Senior Operations Leader- Investigations

Job summary

Do you have an inquisitive mind? Do you enjoy engaging with customers? If so, we need you!

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy, and is responsible for helping people move into employment, supporting pensioners and protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Counter Fraud Compliance and Debt (CFCD) aims to reduce fraud, error and debt within the benefit system, to protect the public purse.

As part of CFCD, you will be at the heart of DWP’s efforts to reduce fraud and error in the benefit system. This is a hugely important public service, and our challenge is greater than ever.

If you want to join an organisation that recognises the importance of work-life balance, where you can develop new skills and progress your career, then CFCD is the place for you.

Job description

• Lead a large, potentially geographically diverse team of Higher Executive Officers (HEOs), 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.
• Be aware of HR policy and procedures carrying out the decision maker role on sensitive staff related issues.

Due to t he geographically dispersed nature of this role, there will be occasional travel and overnight stays.

Person specification

• Strong 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.
• Many of our teams are spread over a wide geography and you will therefore need to be skilled in leading, motivating and remaining visible to those teams.
• Experience in leading diverse teams through coaching and mentoring to improve service delivery.
• Ability to drive performance improvement and ensure compliance with performance management policies.
• Make quality outcomes a priority in everything we do.
• Have a flexible, agile outlook, able to innovate and display creative thinking.
• Proactive, resilient, and able to overcome difficulties.
• Ability to inspire and obtain buy-in from colleagues by encouraging discussion and initiative.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to use management information to deliver against performance objectives.
• Empower and encourage a diverse workforce, providing opportunities for development and innovation.
• Have strong interpersonal skills, with a high level of emotional intelligence.
• Are honest, with integrity and probity, and have a personal demeanour that inspires confidence and loyalty.
• 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.
• Demonstrate strong leadership by communicating clearly and enthusiastically with colleagues, partners and stakeholders to drive positive outcomes .
• Lead diverse teams through effective coaching and mentoring to improve service delivery.
• Monitor performance effectively, use sound analytical skills, and interpret management information to deliver against performance objectives while maintaining quality.
• Understand and engage with change, inspire colleagues, and obtain buy-in by encouraging discussion, initiative, and ideas in support of the long-term DWP vision.
• Have knowledge of risk assessment processes, business continuity planning, and diversity impact assessments.
• Empower and encourage your diverse workforce, providing real opportunities for people to develop their strengths and innovate.

Webinar event

We will be holding a webinar event to let you know more about this role. This will take place on 25/09/2026 between 12 noon and 1pm . Please follow the link to register for the session. 479482 Senior Operations Leader Candidate Session

** If the webinar page does not open, please check that pop-ups are enabled on your browser**.

Those who attend may be contacted following the event for evaluation purposes to improve our service.

Civil Service Careers

The attached link will take you to the Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt website which gives you further information about these roles CFCD , Civil Service Careers.

Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP)

The DWP is committed to investing in people and ensuring their teams are a professional workforce. It is a requirement of counter fraud post holders within DWP to attain, and retain, membership of the Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP) at Practitioner level. This means if you are successful in applying for this role you will need to undertake an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience within your role to attain and retain practitioner level membership. We provide post holders with a learning routeway to support them in achieving as well as any workplace adjustments they may require. Failure to attain membership of the GCFP at practitioner level may result in DWP seeking an alternative role for you.

In applying you will have indicated that you have read and fully understood the professional requirements for this Counter Fraud role.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £50,044, Department for Work and Pensions contributes

£14,497 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

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, Ability and Experience.

**Ensure that you read the full information about the selection process thoroughly before starting your application**.

Please note the closing date for your full application (Application Form, Test, and CV ) is 23:55 on the 1 st of October 2026**

Stage 1 – Application Form

Please complete the application form with your basic information, which includes your personal details, eligibility to apply and any reasonable adjustments required.

Stage 2 – Online Test

After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Management Judgement Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.

Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 01/10/2026 . If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

You will be directed to the Talogy - True Talent – Scheduled Maintenance Window Webpage for online tests during an outage.

Our online test supplier will be performing scheduled maintenance between 16:00 and Midnight on 27/09/2026. You will be unable to access tests during this period.

If you are in the middle of a test when the maintenance begins, your progress will be paused. You will be able to resume your test from where you left off via your application centre once the downtime has ended. Please note that you will not be able to launch any new tests while the system is offline.

IMPORTANT : After the test deadline, we will look at all candidate scores to decide what the job’s pass mark will be. We will consider the impact on protected groups and the number of invitations to the next stage. We may decide to raise the pass mark for the job - if so, you will be informed, and you will be told if you have passed or failed at the raised standard. Meeting the minimum test requirements for a job level is no guarantee of an invite to continue the selection process.

Stage 3 - Curriculum Vitae (CV)

You will be asked to complete a C V with details of your job history, full qualification details, previous skills and experience. You are not required to upload your personal CV.

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) and your qualifications.

Your CV will not be formally assessed it will be used to add context to your Strengths and Experience Assessment only .

Stage 4 - Strengths and Experience Assessment (online) Sift

Candidates who meet the required pass mark at test will progress to Interview 1. Please note that this stage is not a live interview, despite how it may appear in system communications and is the actual Sift stage of the selection process.

This stage will consist of a short online Strengths and Experience assessment delivered via a video platform called VIDCRUITER . You will watch pre ‑ recorded questions and record y