Operations Manager (Investigations)

2x Operations Manager (Investigations) - 1xPerm - 1x 12 months FTC

Location: London
Salary: £48,256 - £56,263
Hours: 34.75
Job Type: Full time
Contract Type: Permanent

The General Optical Council (GOC) is the regulator for the optical professions in the UK.

Our purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education, performance and conduct amongst opticians. We currently register around 33,000 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses. This role is to lead and manage a team of caseworkers and administrators within the Regulatory Operations directorate.

The role holder will lead and manage the performance of a team dealing with all aspects of fitness to practise proceedings. This will include allocating work, assessing risk and providing support, guidance and direction to enable the team to ensure that FtP investigations are dealt with promptly, proportionately and appropriately.

Central to the role will be the following:

• To lead, manage and support a team of caseworkers and administrators, dealing with all aspects of Fitness to Practise investigations, ensuring that all concerns are dealt with appropriately and providing process governance, quality control and management of risk.
• To ensure that all relevant procedures are followed in line with legislation and good practice and ensuring that issues and queries are resolved or escalated if necessary.
• To contribute to the achievement of FTP key performance indicators and internal targets.
• To support the Head of Investigations and Head of Case Progression, deputising when required and providing support to the Investigation Committee and Case Examiners, providing procedural expertise where necessary, and to in-house advocates and lawyers.
• To contribute to the development of case management efficiency, including the implementation and improvement of relevant systems and to advise colleagues and external bodies on matters relating to the fitness to practise process.
• To lead the performance of their team, allocating work appropriately and providing support, guidance and direction to enable staff to achieve necessary goals.
• To manage and mitigate risk to the public, and to the GOC. This could include management of the Interim Order/Substantive Order Review function.
• To build individual and team engagement, as well as managing performance and development, to maximise value for employees and GOC.
• To design, develop, implement, and monitor processes, standards, and operating procedures to support the work of the department and timely progression of cases.
• To ensure that a high quality of customer service is provided to a range of stakeholders, both internal and external.
• To maintain data and statistics and provide management reports as requested in relation to trends and performance.
• To contribute to the FtP continuous improvement programme, ensuring that our ambition to become a world class regulator is realised.

Key Accountabilities:

• To lead, manage and support a team dealing with all aspects of the investigation of fitness to practise concerns, ensuring that all relevant procedures are followed in line with legislation and good practice and ensuring that issues and queries are resolved or escalated if necessary.
• To manage risk through undertaking appropriate controls at all stages of the process and to allocate resources so that cases are dealt with efficiently and according to the capability and capacity of team members. In addition, to undertake interim order risk assessments in individual cases and to oversee the progression of high-risk cases and interim order applications/reviews/High Court extension applications, and the monitoring of conditions of practice.
• To ensure that timeliness objectives are met and exceeded, and any concerns are escalated promptly to the Head of Investigations or the Head of Case Progression for resolution.
• To provide quality assurance to the fitness to practise process, delivering expertise when necessary for complex or high-risk cases, so that process timescales/quality targets are met, and priority cases are dealt with effectively and efficiently. This will include leading case reviews and discussions with the team to ensure improvement lessons are learned and errors minimised.
• To maintain oversight of matters referred to panel firms that are being managed by case officers. In particular to ensure that panel firms provide relevant assistance, and they remain accountable for all work undertaken, that appropriate fees are negotiated, and that the quality of work meets the Council’s needs and is kept under review.
• To ensure that information is provided to a range of external bodies and stakeholders (such as other regulators, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), government bodies) on the investigations process in line with legislative or policy requirements.
• To deputise for the Head of Investigations when required and ensure that relevant statistics, feedback and key data are provided to colleagues and managers to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities and achieve their goals. This includes the maintenance of data and management information required to prepare submissions for external audits.

Essential Skills/Experience/Qualifications:

• Strong leadership skills demonstrated through effective coaching and performance management, with a proven track record of effective case management against agreed targets.
• Experience of working within a regulatory framework demonstrated through an ability to apply and interpret procedures, policy, law, and relevant legislation and able to pass this on to others.
• High levels of numeracy, literacy, and verbal/written communication skills, with an ability to structure written communication concisely and appropriately to the audience.
• Able to influence and deal tactfully with a wide range of people, and prepare reports, presentations and briefings on complex and sensitive issues.
• Ability to work with the Microsoft Office Suite, case management systems and to grasp new systems quickly.

REF-(phone number removed)