Deputy Operational Support Manager

Job summary

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.

This role sits within Digital Services (DS) PMO team, responsible for the governance and reporting of all DS delivery and BAU supporting activity each month. This is a part of the regular DS reporting cycle, to enable DS Senior Leadership Team (SLT) make key decisions for their areas.

This role enables delivery and reporting of services and projects, by creating the right conditions and providing support to ensure that teams can do the right things for users and stakeholders – in the right way and at the right time. You will work as a small team that owns the progress reporting, dependency management, and benefits realisation, for at least two deputy Director work areas in Digital Services. You and your team will work directly with key stakeholders, project leads to enable suitable internal and external reporting to aid delivery success.This role will fit into the wider digital services PMO team, where Operational Support Managers are empowered to act as strategic champions for key PMO activities across digital services including deputising on behalf of the Operational Support Manager.

Job description

The Deputy Operational Support Manager can have a wide range of responsibilities and will require the ability to support the team leads and wider teams in the day-to-day activities. You will be responsible for administrative tasks, operational management, improvement of processes and ensuring effective running of operational services and delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collate and produce management information whilst reviewing and monitoring value.
• Assisting with the creation and on-going support for Operational Continuity plans and business rhythm documentation.
• Managing agenda coordination, meeting schedules and completion of notes & actions, ensuring the key actions are managed and monitored through agreed systems.
• Record and ensure appropriate management of operational delivery risks.
• Build and maintain good working relationships across forums to provide support to colleagues.
• Managing the inbox and housekeeping of associated SharePoint sites.
• Develop and maintain subject matter expertise where needed of ONS Systems.
• Work collaboratively with teams to enable system and data changes.
• Seek opportunities for continuous improvement of processes and systems.
• Provide monthly MI, giving metrics to ensure performance issues are accounted for.
• Develops and manages issues escalation process, tracking issues through to resolution working with operational teams.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Proven experience of building and maintaining effective working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, collaborating across teams to deliver high-quality services and outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, motivate and support teams, providing clear direction, promoting an inclusive culture, and ensuring the achievement of performance targets and operational objectives.
• Experience of identifying opportunities for continuous improvement, using feedback, problem-solving skills, and innovation to enhance services, processes, and team performance.
• Strong analytical skills with experience of interpreting and presenting data, including producing management information, dashboards, and insights to support decision-making, service delivery, and performance improvement.
• Ability to make informed decisions and deliver results at pace, assessing risks, managing competing priorities, and providing clear, evidence-based recommendations in challenging or time-sensitive situations.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,587, Office for National Statistics contributes £10,019 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).

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.

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 and Experience.

Visa Sponsorship:

ONS is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants must have a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are currently in the UK on a time-limited visa, it must have at least 18 months remaining at the point of application.

Right to Work and Nationality Requirements:

To work at ONS, applicants must meet the Civil Service nationality requirements, satisfy UK right to work requirements and, where applicable, meet the relevant security clearance requirements.

If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please