Job summary
About OPSS �
Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you! �
We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade (Previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency. �
Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned. �
Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence. �
Further information can be found on our website �
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. �
We are Inclusive �
We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups. �
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.�
Job description
The Head of Incident Management is a key functional team leader role within the Targeting branch of the Evidence Impact Area.�
The role leads a busy, friendly and highly supportive team, comprised of two closely related functions.�
A readiness and resilience arm prepares OPSS to respond to national-scale incidents, emergencies and disruptive events. They develop and exercise a range of incident response plans and related procedures and ensure processes are continuously improved considering lessons arising from exercises or incidents.�
An operational arm carries out initial assessments of product safety and noncompliance notifications, publishing product safety alerts, reports and recalls on publicly available websites and working internationally to report product safety issues and to monitor for product safety issues that might impact the UK.�
This role also leads on the coordination of incident activity, liaising with a range of OPSS and wider functions to ensure an effective incident response is delivered�
Key Responsibilities:�
As the Head of Incident Management, you will:�
1. Use effective visible leadership to translate OPSS strategy into clear and meaningful objectives and building a team environment in which everyone can and does contribute effectively.�
2. Act as a role model, providing visible and strong leadership within the IMT and wider OPSS.�
3. Oversee the triage and assessment function for product safety notifications and work, identifying and implementing improvements.�
4. Lead the UK Contact Point function, validating and publishing alerts, coordinating with other countries.�
5. Lead the coordination of Incidents across OPSS providing flexible leadership and support to the response and/or help maintain normal team readiness, resilience and operational activities.�
6. Oversee the development and implementation of appropriate national and local level incident management plans, procedures, and exercises.�
7. Lead post-exercise / post-incident evaluations and take ownership of relevant lessons identified to embed improvements into business practice.�
8. Build relationships with key internal and external stakeholders and tailor your communication to their needs.�
9. Line management of four G7 workstream leads.�
There will be a requirement to participate in the IMT on-call rota, triaging and responding to enquiries as required.� In the event of an incident, this may involve working additional hours.� The role will require some travel throughout the UK for which Travel and Subsistence allowances will be available. �
Person specification
Essential criteria
We would love to hear from you if you can demonstrate the following essential attributes.�
10. Be an excellent people manager, able to build capability and develop a successful and motivated team.�
11. Leadership of an operational team in a fast-paced environment. �
12. Collaborative yet decisive leadership, including leading teams through change.�
13. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, able to develop and manage professional relationships across organisational boundaries working collaboratively to achieve outcomes.�
14. Strong problem solving, analytical and time management skills.�
15. Knowledge and awareness of contingency planning principles such as the Civil Contingencies Act or Project/Programme coordination skills.�
16. Proven ability to remain calm under pressure and adapt well to consistently changing environments. �
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
17. Leadership
18. Delivering at Pace
19. Changing and Improving
20. Seeing the Big Picture
Benefits
Alongside your salary of �64,432, Department for Business and Trade contributes �17,396 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
21. Learning and development tailored to your role
22. An environment with flexible working options
23. A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
24. A with an average employer contribution of 27%
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities
Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.