Operations Director in UK

About Police Federation of England & Wales

When you join the Police Federation of England and Wales, you will be part of a not-for-profit organisation that serves more than 140,000 rank and file police officers in the political and personal arena. PFEW advocates for officers on matters including pay, conditions, training, and operational policing issues.

You will work with experts in policing, motivated colleagues, and front-line officers to position the organisation as the undisputed voice of policing. The Federation plays a key role in influencing legislation and ensuring the welfare of its members.

If you enjoy working in a challenging and complex environment, connecting with a diverse range of people, Police Federation of England & Wales is a great place to work.

Primary Function

The Operations Director is responsible for the efficient running of operational services within PFEW. The role will need to maintain a focus on continuous improvement and be prepared to deliver changes, often at short notice. This is a pivotal leadership position both in delivery of the core functions but also in the role as an organisational leader, reporting directly into the Chief Executive Officer.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the CEO on organisational strategy: This role plays a key part in developing the strategy with the CEO and their other direct reports, with the input of the National Board. The Operations Director will then need to translate that strategy into tangible steps for implementation.
• Leading and Managing Change: Although the Operations Director will need to have a view to strategy, their key skill must be their ability to deliver changes at pace and be a credible voice to the CEO on the potential delivery timescales, impacts, risks, and solutions.
• Provide Direct Line Management and Leadership: The Operations Director will have the following functions reporting through to them and must be a subject matter expert in at least one of the functions, with experience in a leadership role as well. Those functions are: HR, Learning and Development, Internal Communications, Policy/Process/Continuous Improvement.
• People Services to PFEW HQ: Offer leadership to the Head of HR and Learning and Development to ensure the function works toward “best in practice” approaches on recruiting, developing, and retaining talent, working with the Head of HR to develop all people strategies including pay, performance, and policies. This role will also provide leadership and guidance to internal communications to staff.
• People Service to Branch: Lead the implementation of PFEW people policies to the 43 branches across PFEW. The branches offer a complex employment picture, so this will need to be done thoughtfully, appropriately and inline with their employment model and local Board leadership requirements.
• Improvement of Key HR systems: Working effectively across the branch model will require investment into HR systems, and the Operations Director must be able to give strategic directions and user requirements on the development of such systems.
• Inclusion: Ensure that all aspects of delivery have a lens on inclusion. This will need to be built into People Services, but also how we communicate with members and run seminars and events. Inclusion is a fundamental aspect of “building a better Fed” and the Operations Director will need to be an exemplar in this aspect.
• Planning and project management: A core function of the Operations Director is to be able to effectively plan and deliver projects of change.
• Development of Polices, Processes and Workflows: A key part of this role will be making sure we are operating as efficiently as possible. This role will require an eye on continuous improvement in designing organisational policy and “flow”, removing blockers, and streamlining processes.
• Inspire Confidence in our Membership: The membership of the PFEW expect the efficient use of their subscriptions. This role is pivotal in running an efficient organisation that demonstrates good use of funding and will at times be required to demonstrate that.

Experience

• Extensive experience in running an organisation and implementing fast-time changes. Experience in doing this in a membership or government organisation would be valuable.
• Extensive experience in dealing with complex people issues and creation of training packages.
• Development of communication packages across all mediums of communication for delivery to a public and internal audience.
• Experience in working with a complex stakeholder environment and a record of being able to deliver whilst continuing to hold the confidence of multiple stakeholders.
• Experience of developing and implementing an HR system.
• Demonstrated ability of leading through change.
• Experience in a service-based organisation is essential. Experience in policing or a uniformed service is desirable.

Key Skills

• Instantly inspire the trust and confidence of the CEO and executive team, adding calm and focus in a complex stakeholder environment.
• Strong leadership skills; drive, tenacity whilst managing self.
• Can develop excellent relationships at all levels.
• Will drive quality, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Strong ability to understand and translate the strategy into actions that inspire teams to contribute to the organisation.
• Experience in inclusion, both in terms of people policy but also pragmatically putting inclusive policies into action.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and keep optimism of teams, even in face of frequent change.
• Proven ability to mentor and develop high-performing teams.

What PFEW will offer you

We offer multiple benefits to our HQ employees including: flexible working, hybrid working, competitive salary, life assurance, private healthcare, enhanced pension contribution, enhanced leave, employee assistance program, onsite free lunches and refreshments, free onsite gym, free onsite parking, 26 days holiday (increasing with length of service), mental health clinics, support for continuous professional development, employee discounts and more….