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Operations Leader

Hybrid in Swansea·Full-time·Added today (last checked 10 Nov)

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

12 open roles

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Our summary

Salary
£37,090 a year

About £2,520 a month after tax.

Work mode
Hybrid, Swansea
Contract
Full-time
Closing date
Apply by Sunday 22 November
Holiday
25 days holiday
Pension
28.97% employer pension

Skills

Requirements

What we're looking for

  • To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate proven leadership experience within a fast-paced operational environment, with a strong commitment to delivering excellent customer outcomes.
  • You will be able to lead and motivate high-performing teams, manage competing priorities, and make informed decisions that support both operational delivery and organisational objectives.
  • You will possess strong communication and interpersonal skills, enabling you to build effective relationships and adapt your approach to engage, influence and collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders.
  • You will have experience of leading, coaching and developing teams, setting clear expectations, driving performance, and creating an inclusive environment where individuals can thrive and contribute to business success.
  • You will be committed to continuous improvement, encouraging innovation, learning and collaboration to identify opportunities to enhance customer service, team capability and operational performance.
  • You will demonstrate sound judgement and risk management skills, using data and insight to inform decisions, manage priorities and support the successful delivery of change aligned to both short and long-term business objectives.

Pay & benefits

What you'll get

£37,090

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

  • Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
  • 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King's birthday
  • Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Alongside your salary of £37,090, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contributes £10,744 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).

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

  • 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
  • 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King's birthday.
  • Access to the staff discount portal.
  • Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department
  • 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

Visa & relocation

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

The role

Are you a confident leader who can motivate and support teams to deliver their best?

Are you passionate about delivering an excellent customer service experience?

Can you communicate clearly and ensure your team receives the right information at the right time?

If so, we'd love to hear from you!

Operations Leaders are responsible for leading team leaders and their teams in a fast-paced customer environment, balancing customer demand, quality, service performance, employee engagement and continuous improvement. The role requires the ability to analyse performance information, make evidence-based decisions and lead through periods of organisational change.

What you'll do

Your responsibilities will include, but aren't limited to:

  1. Effectively manage and lead your area, building a high-performance culture and taking overall responsibility for performance outcomes.
  2. Monitor and analyse operational performance data for your area to identify trends and issues, making strategic recommendations and developing plans that support business delivery, considering the impact on the wider business.
  3. Build your team's change management capabilities by raising awareness of our digital agenda, leading colleagues through periods of change, and providing clear communication and support during transitions.
  4. Coach and develop your team to deliver high-quality outcomes, identifying and nurturing talent within the team to support career development and succession planning.
  5. Collaborate across departments and with external partners, developing productive working relationships to align operational delivery with strategic objectives.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills set out in the Civil Service Line Management Standards.

How you'll work

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

This is a full-time role based on a 37-hour working week.

We welcome applications from candidates interested in part-time working. However, due to business requirements, successful candidates must be able to work a minimum of 35 hours per week across five days.

If successful you may be required to work one of the following patterns:

  • Between 6am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.
  • Shift working between 8am and 7pm Monday to Friday, with occasional Saturdays between 8am and 2pm.

Some roles may also require occasional travel and overnight stays.

The successful candidate will be expected to work flexibly within the hours outlined above to meet business needs.

Should you be successful at interview, you will be asked to confirm whether there are any of the working patterns you are unable to accommodate. Please consider this carefully before applying, as any job offer will be based on preferences and availability you have provided during the recruitment process. Only one job offer will be made.

Please note that some roles may not be eligible for hybrid working arrangements and will require 100% office attendance.

Hybrid working is a non-contractual arrangement that combines workplace and home-based working, subject to business need and the requirements of the department to which you are appointed.

Where hybrid working is available, employees are currently expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time each month at their designated workplace (one of the locations listed in the advert) or, where required for business reasons, at another office location or stakeholder site.

Your designated workplace will remain your contractual place of work, and there may be occasions where attendance is required above the minimum expectation.

If you have any questions regarding hybrid working, part-time, or job-share arrangements, flexible working, travel requirements or reasonable adjustments, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process. We encourage candidates to do so at the earliest opportunity to ensure the working arrangements associated with the role are compatible with their individual circumstances.

Apply before

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 22nd November 2026

Reference number

487608

Job grade

Higher Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Type of role

Operational Delivery

Number of jobs available

2

Location

Swansea

Job description

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process

Behaviours

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

  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Leadership
  • Communicating and Influencing
  • Changing and Improving

Job contact

  • Name : OCSD Recruitment
  • Email : OCSDRecruitment@dvla.gov.uk

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Hiring process

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

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Experience - you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

  1. Leading teams and leaders to deliver operational performance targets
  2. Analysing performance information and taking action to improve operational outcomes
  3. Coaching and developing your team to deliver high-quality outcomes
  4. Leading change and maintaining engagement throughout periods of uncertainty

The sift will take place from 23rd November 2026

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

  • Behaviours - Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing and Changing & Improving
  • Experience

The interviews are likely to take place week commencing 14th December 2026.

This interview will be conducted in person at our Swansea office (Longview Road, Morriston, Swansea, SA67JL)

Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

About Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

Industry
Government Administration

In their own words

About the company & team

DVLA - Operations and Customer Service Directorate - Input Services Group

Find out more about what it's like working at

DVLA roles: DVLA - Home, Civil Service Careers

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

Additional information

We welcome applications from candidates who can speak Welsh and English. Welsh language skills could be useful in this role, but it is not an assessment criterion, so it won't put you at any disadvantage during recruitment if you aren't a Welsh speaker. Please note that the application and assessment process will be held in English.

Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest and most diverse professional community across the Civil Service. Many of us will have an association with several professional communities or specialisms, ODP applies to all public facing roles / or a role that is primarily aligned to supporting the work of those with public facing roles. All critical to the delivery of UK public services.

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.

Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the "Assistance required" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

  • Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
  • Threats or acts of violence
  • Illegal activity or substance misuse
  • Sexually explicit material
  • Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It's not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it's about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what's being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

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

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

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

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)

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 also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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.

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.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Click here (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/) to visit Civil Service Commission

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