Deputy Director of Service Delivery in Croydon

We are pleased to invite applications for two senior leadership opportunities within HM Land Registry’s Service Delivery Directorate: Deputy Director of Strategic Operations and Deputy Director of Service Delivery. At HMLR, we are passionately committed to meeting the needs of our customers through the delivery of operational excellence. As we continue to build a highly collaborative, customer‑focused and inclusive culture, we welcome applications from inspiring and experienced leaders who bring significant service delivery experience, an impressive track record of driving high performance, and a deep commitment to continuously improving the customer experience.

To help enable ongoing transformation, we are investing in a digital mission which will enhance our customers’ and colleagues’ experience through innovative and modern digital solutions. You will be experienced in leading multidisciplinary and dispersed teams to deliver against key performance indicators whilst adapting to changing technologies and innovations. You will understand that operational innovation and excellence must meet the needs of the customer, and you will have delivered significant improvements to customer satisfaction through embedding a continuous improvement culture.

As Deputy Directors in Service Delivery, you will be passionate and ambitious about providing the highest quality services to our customers. We see a people‑focused culture as a key enabler of this, achieving high levels of customer satisfaction and staff engagement, and you will demonstrate leadership, coaching and role‑modelling of our values and behaviours in everything you do.

Reporting to the Director of Land Registration Services, these roles have delegated authority for leading Service Delivery Group activities, focusing on delivering and improving key end‑to‑end services with increased emphasis on customer need and experience. Both roles will lead multi‑disciplinary Service Delivery Teams to deliver and continuously improve services for the benefit of HMLR’s customers, leveraging digital delivery where feasible and doing so in line with our leadership expectations and cultural aspirations.

You will provide strategic direction and leadership across service teams, working collaboratively with other service delivery areas to ensure a joined‑up, efficient and customer‑focused approach across the whole of Service Delivery. You will ensure HMLR continues to develop and evolve services to meet the needs of both citizen and professional customers, driving improvements to systems and processes, championing new technologies to deliver improved customer and colleague experience, and providing value for money.

Both roles form an active and effective part of the Service Delivery Senior Leadership Team (SD SLT) and the Senior Executive Leadership Team (SET), working collectively to ensure the aims within the Corporate Strategy and deliverables within the Service Delivery Plan are met.

We are keen to hear from leaders who have delivered exceptional performance results through their teams, and through building a high‑performance culture and engaging their people using comprehensive leadership capabilities. You will bring experience across people, process, system and operating model change, preferably in a customer‑facing casework environment, alongside experience of cross‑cutting themes including operational performance and quality, business and workforce planning and resourcing, leadership development, culture and engagement, and service improvement.

Due to the nature of the role, regular travel to other HM Land Registry offices will be required, including some overnight stays. Please see the Candidate Pack for more information.

To apply for either role, please visit www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe129303 and submit your application by no later than 11:55pm Sunday 15 March 2026:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability (no more than two pages) demonstrating your skills, qualities and overall suitability for the role. Your statement should address the core person specification, as well as the key person specification for the role you are applying for. If you wish to apply for both roles, two applications will need to be submitted.

We highly value diversity in all its forms and welcome applications from all sections of society. We’re committed to implementing and monitoring our equality and diversity policies with the aim of recruiting, retaining and promoting staff regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation. You will be asked a number of diversity related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say', but this information is very important to the Civil Service as we seek to build organisations and develop policies that reflect our society. Any information you provide is confidential and will not be used during the selection process or to inform decision making.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application, please contact devon.coates-leaning@gatenbysanderson.com. Following your application, you will receive email acknowledgment of your application through the online process. Failure to submit your CV and Statement of Suitability will mean the panel have only limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. Please ensure that both documents contain your full name.

Please refer to slide 23 in the attached candidate pack for full information on the selection process which will include a longlist/shortlist, Individual Leadership Assessment, staff engagement exercise and face to face interview. The recruitment timeline is on slide 24 in the candidate pack.

HMLR is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria at the shortlisting stage may be invited to attend an interview. If you require the panel to consider a reasonable adjustment or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you are asked to notify us of this at application stage where possible or during the process as soon as it becomes a requirement.

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Candidates may refer to notes within their interview, but they should be used as a prompt only.

Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role is in a certain business critical category. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a skilled worker visa. You must ensure you have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying. You can find more information on how we use your personal data on our website. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Contact point for applicants Job contact: Recruitment team