Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, Scotland, South East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber About the job Job summary The Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service (IRIS) is made up of diverse, blended teams, including analysts, digital specialists, intelligence experts, and fraud, error and debt specialists. We are a dynamic and responsive community working together to transform and drive the handling of fraud, error and debt, scanning the horizon for new threats and empowering the frontline. Through its strong connections and understanding of the DWP landscape, integration of disparate data sources and agile ways of working, the community will feed a stream of intelligence and insight around DWP. IRIS will enable DWP to prevent fraud and error and be recognised as leaders in anticipating threats, and ultimately deterring those who pose a threat from attempting to defraud in the first place. Job description The Strategy & Service Optimisation Team sits at the heart of the IRIS community. The senior leader of this team is a high-profile role with extensive stakeholder engagement as well delivery responsibilities. You will report to the Deputy Director Head of IRIS and will manage a team of around 10 multi-disciplinary change, strategy and engagement experts. The Strategy & Service Optimisation Team develops the future strategy for IRIS, considering the broader business landscape, being the voice of IRIS within the change community, working with other programmes, policy and digital colleagues, business partners and strategy colleagues to build the future IRIS model. The team will own the Target Operating Model for IRIS and will manage our response to future fiscal events and other continuous improvement activities. These functions include: The Strategy Design, development and implementation for IRIS, considering the future plans in Business Strategy, the FED Strategy, Service Transformation, etc, having a voice with these future-focussed teams to ensure the service IRIS provides to the Department is optimised and meets stakeholder requirements. Engagement with the change community in DWP, representing IRIS in Change Forums, ensuring IRIS staff have the opportunity to impact change fully against existing capabilities and systems. Developing the Target Operating Model and Interim Operating Model for IRIS, aligned to the 2030 Strategy for the Department. Working across IRIS, CFCD and DWP to provide a robust business case for future spending review bids and fiscal events. Develop continuous improvement processes and capabilities to ensure that IRIS listens to and reacts to the feedback from our customers and adapts our capabilities as appropriate. Manage and maintain the Strategic Roadmap for IRIS capability and transformation, detailing our strategic goals, and the steps we are taking to achieve them. You will: Work collaboratively across IRIS, CFCD, wider DWP and across Government to facilitate the successful delivery of our aims and objectives. Use your initiative and confidently develop and lead your people to deliver the Strategy & Optimisation function for IRIS. Support senior managers to ensure we deliver the Strategy & Change priorities in IRIS. Be a self-starter who can spot opportunities to build the IRIS profile through ongoing engagement with diverse key stakeholders. Be a visionary leader, who can articulate and socialise our IRIS Strategy and future plans to DWP and other external colleagues. Be successful at building trust and good working relationships within the whole of IRIS, CFCD, DWP and beyond, acting as a positive advocate for our area of the business. Enjoy working and leading at pace, ensuring joint objectives are in place, bringing a clear sense of delivery and achievement to the team. Be someone who wants to continuously improve ways of working and key services and products, so collectively our team is always striving to deliver the best we can. As part of the role you will need to familiarise yourself with the business of the wider CFCD, and Fraud, Disability and Health to understand how IRIS fits into the business, and with the FED Strategy and Policy Division. You will need to be proactive in both engaging with the wider team to embed good working relationships and in building up a sound working knowledge of fraud and error, and cyber data and security analytic products. Key Responsibilities/Deliverables of Post: Leading a strong future strategy agenda across IRIS, ensuring all teams have a clear set of strategic plans. Working closely with Business Strategy & Policy colleagues at a senior level to help influence future thinking and our future response to fraud. Leading engagement activities with the change community, building strong, productive relationships with other parts of DWP and across Government Departments, building our influence and routes of communication in that community, ensuring we are on the front foot in terms of our response to change. Building a strong continuous improvement strategy for IRIS, ensuring we are responsive to the change community in amending and improving services to our customers and stakeholders. Being able to articulate the Strategic Roadmap for IRIS capability and transformation and demonstrate how the current priorities for IRIS dovetail with the future business strategy. Due to the geographically dispersed nature of this team, this role will require frequent travel and overnight stays. Person specification Key criteria The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their potential and capability in the following areas: Strong inspirational, strategic leadership, including the ability to get diverse teams and stakeholders to deliver effectively. Extensive experience of developing strong relationships across organisational boundaries, including communicating and influencing effectively with stakeholders at senior levels of the organisation. Proven experience of coordinating and delivering complex change with a focus on digital transformation, solving complex operational and management problems and realising benefits for customers. The ability to think strategically, prioritise and set direction across a diverse range of activities. An understanding of fraud, error and debt, including roles and responsibilities across the Department and wider. A track record of solving complex operational delivery and strategic capability and management problems. Desirable skills Experience of the fraud and error agenda and the Departmental response to the fraud and error landscape. Some knowledge of working in a strategy delivery environment. If based in Wales, the ability to speak Welsh is desirable. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership Seeing the Big Picture Changing and Improving Communicating and Influencing Benefits Alongside your salary of £72,664, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £21,050 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 (prorata 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 years 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 Womens Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience. Stage 1 written application and sift As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a personal statement detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role. In no more than 1250 words, please carefully consider the statement below. You should address this when constructing your personal statement. You should also consider both the job description and the person specification details above when providing your evidence. Evidence an example of when you have displayed inspiring strategic leadership and influencing skills across boundaries to achieve required outcomes, while dealing with conflicting priorities, considering complex data and information to make decisions. Please detail how your impact resulted in successes in delivering organisational objectives and priorities. Your personal statement needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You dont have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role. 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. You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your education, professional qualifications and full employment history. Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement. Please note the closing date for your full application is 23:55 on 18/02/2025 The sift is scheduled to be held from 19/02/2025 to 07/03/2025. These dates may be subject to change. Stage 2 - 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 interview will be conducted face to face in Caxton House, Tothill Street, Westminster, SW1H 9NA. 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 24/03/2025, 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 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. 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 above at level 4. To help you prepare and settle into the interview you will be sent the behavioural questions in advance of the interview. These questions should be treated as confidential and should not be shared. The interview panel may ask you other questions which will not be shared in advance, including follow-up questions on behaviours, and those about your strengths. 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 to explain: WHO - W hat it was? H ow you approached the work/situation? What the O utcomes were, what did you achieve? or STAR - What was the S ituation? What were the T asks? What A ction did you take? What were the R esults of your actions? 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 3 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. The successful candidate will be notified of a start date following successful security checks, which is likely to be during August / September 2025. Please note: If you are 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. 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. Note: exceptional circumstances could be when a candidate has requested a contractual part time working pattern and this pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered, or in cases of serious ill health. You should also note that if successful in this campaign, you will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before applying for any other lateral moves within DWP. 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. The applicant who is successful after interview will be asked their three preferred locations via an offline email process. 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 job 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. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post. 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. Hybrid working will not commence until the training and consolidation period has been successfully completed. 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 Find out more about Working for DWP A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. 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. To find out if you are eligible visit https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms and conditions of employment, for example mobility, pay and allowances. Civil Servants who transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms and conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Pre-employment checks If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland 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.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Infodisclosurescotland.co.uk 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 applicants 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. Successful applicants for this role will need to undergo National Security Vetting to Security Clearance Level (SC) due to the nature of the role. For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post. For further information on national security vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting Successful candidates should note that this process can take 12 to 14 weeks which is out of our control. The evidence you provide must relate to your own experiences. If evidence of plagiarism, or sharing of questions, information or answers throughout any part of the selection process is found, your application will be withdrawn. Examples of plagiarism can include: Presenting the work, ideas and experience of others as your own. Copying content from an online/published source. Using forms of Artificial Intelligence to produce application content which you present as your own. Reasonable adjustments At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. 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 Government Recruitment Service via dwprecruitment.grscabinetoffice.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 are 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. Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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 the Civil 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.RECRUITMENTINBOXDWP.GOV.UK Recruitment team Email : dwprecruitment.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions 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.BUSINESSASSURANCEDWP.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. 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