Deputy Director Planning & Service Improvement

Reporting to the Director for Finance, Planning & Performance (FP&P) and working to support activity throughout Customer Services Group (CSG), this is a key leadership role and part of the FP&P Senior Leadership Team (SLT) with specific responsibility for the transformation and delivery of industry leading forecasting and planning processes that enable us to deliver our Customer Charter and business purpose within a challenging cost envelope.
This role will also be key to the implementation of the Planning Standardisation Programme in CSG, that is focused on transforming the way that workforce planning is delivered within a centralised function.
The role holder will be responsible for leading a large team of planners, forecasters and real time managers, ensuring effective collaboration between teams and ultimate responsibility for all forecast demand requirements, ensuring resources are aligned to meet SLAs and KPIs.
Working with the Planning Standardisation programme to land and oversee industry best practice including:
Supporting customer service, debt management and compliance teams which sit within CSG, operating across digital, post and phone channels on multiple systems.
Key Responsibilities
o Leading planning for a complex customer service business of 22,000 people so is of a massive size and scale.
o Leadership of the planning function and overseeing geographically dispersed teams of analysts and managers, transforming the planning teams into well-round, effective and highly motivated planning and forecasting experts focused on industry leading forecasting and planning methodologies.
o Transform the Planning teams into well-rounded, effective and highly motivated planning and forecasting experts focussing on industry leading forecasting and planning methodologies.
o Equip the team to communicate and partner effectively with their internal customers to ensure operational areas and key support functions receive a high quality service, whilst fostering cross-functional collaboration.
o Develop a centre of excellence for operational forecasting and planning in the Civil Service which provides the team with meaningful career progression and connects with leading external forecasting and planning bodies., o Accountability for ensuring that results are achieved through Account Health Check methodologies working in close collaboration with the Directors of Operations. This entails ensuring the delivery of consistent, efficient, and cutting-edge processes, tools and governance practices in the industry.
o Takes the lead role and collaborates closely with Operations to devise and oversee the implementation of an estate design strategy aimed at achieving the utilisation targets established by the business.
o Lead their teams in devising, executing, and applying shift strategies that are feasible and deliver the service our customers need, are workable for our people, and are cost-efficient and affordable for HMRC.
o Proactive preparation of accurate capacity plans, efficient utilisation of the HMRC estate, recruitment strategy planning and development, training planning and effective communication of plans, actions and progress to the business.
o Achieving the budget and efficiency goals of the centralised planning team, while ensuring an ideal balance between central and local roles, streamlined processes, and the delivery of high-quality results, all with a focus on agility and scalability.
o Maintain comprehensive tracking of all planning-related assumptions throughout the end-to-end planning lifecycle and actual data to verify that plans are progressing as intended, and promptly identify and address any initial signs of deviation. Collaborate with the operations team to realign strategies or engage with the business when deviations occur.
o In addition to the key accountabilities mentioned, the successful candidate may be expected to take on additional tasks and responsibilities as needed to support the overall goals and objectives of the team and the organisation., We are seeking a visionary Deputy Director of Planning Service Improvement to join our team. In this critical role, you will be responsible for ensuring the optimal allocation of our resources to meet the dynamic needs of our customers. Working closely with senior leadership, you will develop and implement strategic plans that enhance operational efficiency, elevate customer satisfaction, and propel our business forward.
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following essential criteria., o A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
o A Statement of Suitability explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the criteria in the person specification.
Your CV and Statement of Suitability should reflect your most relevant and recent skills and experience in relation to the role. Therefore, we recommend that each document is no more than two A4 pages long.
Shortlist
An application pre-sift will be conducted by the SCS Recruitment Team followed by an in-depth review by the Vacancy Holder and Panel.
The panel will assess and select applicants who demonstrate the best fit with the role by considering the evidence provided against the criteria set out in the Person Specification. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application. The closing date for applications is 4th November 2024 and a shortlist decision is expected to be made by 15th November 2024. All candidates will be notified of the outcome shortly afterwards.
Interview:
You will be asked to attend an interview for a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence.
We will also ask you to prepare a 5-minute verbal presentation. Details will be issued in advance of your interview.
Interviews are expected to take place on 4th December 2024 and will be held in person in Liverpool (full instructions will be issued prior to interview).
Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible once all interviews have concluded.
All Criminal Record Checks applications are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

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 counter-terrorist 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:
o UK nationals
o nationals of the Republic of Ireland
o nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
o 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)
o 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)
o individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
o 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).

o Strategic Business Acumen: Demonstrates a deep understanding of business drivers and applies commercial awareness to resource planning, customer experience transformation, as well as multichannel transformation and change including digital.
o Leadership and People Management: Excels in thought leadership, results-oriented approaches, and effective people management to foster high-performing teams.
o Organizational and Execution Skills: Possesses meticulous attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and time management abilities to prioritize and manage multiple responsibilities.
o Influential Leadership: Exemplifies influential leadership, with established credibility, superior communication skills, and gravitas in their field.
o Stakeholder Management: Effectively communicates and collaborates with a diverse range of internal and external senior stakeholders.
o Operational Expertise: Has a strong track record in senior planning roles within complex, multichannel businesses of sizeable scale with exposure to operational forecasting, capacity planning, intra day and real time management, workforce management, CRM and contact centre technologies, and operational excellence.
Desirable criteria:
o AI forecasting and planning exposure is preferred but not essential but the Post Holder needs to be willing to lead its development.

Alongside your salary of £76,000, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously and want to enable you to build a successful career with HMRC and the wider Civil Service.
It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing.
As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
The Civil Service values and supports all its employees.
At HMRC we want to create great places to work that are welcoming to all – where there is a strong sense of belonging and community.
Our vision is to be an organisation that is inclusive, respectful and reflective of the customer communities we serve. Read more about what we do here
Pension
Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package.
A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join and where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contribution comes out of your salary before any tax is taken and will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire.
Visit Civil Service Pension Scheme for more details.
Generous Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance
25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service (allowance pro-rata for part-time colleagues). This is in addition to your public holidays.
This will be complemented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday.
Staff Wellbeing
Flexible working patterns and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours.
Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers.
Opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (applicable sites only).
Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle.