Operations Manager (Ref:4071)

This position is based at NDC BRANSTON - ADMIN SUPPORT BURTON-ON-TRENT, DE14 3EG

Job Summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job Description

The National Distribution Centre

The National Distribution Centre (NDC) provides a critical logistics and supply chain service to all public sector prisons including the collection, storage and delivery of a wide range of products. Products stored and carried include goods from commercial suppliers, raw materials into workshops and a wide range of internally manufactured products. As part of the Ministry of Justice, the site also supports other front line delivered services where required. The in-house NDC fleet is designed to operate on a specialised demount system which is largely governed by challenges that arise from physical vehicular access restrictions across the prison estate, necessitating a mix of vehicle types and heights. The fleet delivers to the public sector prison estate on a national 5 day working week basis, operating a single shift system, supported by nights out as and when required. The current logistics and supply chain solution for prisons has been operating in much the same way for many years. Challenges including prison capacity increases, aging technology, limited space and sustainability pressures are all contributing to an environment where specific focus needs to be given to the future shape and scale of the logistics function, to deliver transformational change linked to the adoption of new technology and the efficiencies that can be delivered.

Commercial

The Logistics and Supply Chain function sits within the Commercial Directorate within the MoJ. The Ministry of Justice has one of the largest and most complex spending profiles in central government. Each year we spend more than £5 billion with our suppliers and it’s our job to help coordinate the sourcing of what we need. We support the management of our contracts across the department, its agencies and non departmental public bodies. Commercial is responsible for coordinating procurement and contract management across the MoJ, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Commercial is organised into category teams, each with an interesting portfolio of contracts and diverse customers and suppliers to manage. We also have systems, programme management office, supplier relationship and risk management teams who work across all areas.

Role Summary

The Operations Manager is a critical role which has responsibility for the day to day running of all aspects of the Logistic and Supply chain services provided across the prison estate through the National Distribution Centre. As such the role holder will be based at the NDC in Branston to oversee delivery of the operations. The role fits within a multi-disciplinary senior leadership team that is actively engaged in supporting the HMPPS prisoner decency agenda and focuses on the front line delivery of services to the prison service estate and, where required, the wider MoJ. The role reports into the Head of Supply Chain & Logistics. The Operations Manager has responsibility for a team of 58 FTE which includes three direct reports covering the warehouse, logistics and functional support, and their respective organisational structures.

Key Responsibilities

The role is part of the Senior Leadership Team in the Supply Chain and Logistics function, currently based in Branston. The SLT is a multi-disciplinary team that is actively engaged in supporting the HMPPS delivering its front lines services with the provision of Warehousing, Logistics and Fleet service. The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

• Building and maintaining valued, sustainable, and effective relationships with key stakeholders to ensure interactions are constructive, positive and support effective delivery
• Collaborate with Prison Industries (PIHQ) colleagues to support increases in the proportion of products manufactured internally to support prisoner employment and rehabilitation
• Work with PIHQ to optimise stock levels and maintain/improve OTIF targets.
• Actively engage with Commercial colleagues to support in the definition of logistics solutions on 3rd party contracts
• Define service levels agreements and formalise supplier/stakeholder relationships.
• Provide and manage a cost-efficient warehouse and distribution solution for the MoJ whilst ensuring the achievement of key performance levels
• Ensure that the NDC achieves its operational budget targets as defined by the Head of Logistics
• Oversee continuous improvement initiatives across all areas of the operation and encourage all teams to contribute and buy into the process. Work closely with senior colleagues in developing a future proof logistics solution to meet expansion demands
• Ensure that all legal operator requirements are met in terms of HGV and driver management. Although this list is not exhaustive it includes:
• Working time directive, driver CPC/CPD, training and driving assessment>
• Adherence to tachograph regulations>
• Servicing, maintenance and defect management of vehicles>
• Training, recruitment and retention of drivers>
• In line with MoJ policy and the Health, Safety and Work Act ensure that safe systems of work and risk assessments are adhered to and managed robustly
• Effectively manage all staff work across all areas of the business. Manage staff attendance and records and HR requirements in relation to direct reports
• Continue to develop warehouse, transport and administration managers by providing support, guidance and leadership
• Support the rehabilitation of prisoners through working with HMPPS colleagues on Released on Temporary Licence (ROTL) programme for prisoner training placements.
  
  

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alternations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Essential Criteria

• A good understanding of commercial principles including procurement, contract management and supplier management
• Evidenced excellent organisational and prioritisation skills.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to influence at all levels.
• The ability to quickly build positive relationships with stakeholders, colleagues and suppliers.
• Excellent judgement combined with the ability to spot and manage risk, and bring solutions to problems.
• Excellent communication and engagement skills, with the ability to persuade and influence others.
• Strong understanding of the wider governmental and organisational context. You can gauge the bigger picture and bring innovative ideas to solve problems.
• Confident setting direction and credibly driving forward priorities by delivering through others. With the ability to inspire the wider team and those you line manage, to ensure high performance, and build resilience in yourself and others.
• The ability to see the bigger picture, think beyond silos, to deliver continuous improvement across the supply chain function.
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
• Knowledge and experience of working in a distribution warehouse with line management responsibility
• Certificate of Professional Competence in Road Haulage Operations desirable
  
  

Application Stage

Experience

An initial sift will be performed against the following elements and will be assessed against the Civil Service success profiles framework:

• CV
• Statement of Suitability (up to 1000 words): this should be based around your experience on the key responsibilities and essential criteria
  
  

Behaviours

We will assess your application on the following behaviours. Please use the STAR method in your examples.

• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
  
  

Please note in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift against CV, Statement of Suitability and lead behaviour of “Managing a Quality Service”. If shortlisted, you will be invited to an interview and will be assessed on the selected success profile elements at the interview stage.

Interview stage

There Is One Interview Stage For This Vacancy Which Will Be Held Remotely And As Part Of The Interview Process You Will Be Required To Provide Evidence On The Following, And Will Be Assessed Against The Civil Service Success Profiles Framework:

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
  
  

Experience And Technical

At interview there will be experience and technical questions around your experience of running a logistics and/or distribution centre. Strengths maybe assessed at the interview, and these are not shared in advance. To learn more about the Civil Service success profiles framework and how they are assessed please click here. Please use STAR approach to structure your examples for both the application and interview for behaviours. Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.

Situation: Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.

• Where are you?
• Who was there with you?
• What had happened?
  
  

Task: The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.

• What was the task that you had to complete and why?
• What did you have to achieve?
  
  

Actions: What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.

Results: Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.

• What results did the actions produce?
• What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
• Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?
  
  

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.

The National Distribution Centre

The National Distribution Centre (NDC) provides a critical logistics and supply chain service to all public sector prisons including the collection, storage and delivery of a wide range of products. Products stored and carried include goods from commercial suppliers, raw materials into workshops and a wide range of internally manufactured products. As part of the Ministry of Justice, the site also supports other front line delivered services where required. The in-house NDC fleet is designed to operate on a specialised demount system which is largely governed by challenges that arise from physical vehicular access restrictions across the prison estate, necessitating a mix of vehicle types and heights. The fleet delivers to the public sector prison estate on a national 5 day working week basis, operating a single shift system, supported by nights out as and when required. The current logistics and supply chain solution for prisons has been operating in much the same way for many years. Challenges including prison capacity increases, aging technology, limited space and sustainability pressures are all contributing to an environment where specific focus needs to be given to the future shape and scale of the logistics function, to deliver transformational change linked to the adoption of new technology and the efficiencies that can be delivered.

Commercial

The Logistics and Supply Chain function sits within the Commercial Directorate within the MoJ. The Ministry of Justice has one of the largest and most complex spending profiles in central government. Each year we spend more than £5 billion with our suppliers and it’s our job to help coordinate the sourcing of what we need. We support the management of our contracts across the department, its agencies and non departmental public bodies. Commercial is responsible for coordinating procurement and contract management across the MoJ, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Commercial is organised into category teams, each with an interesting portfolio of contracts and diverse customers and suppliers to manage. We also have systems, programme management office, supplier relationship and risk management teams who work across all areas.

Experience And Technical

At interview there will be experience and technical questions around your experience of running a logistics and/or distribution centre. Strengths maybe assessed at the interview, and these are not shared in advance. To learn more about the Civil Service success profiles framework and how they are assessed please click here. Please use STAR approach to structure your examples for both the application and interview for behaviours. Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.

Situation: Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.

• Where are you?
• Who was there with you?
• What had happened?
  
  

Task: The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.

• What was the task that you had to complete and why?
• What did you have to achieve?
  
  

Actions: What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.

Results: Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.

• What results did the actions produce?
• What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
• Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?
  
  

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.

Person specification

Please Refer To Job Description

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
  
  

Technical skills

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

• Technical question around your experience of running a logistics and/or distribution centre.
• Technical question around your experience of running a logistics and/or distribution centre.
  
  

Alongside your salary of £56,532, Ministry of Justice contributes £16,377 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance
  
  

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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 : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : [email protected]
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]
  
  

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. I you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL ([email protected]) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/4071?entityId=4071