Account Manager, MP Services TLNT1_NI

IPSA has a clear vision; to regulate through an exemplary, seamless service. MP Services is at the heart of IPSA, offering vital support to MPs and their staff to ensure they can access the funding they need to do their parliamentary and constituency work. The MP Services team provides principles-based support on a wide range of services from budget management to property to ensure MPs comply with IPSA's regulatory principles.

The Account Manager regulates through service, providing support and guidance to a cohort of MPs and their staff on budget management, funding decisions, property and running an effective office. The role simplifies complexity and enables MPs and their staff to make confident, principles-based decisions, challenging constructively and escalating concerns appropriately.

As part of a dynamic team of up to 20 Account Managers, the role works collaboratively through a matrix structure with IPSA's Payroll Services, Service Quality, Finance Business Partnering and Standards teams to ensure joined-up support and to identify trends and risks. The role holder will live IPSA's values, lead by example and collaborate with, support and challenge others to ensure IPSA remains a great place to work and MP and MP Staff satisfaction is high.

• Providing exemplary, seamless principles-based support to MPs and their staff, ensuring a joined up, consistently high-quality service aligned with IPSA's values, educating MPs and their staff on IPSA's systems and processes to support trust in democracy and assure the public.
• Managing day-to-day requests within challenging SLAs, ensuring MPs have access to the right support, services and information when they need it.
• Providing expert support to MPs and their staff on accessing funding, budget management, and property rental registration, enabling them to make sound, principles-based decisions.
• Contributing to continuous improvements, helping to shape and test new services and processes and embracing changes that impact MPs and their staff to minimise disruption.
• Building trusting, effective relationships with a cohort of MPs and their staff, understanding and anticipating their needs, spending patterns and challenges to provide timely, tailored high-quality support.
• Acting as the first line of defence by identifying and addressing risks early, constructively and sensitively challenging decisions that may fall outside IPSA's principles, and escalating concerns, where appropriate.
• Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to provide joined-up, efficient customer service.
• Reflecting IPSA's core values of Staying Connected, Seeing the Bigger Picture, Being Open, Doing the Right Thing and Making a Difference through all that you do.

IPSA is a learning organisation. We constantly review our work against our strategic objectives, actively seek views from our stakeholders and assess the environment in which we operate so that we can continuously improve. Therefore, the list of key responsibilities may adapt and change over time within the spirit and nature of organisational change and the development of the role.

You'll thrive in a customer-focused, regulatory environment and be passionate about supporting MPs, their staff and trust in democracy through seamless service. You'll be confident helping our customers navigate a principles-based approach to funding decisions, simplifying the complex and using data and insight to inform your conversations. You'll be curious and proactive, knowing when to challenge, when to guide and when to escalate. You'll be comfortable working independently while staying connected to others, including our customers, playing your part in IPSA's success. You will communicate confidently and focus IPSA and our customers on doing the right thing, not the easy thing. You'll be flexible in meeting the needs of our customers and colleagues, owning your work and contributing to agreed projects, developing your skills in a supportive, vibrant, values-led culture and helping shape how we support Parliament now and in the future. You'll help safeguard public money through robust governance and reflect IPSA's values in everything you do.

• Proven experience in complex customer-facing environments, focusing on building trusting relationships and regulating through seamless service.
• Strong interpersonal skills to engage confidently and constructively with MPs and their staff, managing complexity and difficult conversations with sensitivity and compassion.
• Excellent coaching and influencing skills to ensure MPs and their staff make principles-based decisions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with good financial literacy and attention to detail, using data and insight to improve performance and identify trends.
• A sound moral compass and a commitment to doing the right thing rather than the easy thing.
• A collaborative approach, contributing to a matrix structure and supporting each other to get the best outcomes for all.
• A commitment to IPSA's core values of Staying Connected, Seeing the Bigger Picture, Being Open, Doing the Right Thing and Making a Difference through all that you do.

We operate a training and competency framework which consists of three stages - learning, developing, qualified. At each stage, there is a set of criteria comprising the relevant knowledge, experience and behaviours that need to be achieved before progressing to the next stage of the framework and each of the stages are linked to pay progression. While the pace at which you may progress is specific to you, it is likely to take between 6 -12 months to move through the learning and developing stages before being signed off as qualified. This framework provides colleagues a clear set of expectations to develop competence and confidence.

We're committed to creating an inclusive, vibrant community and to making IPSA a brilliant place to be. At the heart of our people philosophy is our promise to engage, enable, and empower every team member to deliver excellence, learn, and develop every day. Ensuring equality of opportunity is central to this. With diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and thinking IPSA will continue to operate as a high-performing organisation with a truly diverse and inclusive culture.

Interviews will be virtual via Microsoft Teams, so you'll need access to a secure WIFI network and a private space. Our interviews are competency and values-based. We'll ask you a series of questions designed to help assess your suitability for the role and for IPSA. We may also ask you prepare a short task or presentation.