CONNECT Operations Lead

The main location for this role is Newlands Park (SE26 5NF) with a requirement to travel across the Met Estate and attend meetings as required by the business.

Salary: The starting salary is £62,310, including allowances totalling £3,009. The salary range is £59,301 basic (increasing annually to £72,254) plus a location allowance of £2,009 and a non-pensionable allowance of £1,000.

Location: Newlands Park (SE26 5NF) with a requirement to travel across the Met Estate and attend meetings as required by the business.

Employment: Permanent, Full-Time (36 hours per week)

Working pattern: Hybrid working available in line with the Metropolitan Police Service hybrid working policy. The role requires attendance at the Newlands Park office 3 days per week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 10:00 and 16:00.

How to apply: The application process requires a comprehensive CV, a Personal Statement, and an online application form. Please submit documents in PDF or Word format and label as CV and Personal Statement. Completed applications must be submitted by 23:55 on 23 June 2026. Interviews will commence 6 July 2026. More information at www.metpolicecareers.co.uk.

Vetting Clearance: For this role the Vetting Clearance is Force Clearance Level, Management Vetting (MV), and National Security Vetting (NSV) Level, Security Check (SC).

Disability Confident Statement: The Met is committed to being an equitable and inclusive employer. We encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds, including disabled people, ethnic minority groups, and women. The Met is committed to making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process to ensure disabled applicants can perform at their best. Please indicate any reasonable adjustments needed in your application.

Job Purpose: The CONNECT Operations Lead is responsible for overseeing the effective and efficient delivery of CONNECT operational functions, including finance, business change, business processes, communications, HR, commercial activity, and supplier management. The role leads day-to-day delivery of the Operations and Communications functions, ensuring priorities are defined and activities are delivered to a high standard within timescales and aligned with programme objectives. The post holder will have first- and second-line management responsibility, providing leadership and support to team members, and may provide direct support to the Head of CONNECT Operations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide robust financial oversight and governance, including development and management of detailed capital and revenue budget forecasting and planning; track actuals, forecast, and accruals; identify and mitigate variances; work with central finance to ensure alignment with budgets and requirements.
• Lead business change and operational readiness, embedding new processes, systems and ways of working; assess change impacts, engage stakeholders, drive adoption, and support transition to business-as-usual operations.
• Oversee governance, risk and control frameworks, capturing and monitoring risks, issues, dependencies, assumptions, changes and decisions to enable early mitigation.
• Own performance, delivery and reporting, coordinate with Workstream Leads to produce high-quality status reports and insights for senior leadership.
• Direct and assure programme planning, ensure MSP plans are developed, maintained and aligned to milestones with visibility of progress, dependencies and risks.
• Lead workforce planning and onboarding, ensure clear roles and reporting lines, oversee resource allocation, system access, and equipment provisioning; enable rapid onboarding and operational effectiveness.
• Ensure information, document and configuration management, set standards and ensure version control and consistent information management across the programme.
• Oversee governance forums and drive continuous improvement, deliver high-quality board materials, clear agendas, accurate records, and robust action tracking; identify opportunities to improve processes and controls.
• Deputise for the Head of CONNECT Operations, provide leadership coverage as required.

Additional Information:

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Knowledge: Knowledge of capital and revenue budget forecasting and planning. Knowledge of business change and operational readiness principles, including change impact assessment and stakeholder engagement. Knowledge of risk management practices and how to apply them. Understanding of project management practices and resource planning.
• Skills: Financial management skills. Outstanding communication skills, both written and oral. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office. Ability to deliver to deadlines and provide briefings/presentations. Interest in promoting positive improvement in the MPS and adapting to new ways of working. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Evidence of inclusive behaviour.
• Experience: Experience in management accounting and PFP processes. Experience in business/operations management. Experience constructing cases to initiate change and projecting benefits.
• Qualifications: Higher Education - Degree or significant experience (preferable but not essential).

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: The Met is committed to equality and inclusion. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and conditions and welcome applications from disabled people and those with long-term conditions. Reasonable adjustments will be made to the recruitment process where needed upon request.