Job summary

As part of Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt (CFCD) Directorate you will be at the heart of DWP’s front line operations, helping to change people’s lives and supporting the CFCD purpose of fighting fraud in the welfare system.

As a Senior Operational Leader, you will role model excellent senior management leadership, taking responsibility for the flexible, effective, personalised delivery of customer service, quality, and performance. You will provide transformational leadership to a geographically diverse team - leading through others, driving people engagement, and inspiring colleagues to deliver objectives.

CFCD is a great place to work where the leadership team are passionate about attracting the best talent whilst nurturing and valuing new and existing colleagues to be the best they can be. We are looking for people who can demonstrate our values and commitment to leadership which are based around collaboration, resilience and inclusivity. We look for emotionally aware leaders who enable teams to be innovative, adaptable and flexible. We want you to be comfortable challenging the norm and finding daring and dynamic solutions that support our values and enable colleagues to shine in whatever role they do.

Job description

As a Senior Operational Leader, you will:

Lead a large, geographically diverse team of at least 100+ colleagues setting strategic business priorities and driving performance.
Make sound, complex decisions at pace and instil technical knowledge in your team.
Use initiative to seek solutions to problems; making interpretative judgements where circumstances fall outside of available guidance.
Oversee business change, lead performance reviews, and drive continuous improvement.
Build strong, collaborative relationships with senior representatives from other government departments and external bodies.
Provide visible, effective leadership through regular site visits and clear communication.
Motivate teams to operate flexibly, seek feedback, and personalise services for customers.
Encourage creative thinking and collaborative working to drive innovation and service improvements.
Ensure compliance with DWP policies and procedures, managing risk exposure.
A large part of the role is dealing with HR policy and procedures and carrying out the decision maker role on sensitive staff related issues.

Due to the geographically dispersed nature of this team, this role will require frequent travel and occasional overnight stays.

Person specification

What we are looking for in our leaders:

To have strong and effective leadership experience, with the ability to lead through others and make sound business decisions at pace.
Can communicate with clarity, conviction and enthusiasm with colleagues, partners and stakeholders to drive positive outcomes.
Have experience and knowledge of leading diverse teams, through effective coaching and mentoring, to improve service delivery.
Can drive performance improvement through proactive management of processes and ensuring compliance with performance management policies and procedures.
Have a flexible, agile outlook, able to innovate and display creative thinking.
Be proactive in identifying and have the resilience to overcome difficulties, taking ownership for resolving and driving issues forward.
Have knowledge of risk assessment processes, business continuity planning and diversity impact assessments.
Understand and engage with change. Inspire and obtain buy-in from colleagues by encouraging discussion, initiative, and ideas in support of the long term DWP vision.
Can effectively monitor performance, have sound analytical skills, and the ability to effectively interpret and use management information to deliver against performance objectives while maintaining quality.
Empower and encourage your diverse workforce, providing real opportunities for people to develop their strengths and innovate.
Have strong interpersonal skills, with a high level of emotional intelligence and the ability to remotely manage staff.
Are honest, with integrity and probity, and have a personal demeanour that inspires confidence and loyalty.
Ability to set the vision for your teams, with an awareness of wider, long-term organisational aims.
Have excellent presentation and communication abilities.
Hold a solid understanding of equality and diversity, and how it impacts upon service delivery.
Have excellent, planning, delegation, and organisational skills, as well as strong negotiating and influencing skills.
Have excellent collaboration skills, particularly as a DWP representative in national multi-agency meetings, requiring strategic decisions.

Behaviours

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

Leadership
Communicating and Influencing
Working Together
Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,447, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £12,876 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

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.

Stage 1 - Application Form

Please complete the first stage short application form, which includes your personal details, eligibility to apply and any reasonable adjustments required.

Stage 2 – Written Application and Sift

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete examples of the Civil Service behaviours below using no more than 250 words for each behaviour. These should contain things you have done in the past and how your skills and experience demonstrate those Civil Service behaviours.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process at Level 3:

Leadership (Lead Behaviour)
Communicating and Influencing (Second Lead Behaviour)
Working Together
Making Effective Decisions

It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:

WHO - What it was, How you approached the work/situation and what the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or
STAR - What was the ituation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?

You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour or lead and second lead behaviours, If so, we will sift on:

Leadership (Lead Behaviour)
Communicating and Influencing (Second Lead Behaviour)

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to an interview.

In the event of a low number of applications, candidates may be progressed to interview without their written application being sifted. For this reason, the timeline is subject to change depending on the approach we take. We may increase the minimum score to progress to interview if a high number of applications are successful at the sift stage.

You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your job history, previous skills and experience.

In the previous skills/experience section you should detail your employment and/or education history relevant to this vacancy (we recommend a maximum of 500 words).

The CV will also cover your work history. We recommend you include up to the last 3 roles of employment history, plus any others that you feel are relevant.

Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your Behaviour examples. Your CV will be used to add context to your Behaviour examples.

**Please note the closing date for your full application is 23:55 on 03/02/2026**

The sift is scheduled to be held from 09/02/2026 to 06/03/2026. These dates may be subject to change.

Stage 3 - Interview

If you pass the written application sift with the required score you will be invited to a blended interview and will receive an electronic notification to your Civil Service Jobs account.

The interviews will be conducted face to face. Where possible the interviews will take place at some of the locations listed in the Candidate Pack (slide 2), however candidates may be expected to travel to an alternative location as required.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend a face-to-face interview, please ensure you state those on your application form when asked to do so.

Interviews are scheduled to take place from 13/04/2026, please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. Interviews will be scheduled Monday to Friday, between 09:00 to 17:00.

Communications will be electronic and/or by SMS/telephone therefore it is important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder. Telephone calls may show as a withheld number, it is important that you answer so that your interview can be confirmed. If you wish to opt out of SMS messages, please email this address, including the vacancy reference and your candidate ID CFCD.RECRUITMENTINBOX@DWP.GOV.UK. As part of our commitment to improving the candidate experience, you may be contacted during the recruitment process to provide feedback.

Preparing for the Interview
The interview will take approximately 45 minutes and will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions. A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation offering a more inclusive approach. The behaviour and strength-based questioning explores what you, the candidate, can and have done, but also your potential.

Behaviours

You will be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours listed at level 3. An example of a behavioural question would be “How did you lead by example to inspire and motivate your teams?”.

It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model above to explain:

Strengths

It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.

If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.

If you withdraw your application at any stage, it will not be progressed any further.

Stage 4 – Offer

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first based on your location preferences and the geographical requirements of the business. Dependent on your position on the merit list, if none of your location preferences remain at the point we make a job offer, we may offer you a role at an alternative advertised location. If we are unable to offer you a role in any of your preferred locations, and you are unable to accept a role at an alternative advertised location, we will add you to the reserve list if one is being held.

The successful candidates will be notified of a start date following successful pre-employment checks, which is likely to be during July 2026.

Important information

Candidate pack

It is important that you take time to read the candidate pack which can be found at the bottom of this job advert. This provides further information about the role and working in DWP.

Location

Please see slide 2 in the candidate pack for list of possible locations. You should only apply for suitable posts where you can travel to and from your home office location daily within a reasonable time. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

Hybrid working

This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office. If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert.

Hybrid working will not commence until any training and consolidation period has been successfully completed.

Working pattern

Part-time, part-year, term-time compressed hours and job-sharing working patterns within working hours will be considered but must meet business needs. We will do our best to let people with existing part time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line with current business needs. Please note that successful candidates with agreed alternative working patterns may be required to work full time for specific periods to complete all training and consolidation.

Hours of work

The full-time working week in DWP is 37 hours. You may be required to work at any time between the hours of:

7:45am and 8:00pm on any day between Monday to Friday, and
8:45am to 5:00pm on Saturday.

Managers will agree working patterns with successful applicants within these business hours and review these as appropriate. You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule.

Further Information

Diversity and Inclusion

At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

Find out more about working for DWP on the DWP Careers Hub.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 3 months from which further appointments can be made.

If you are placed on a reserve list but we cannot immediately offer you a post, please note:

Please note:

If you are later offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a contractual part time working pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered or in the case of serious ill health).
If we make an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.

Disability Confident Scheme

If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

Reasonable Adjustments

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the Government Recruitment Service via DWPRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

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

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Integrity, plagiarism and Civil Service Principles

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles.

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words.

Examples of plagiarism can include:

Presenting the work, ideas and experience of others as your own
Copying content or answers from an online or published source that is not your own

Disclosure and Barring Service and Internal Fraud Database Checks

To process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

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.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check will be carried out.

Important

Salary

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. If you are a current employee and are successful you must be able to be released from your current post within four weeks.

Those on protected TUPE/ COSoP terms and conditions applying on promotion or voluntary permanent level move will adopt DWP’s Terms and Conditions and this may have a different impact on pay and allowances. Please review this prior to acceptance of a role.

Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing. Accepting a post will be taken to mean acceptance of revised terms & conditions.

Civil Servants applying on promotion will usually be appointed to the salary minimum or within 10% of existing salary.

Any move to DWP from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may, however, be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at the Childcare Choices Website.

Visa Sponsorship

For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed.

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

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 : CFCD RECRUITMENT TEAM
Email : CFCD.RECRUITMENTINBOX@DWP.GOV.UK

Recruitment team

Email : dwprecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DWP by email: HR.BUSINESSASSURANCE@DWP.GOV.UK.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission. Click here to visit the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

DWP Terms and Conditions January 2024 (3) Opens in new window (docx, 17kB)Success-Profiles-Candidate-Overview (18) Opens in new window (pdf, 635kB)444690 Senior Operational Leader - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 524kB)

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