Senior Operations Manager

Job summary

We are MHCLG

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives. Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda.

Local AI is a new team within MHCLG, working with councils to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in local public services. We support the responsible adoption of AI across local government, focusing on practical tools that save time, reduce costs and improve services for residents.

Local AI’s goal is not simply to introduce new technology. We work with councils and partners to solve real service challenges where AI can make the biggest difference.

Our work spans product development, service transformation, capability building and shaping the wider adoption of AI across local government. Recent examples include Local Transcribe our work supporting councils to responsibly adopt AI, and looking at how AI can play a role in temporary accommodation.

Joining Local AI offers a rare opportunity to help shape how one of the most significant changes of our time is applied in public services. You will work alongside experts from local and central government, academia and industry to test new ideas, deliver practical solutions and help improve outcomes for millions of people who rely on local services every day.

As a Senior Operations Manager, you will lead the operational support for Local AI products and services, acting as a key point of contact for councils and users. You will design and continually improve onboarding, support and service management processes, helping users get the most value from products such as Local Transcribe. Working across product, delivery and service teams, you will ensure services run smoothly, issues are resolved effectively and user feedback directly informs future improvements

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog. Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

Job description

As a Senior Operations Manager you’ll:

• Lead the onboarding of councils and users onto Local Transcribe, ensuring a smooth and consistent experience from initial engagement through to service adoption
• Act as a key operational contact for participating councils, building strong relationships and maintaining effective communications throughout delivery.
• Design and continuously improve support processes, including management of support queues, service requests, incidents and user guidance.
• Coordinate council agreements, readiness activities and operational dependencies to support successful implementation and ongoing use of the service.
• Work across product, delivery, technical, user research and information governance teams to ensure the service operates effectively and users receive high-quality support.
• Monitor service performance and user feedback, identifying opportunities to improve the service and support the scaling of Local Transcribe across local government.

Person specification

As a Senior Operations Manager, you’ll have:

• Experience of managing day to day operations of multiple teams
• Experience of motivating teams through periods of operational pressure or change and managing competing deadlines and demands
• Knowledge of planning and delivering complex work in an agile or iterative environment
• Ability to proactively identify and mitigate risks and issues
• Clear ability to identify service improvements and opportunities to make processes simpler
• Experience of investigating problems in systems, processes and services, to ensure they are effectively and efficiently improved and suggesting preventative measures and improvements
• Adept experience building effective relationships across a broad stakeholder base and deliver difficult messages when required, including managing suppliers and contractors
• Skilled at communicating between technical and non-technical audiences, using the most effective channels and language for different audiences

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,092, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,829 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).At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

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

Application and Selection
The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Stage 1: Sift (CV)

Experience: Your CV will be assessed against the criteria in the job description and person specification.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead s