Customer Service and Operations Lead - Croydon

Customer Service and Operations Lead - Croydon About the job

Job summary

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.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

Ready to lead a team that delivers exceptional service and keeps government payments running smoothly every day?

HMRC is looking for inspiring and dedicated Customer Service and Operations Leads to join our dynamic team. Government Banking, hosted by HMRC, provides secure and resilient banking and payment services for over 600 government departments and public bodies.

The Customer Service and Operations team ensures government customers receive exceptional service and operational support for banking and payment activities. It manages customer relationships, resolves complex banking/payment queries, and oversees operational processes to maintain resilience and compliance. The team works closely with suppliers from the banking, payment and merchant acquiring services, internal stakeholders, and customer departments to deliver service excellence and continuous improvement.

Job description

As the Customer Service & Operations Lead, you will manage day-to-day operations across our banking and payment teams, ensuring service quality, compliance, and continuous improvement.

You will lead and develop your team, setting direction, optimising our banking and payment processes using data-driven insights. You will collaborate with stakeholders to deliver efficient and customer-focused services in a fast-paced environment.

This is a fast-paced role and it demands strong leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to solve complex problems to achieve outstanding outcomes for government customers.

Person specification

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• A positive, proactive attitude and ability to adapt quickly to new challenges and changing needs.

• Strong leadership skills, inspiring and motivating teams to deliver high performance and to build their own capabilities to meet Government Banking's customer service needs.

• Excellent organisational skills to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders and teams.

• Clear and purposeful communication skills, ensuring involvement and consultation where necessary to gain commitment to goals.

• A commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of leadership.

• Stretches self, setting learning goals that enables professional development in Government Banking and shares knowledge and expertise to facilitate team learning.

• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and inspire your team, setting direction, managing performance, development, attendance, and wellbeing in line with HMRC policies.

• Oversee daily operations in customer banking/payment teams, allocating work effectively and balancing resources to meet demand and quality standards, working collaboratively with team leads.

• Manage Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and service desk operations with the team, embedding right-first-time resolution and ensuring compliance with GDPR and security requirements.

• Develop and maintain performance frameworks (KPIs, risk registers, visual management), analyse data to identify measurable improvements, and remove inefficiencies. Make effective decisions weighing options to overcome delivery challenges.

• Convene cross-government customers, suppliers, and SMEs to leverage collective knowledge of UK payment schemes, and/or merchant acquiring processes and related ecosystems to prioritise high-value problems and deliver change at pace, driving innovation and operational excellence.

• Lead key customer service meetings, harnessing combined knowledge, ensuring a strong service mindset, balancing operational and commercial needs while applying awareness of key UK payment schemes (e.g CHAPS, BACS, Faster Payments) to address customer requirements.

• Work collaboratively with senior leaders across Government Banking providing support and input to help shape delivery goals.

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience in managing operational teams, including performance, development, and wellbeing.

• Strong understanding of customer service delivery and operational processes in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability to analyse data and use insights to drive measurable improvements and efficiency.

• Experience in using CRM systems and / or digital tools to manage workflows and improve customer experience.

Desirable Criteria

• Demonstrable knowledge of UK payment processes and related ecosystems.

• Awareness of key UK payment schemes (CHAPS, BACS, Faster Payments).

• Understanding of card payment flows and merchant acquiring processes.

Additional Information

Working Locations/Patterns

• To note if you are based in Worthing you will need to travel to Croydon regularly at least 1 day a week and to meet business needs.

• Government Banking operates within the hours of 08.30 and 17.30.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £45,544, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £13,194 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A name-blind CV including your job history and previous experiences with up to 250 words for each of your last 3 job roles and how your experience meets the key responsibilities of this role.
• A 500-word Personal Statement to demonstrate the Essential Criteria.

Please evidence any Desirable Criteria where applicable up to 250 words max. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy holder where candidates have the same score at interview.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on your CV.

At full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, you will be assessed on Experience based questions and Behaviour based questions on the Behaviours listed within the advert.

Interviews will take place via video link. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days(Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: [email protected] - Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - 'Please re-open my application - [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]'.

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we'll let you know via your Civil Services Jobs account.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Hybrid working at HMRC

HMRC is an office-based organisation, and colleagues are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office. Our offices provide opportunity for interaction, collaboration which aids learning and development and a sense of community. Where the role allows it, and where the home environment is suitable, colleagues can work from home for up to 2 days a week, averaged over a calendar month (or a proportionate amount of time for colleagues who work less than full time).

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact the UBS Recruitment team via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the "Assistance required" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Additional Security Information

Please note in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.

Terms and Conditions

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For more Information for people applying for, or thinking of applying for, roles at HM Revenue and Customs, please see link: Working for HMRC: information for applicants - GOV.UK.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).