Insolvency Service

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, London (Croydon & Stratford) Manchester, Newcastle, and Nottingham.

About the job

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty. 

Legal Services Directorate undertakes both criminal enforcement work on a range of offences that underpin the insolvency and corporate regimes and civil litigation work arising from director misconduct and corporate wrongdoing.

This post is a highly visible, key strategic leadership role within LSD, responsible for leading the Paralegal Officer team to drive operational delivery in their key areas of work.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 10 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability & Health, FACES Network Group, Grass Roots, LGBT+, Mind Matters, No Limits, Part Time Workers, The Shed, and Women’s Network Group. 

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working (minimum 34 hours for this role). We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, though our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities. 

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career! 

Job description

This is a new and exciting opportunity within our Legal Services Directorate.

As Head of the Paralegal Officer Team, you will lead a highly motivated team which is responsible for providing support and assistance to the in-house legal teams across all aspects of our enforcement work. Working to the Assistant Director (Paralegal), you will lead, inspire and motivate your team, welcome feedback and champion continuous improvement both in service delivery and personal development. 

Responsibilities

• Functional leadership of a growing team (currently 26 people of various grades). You will be expected to contribute to wider corporate activity within the Directorate and wider Agency by managing workloads and performance, promoting an inclusive working environment and motivating and developing staff to reach full potential.
• As part of the Paralegal Senior Leadership Team, you will support the Assistant Director (Paralegal) in the operational management of the Paralegal Team. A key part of this role will involve creating, developing, and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders and managing their varying and complex needs.
• Accountable for the operational delivery of the Paralegal Officer team, ensuring its contribution to the achievement of the directorate’s enforcement KPIs. You will manage performance across the team, identifying risks to performance achievement, and driving forward continuous improvement.
• Provide assurance to the LSD SMT through the development of the Paralegal Officer audit plan, completion of regular audits and contribution to risk management.
• Act as Deputy Information Asset Owner for the directorate, with specific responsibility for the internal criminal case database.
• Lead in all aspects of people planning activities for the team including, but not limited to, work force planning, recruitment and development of training plans.
• Act as directorate lead for technology improvements relating to court interactions and transition to the National Identity and Access Management.
• Frequent travel to the Manchester and Stratford offices will be required.

Person specification

• You will have excellent interpersonal skills, be a self-starter who can work flexibly, effectively and inclusively when working across teams, departmental and other boundaries.
• You have strong organisational skills, with an ability to prioritise tasks and work to tight deadlines.
• You will have strong analytical and problem-solving skills and can effectively monitor performance, have the ability to effectively interpret and use management information to deliver against performance objectives.
• You can keep your own and the team’s efforts focused on the goals that really matter and successfully manage, support and stretch yourself to deliver agreed outcomes by being proactive and taking ownership and accountability for decisions and commitments.
• You will have a willingness to adapt to change and promote the positive benefits of a culture of continuous improvement.
• You empower and encourage your diverse workforce, providing real opportunities for people to develop their strengths and innovate
• You will have a working knowledge of civil and criminal legal processes.
• You have experience and knowledge of leading large and diverse teams through effective coaching and mentoring to improve operational delivery.
• The successful candidate will need to pass security clearance at the NPPV2 level which will be processed as part of the onboarding process.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £51,518, Insolvency Service contributes £14,924 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want you to have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do, so we offer a great benefits package including: 

• flexible working arrangements and flexi-time
• full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service 
• in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• a Cycle to work scheme
• staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension 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. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk 

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Helen Bailey
• Email : helen.bailey@insolvency.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : InsolvencyRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

A candidate can raise a complaint to the Insolvency Service by emailing the contact point for applicants (as listed on the vacancy advert), if they think that:

They have been discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010

there have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process

All complaints must be received by the contact point for applicants within 24 hours from the date the applicant is advised of their non-success at sift, assessment or interview. Complaints will be considered by an independent third-party outside of recruitment campaign. The decision will be conveyed to the applicant, in writing, within 5 working days of receipt of the complaint. The recruitment process will usually be put on hold until the complaint has been resolved. Complaints may also be made to the Civil Service Commission at any time if the individual believes their application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles (appointment on merit through fair and open competition). However, complaints must first have been raised to the Insolvency Service

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