CEAST Manager

This is a key role and we are looking for someone who will help us deliver this key leadership role across Disability Services.
We welcome applications from candidates who demonstrate inspirational and resourceful leadership as well as the key criteria listed below. We are proud to be part of DWP, which is the Government’s largest public service department serving 18 million customers.
We are committed to the Civil Service ambition to become the UK’s most inclusive employer and we absolutely welcome and encourage applications from every part of our community, particularly from groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and those with protected characteristics.
As a Disability Confident employer, we also put in place reasonable adjustments to support disabled job applicants and employees.
As part of Disability Services (DS) you will be at the heart of helping to transform people’s lives and supporting DS’ purpose of delivering timely and accurate outcomes to our customers., DS - Senior leaders (SEO) support the flexible, effective, personalised delivery of customer service, quality and performance across sites.
SEO Leaders inspire colleagues through difficult situations, transform performance and are accountable for the effective utilisation of operational resources, delivering improved value for money and driving out inefficiencies.
Key tasks include:
+ Develop, create, and support Internal full Case Reviews, investigating the most serious case failures, identifying root causes; learning from the outcome and ensuring Lessons Learnt are taken forward by the Business.
+ Produce high quality case briefings for senior leaders; providing accurate responses to any questions raised and taking responsibility for any further actions identified. Signing off verbal and written responses and updates on time with accurate information and pragmatic solutions often to extremely tight timescales.
+ Develop effective and transparent reporting mechanisms and ensure accuracy of Management Information (MI) for circulation to stakeholders.
+ Lead and manage multiple teams, balancing workflow and meeting legislative targets.
+ A passion for excellent customer service through delivering a consistent, high quality and compassionate customer experience.
+ Actively looking at what we know about our customers and our organisation to learn and improve service design.
+ Strong analytical skills to assess information and evidence to reach an objective decision in line with guidance and provide solutions.
+ Thinking laterally and working with stakeholders to provide the right outcome for our customers.
+ Strong inspirational and inclusive leadership, including building high-performing teams.
Travel between sites will be required depending on business needs. Will be dealing with Serious Case Panel Reviews, Compiling and Delivering complex reports to Deputy Director and Director and working with senior internal and external stakeholders., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Leadership
+ Managing a Quality Service
+ Delivering at Pace
+ Working Together, The written sift will be conducted using evidence from your Personal Statement of 1250 words.
When completing your Personal Statement, you should provide evidence in response to the questions which demonstrates your experience under against each of the key criteria. This is what your written evidence will assessed against.
The written evidence you provide must relate to your own experiences.
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.
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:
What was the task? How did you approach the work/situation? What were the Outcomes?
Or
What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Lead essential criteria.
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
STAGE 2 - Selection
If you meet the required standard and your application is successful, you will receive an invitation to a blended Microsoft Teams interview.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Preparing for the interview
If you are invited to interview you will receive an electronic notification to your Civil Service Jobs site.
Once you receive the invite to interview you will need to access the system and book yourself an interview slot.
Full details of the behavioural questions will be given to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interview.
The interviews will be conducted by MS Teams and you will need to use your personal device to access the platform. We will provide instructions at the time as to how you do this.
The interview will follow a blended approach and will last approximately 50 minutes.
You will be asked a mixture of Behaviour and Strength questions. The Strength and Behaviour based questioning explores what the candidate can and has done, but also their potential.
A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation at the interview, offering a more inclusive approach.
Behavioural questions will explore what you have done in previous jobs or experiences as well as what you have achieved and/or learned.
The interview will include a blend of Behaviour and Strength-based questions.
You will be assessed on the following Behaviours (Level 3):
+ Leadership.
+ Managing a quality service.
+ Working Together.
+ Delivering at pace.
STAGE 3 - Offer
If you are successful at the interview stage, we will be in touch to offer you a role or confirm that you have been added to the Reserve List.
Offers will be made in strict merit order with offers being made to the highest scoring candidates first, taking into account the availability of selected location preference(s).
Further Information
Find out more about Working for DWP
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 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. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
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 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.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
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 you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
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. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.
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. 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.
Reasonable Adjustment
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.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.
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 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.

+ Experience of and evidence to show a real passion for excellent customer service. Including lateral thinking in your approach, putting the customer first with a focus on the right outcome for the customer, displaying both compassion and resilience in a challenging and complex role. (Lead Criteria)
+ Ability to adjust quickly to changing priorities and conditions and effectively manage complexity and change, with strong attention to detail to ensure the accuracy of documents/statistics produced.
+ Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate with senior leaders across the department or business – including but not limited to the use of excellent drafting skills.
+ Strong organisational skills and ability to forward plan, with a good working knowledge of Microsoft products.
+ High level of judgement and ability to deal confidentially with sensitive matters.
+ A positive approach to working in a fast-paced environment, Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate and innovate the people who work within your team and ability to manage across multiple sites.
+ The ability to gather, analyse and present / report data from a range of sources in a clear and concise way. Excellent communication and influencing skills to work across a diverse range of stakeholders and deal with conflicting views .

Alongside your salary of £42,614, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £12,345 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.