Operational Manager (Welsh Speaking) - Valuation Support Unit - Cardiff

About the job

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it's really like to work at HMRC. This role is part of HMRC Valuation Office, formerly known as the Valuation Office Agency. HMRC Valuation Office are the public sector's property valuation experts and advisers with a vision to be a world-leading provider of public sector valuations. Our work is vital to the collection of over 60 billion of revenue which goes back into communities, touching every citizen and every business across England and Wales.

Role Overview

To provide leadership to a team of AOs who carry out a range of activities within the Valuation Support Unit (VSU). An EO Operational Manager plays a key leadership role within the Valuation Support Unit, providing proactive, people-focused management to ensure the team delivers high-quality, timely and customer-centred services. The role leads and develops a team of AOs, driving performance through clear expectations, meaningful coaching conversations, and close monitoring of productivity, quality and service standards. As an Operational Manager, you will plan and organise daily workflows, allocate resources effectively, and use online systems to maintain accurate performance and activity records.

Key responsibilities

• Proactively lead and develop a team of AOs to achieve individual and team performance goals in line with KPI's, demonstrating accountability for performance whilst managing productivity and delivery challenges.
• Support and manage your team's performance by closely monitoring both timeliness and quality metrics.
• Conduct quality checks in line with the Quality Strategy and have meaningful performance conversations with teams and individuals around personal development.
• Plan and organise work; monitoring delivery in accordance with expected Service Level Agreements and recording advisor activity using online systems to gain an accurate understanding across individual and team productivity.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues and stakeholders to prioritise and make best use of all resources to deliver our work.
• Allocate work within the team to ensure service levels and targets are achieved.
• Support and coach your team to ensure they have the right skills and knowledge needed for their job, also communicating effectively, and supporting your team through change.
• Foster an inclusive team environment and create an engaged, focused, and driven workforce where individuals have a voice and feel valued.
• Deal quickly and effectively with any management issues using Agency HR policies and procedures, sometimes delivering difficult messages.
• Handle VSU call-backs through direct communication with customers where calls have been escalated.
• Apply emotional intelligence to handle customers in distress or unacceptable customer behaviour in support of telephony advisors in English and Welsh.

Person specification

We are looking for a natural passion for leading teams in a busy contact centre environment, developing people and helping them succeed. The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of day-to-day operations and how their area contributes to wider business goals with a focus on delivering great service and driving team performance. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills in English and Welsh are essential, along with strong organisational abilities and a proactive approach to problem-solving allowing you to work at pace. The ideal candidate will be confident using data to inform decisions, adaptable to change, and committed to continuous improvement. You will lead by example, demonstrate resilience, and foster a positive, high-performance team culture.

Essential Requirements

• Excellent language skills (Welsh and English). To undertake this role Welsh language skills are required to a level 4 (speaking, listening, reading and writing) as set out in the Welsh Language Commissioner's Welsh Language Skills Matrix.
• Demonstrate credible leadership by valuing and developing the contributions of others, effectively engaging, and influencing to set direction, and build a strong unified team focused on delivering shared priorities and objectives.
• The ability to support individuals to improve their performance and provide constructive feedback, demonstrating emotional intelligence to handle difficult situations.
• Excellent communication skills to be able to communicate effectively with a broad range of stakeholders both verbally and in writing as well as to support your team through change.
• The ability to work on your own initiative, but also collaboratively with and supporting others effectively in a team environment in a fast-paced, large dynamic customer service environment.
• Excellent organisation and planning skills with the ability to switch, at short notice, between the various duties outlined.
• The ability to inspire and motivate a team to deliver consistent and exceptional service.
• Good judgement and decision-making skills.

Other desirable requirements

• An understanding of managing attendance and wider HR policies would be preferable but not essential.

Languages

As part of this role you will need to communicate effectively with customers, colleagues and stakeholders, verbally and in writing, in both English and Welsh.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace.

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: In the interview process, your technical ability will be assessed against your Welsh language skills at a Level 4 (speaking, listening, reading and writing).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 31,096, HM Revenue and Customs contributes 9,008 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs. We offer a generous leave allowance that starts at 25 days, increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days and a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.