How to get a job as an Operational Team Leader in Her Majesty’s Passport Office

Hi, I’m Avril, and I’m a senior recruiter for the Home Office. Her Majesty’s Passport Office is advertising for 99 Operational Team Leaders in regional application processing centres across the UK. I want to help you understand what these roles do, what it’s like to work in them and how we recruit to them.

As an Operational Team Leader, you will manage and develop teams responsible for providing face to face appointment services for our customers and processing passport applications that have been submitted either in person or online.

In return, we offer a competitive starting salary, a Civil Service Pension with employer contribution rates of at least 26.6%, as well as a range of other brilliant benefits including flexible working and 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service.

What does an Operational Team Leader do???

As an Operational Team Leader, you will be responsible for managing your team’s performance to meet agreed targets in relation to quantity, quality and customer service. You will also oversee the integrity and accuracy of the team’s work to ensure key policy imperatives and security instructions are followed. You will also need to maintain an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of legislation, policy, procedure and best practice, as well as managing your own time to complete all work efficiently and meet agreed service level response times.

Our job adverts explain exactly what skills and experience are required for these roles. Essentially, we’re looking for individuals who are able to work with teams to set priorities, create clear plans and manage their work to ensure needs of both the customer and the business are met. You will be adaptable, be able to analyse information and use judgement to make informed decisions and communicate effectively with others to build good working relationships. Previous experience of managing a team would also be useful.

What does an Operational Team Leader look like?

There’s no one type of person working at the Home Office. We believe different backgrounds, different perspectives and different voices add up to richer, broader thinking that helps us deliver fair and balanced outcomes. That’s why we’re committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our colleagues can bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

How do I apply for a job as an Operational Team Leader?

We strive to make our recruitment fair, open and to appoint only on merit, and as a result, elements of our selection processes can sometimes feel unfamiliar to external candidates, so hopefully it’ll help if I explain how they work.

1.???Application

This vacancy uses?Success Profiles to assess your Behaviours, Experience and Strengths. As a first step, you should submit a personal statement of no more than 750 words along with and an example of how you have demonstrated the lead behaviour listed in the job advertisement. Your Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role.

We’ll ask you to remove any information that identifies you, for example your name, age or place of education, so that you’ll be judged on merit alone and not on your background, circumstances, race or gender. This is really important to us.

2.???Interviews

Those successful at sift stage will be invited to a panel interview which will be a mix of strengths- and behaviour-based questions. The interview will take place virtually via Launchpad which means you will need access to a laptop with a working webcam and good Internet access. Please see https://launchpadrecruits.com/candidate-advice for more information.

3.???Pre-Employment Checks

Candidates who are successful at interview will be made an offer subject to the successful completion of your pre-employment checks. Following this a start date will be agreed. Please note failure to show the correct documentation during your interview will cause delays to your pre-employment checks and security clearance process being completed.

Feedback

Due to the volume of applications we expect to receive, we’ll only be able to provide feedback if you are invited for an interview or assessment.

Reserve Lists

If we have more successful candidates than available roles, a reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

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I hope this has given you an insight into the work of an Operational Team Leader and how we recruit to those roles. If you’re interested in applying, you can access the full advert here. The closing date is 23:55 on Monday, 23 May 2022.

We’ll be sharing stories from colleagues already working in these roles shortly.

In the meantime, for more information about the types of different roles that the Home Office recruits for, check out the Home Office Careers website. To see all our currently advertised vacancies, please visit the Civil Service Jobs website.