned professional or bringing new perspectives, you'll be part of a team that welcomes bold ideas, works transparently, and thrives on solving complex challenges together.

This role sits within Census Service Delivery & Operations division and plays a key part in shaping the delivery and performance of Census services.

Job description

You will support the delivery and operation of one or more Census services by contributing to service design, operational readiness, daily service performance, and continuous improvement activities. Working under the direction of an SEO Service Operations Manager, you will help ensure your service runs effectively, meets operational standards, and aligns with Census 2031 strategy.

You’ll work collaboratively with colleagues across Census Service Delivery & Operations, design teams, suppliers and delivery partners to help implement and run Census services throughout the Census lifecycle. You will support operational processes, analyse service data, resolve day‑to‑day issues, and prepare high‑quality reporting and documentation.

Please note, while successful candidates will be aligned to a specific role, our intention is to rotate role holders through the different roles over the lifecycle of the programme. This will provide individuals with career development opportunities, a broader understanding of all areas of the census operations and enable the programme to flex resources to meet key demands.

Field Operations - Household - The Households service manages field operations to support census completion for all residential households. It allocates and oversees field visits, provides guidance to respondents, performs address and frame checks, and ensures data is collected safely and accurately to maximise response rates across England and Wales.

Field Operations - Special Population Groups - The SPGs service delivers tailored enumeration for groups that fall outside traditional households, such as rough
sleepers, travelling communities, houseboats and other hard to reach populations. It ensures appropriate engagement, adapted collection methods and inclusive
operational approaches so every community is counted accurately.

Field Support - The Support service provides remote help and issue resolution forfield staff, handling queries across technology, HR, pay, health and safety, guidance and equipment. It ensures staff receive timely assistance, escalates issues when needed, and maintains the resources field workers rely on to operate successfully.

Field Logistics - The logistics service manages all materials required by field staff. It oversees stock, quality checks, picking, packing, delivery, returns and recycling, ensuring every field worker receives the right equipment at the right time to support smooth census operations.

Field Technology - The Technology Service manages all devices, software and data used by field staff, ensuring equipment is built, configured, supported and kept
secure throughout the census. It maintains field work management tools, oversees data exchange with other services, and provides reliable technology that underpins smooth operational delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the design and implementation of services by documenting requirements, maintaining process documentation, and assisting with testing activities.
• Act as the first point of contact for operational queries, providing timely support and escalating issues where appropriate.
• Monitor service performance and operational activity, identifying risks, issues, and areas requiring attention.
• Coordinate activities across internal teams, suppliers, and delivery partners to ensure work is delivered to agreed timelines.
• Maintain accurate records, trackers, and logs for incidents, risks, requests, actions, decisions, and changes.
• Produce and validate management information and performance reports, highlighting trends, anomalies, and areas of concern.
• Support governance, assurance, audit, and compliance activities by preparing documentation and maintaining effective controls.
• Develop and maintain operational guidance, standard operating procedures, and user-facing documentation.
• Contribute to continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to enhance processes, reporting, tools, and service delivery.
• Support service evaluations, lessons learned activities, and decommissioning processes, while managing defined workstreams and making day-to-day operational decisions within agreed parameters.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Experience working in an operational or service delivery environment.
• Ability to use data, MI and insight to monitor performance and support decision‑making.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Effective communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to identify issues, analyse problems and escalate appropriately.
• Experience producing documentation such as reports, guidance or process notes.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,587, Office for National Statistics contributes £10,019 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).

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.

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 and Experience.

Right to Work and Nationality Requirements
To work at ONS, applicants must meet the Civil Service nationality requirements, satisfy UK right to work requirements and, where applicable, meet the relevant security clearance requirements.

If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link, or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.

Visa Sponsorship
ONS is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants must have a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are currently in the UK on a time-limited visa, it must have at least 18 months remaining at the point of application.

Application Process

Number of Stages: 3 stage process

Stage 1: Civil Service Verbal Test

Stage 2: Application

Stage 3: Interview

Stage 1 - Civil Service Verbal Test

Upon submission of Part 1 your application form you will be sent an invitation to complete the Civil Service Verbal online tests.

There will be full instructions on how to complete each test including an opportunity to practice before undertaking the actual test. These tests are not time limited.

If you pass a test, you will then receive a further invite to complete the next stage of your application. If you fail this test your application will not proceed to the next stage.

If you pass all tests for this vacancy, you will be invited to complete the final stage of your application, this is where you will provide information such as your work history. Skills and experience and Personal Statement.

Stage 2 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum wordcount allowed is 1250, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass may be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

Stage 3 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert.

Interviews will take place in person at our Titchfield Site:

Office for National Statistics

Segensworth Road

Titchfield

Fareham

PO15 5RR

Our main locations are Newport (South Wales) and Titchfield.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

Important Dates:

The Sift will be conducted from Wednesday 21st October

Interviews will be conducted from Thursday 5th November

Dates are subject to change.

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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

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

Job contact :

• Name : Recruitment Operations
• Email : Recruitmentoperations@ons.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : About.you@ons.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 recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission

Attachments

Role3_Census1_Requirements Opens in new window (pdf, 78kB)2721 Advert 1B Permanent - ONS National v1-00 (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 83kB)