75356 - Relationship Manager

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Salary range (depending on location):    

National - £31,265 to £34,446
London - £35,405 to £39,000

Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.

Working Pattern:    The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely, part time or as part of a job share etc.

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We provide civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales to help people deal with their legal problems. 

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service. Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The LAA is committed to diversity and inclusion and we positively promote flexible working, including job shares.

We will consider all applications on merit regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religion, ethnicity, preferred working pattern and except for exceptional circumstances your working location.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please ensure that you attach the Disability Confident Scheme Form when you return your application. You can use the same form to let the recruiting manager know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes. 

Contract Management and Assurance

Contract Management and Assurance (CMA) work closely with our provider base to ensure the smooth running of our contracts and assure the delivery of legal aid.

Reconciliation & CMA Admin Team

The Reconciliation & CMA Admin Team forms part of the Contract Management & Assurance Directorate within the Legal Aid Agency. You will be part of a team that works closely with Contract Managers and with providers. The team are responsible for the management of the Immigration Duty Solicitors rota scheme.

Job Summary

The role of the Relationship Manager is to manage relationships associated with the operation of the Immigration Duty Solicitor rotas, including line management of 2 EO Rota Managers. The role will involve building successful relationships with a variety of external stakeholders to improve the service provided by the LAA.

The successful candidate will be required to have strong leadership skills to ensure the operation of the Immigration Duty Solicitor rotas runs smoothly. They will need to analyse large amounts of data and have excellent attention to detail as well as the ability to work at pace and ensure teams efforts are focussed on top priorities. They will also be required to develop and manage strong collaborative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders and drive continuous improvement on the services delivered, aligning activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Be the face of the LAA with key external stakeholders within the justice family in order to contribute to the management of financial, political and reputational risk to the LAA and MoJ.
• Manage external relationships associated with the Immigration Rota Scheme to ensure effective operation.
• Line Management of 2 EO Rota Managers.
• Handle urgent issues with the rota scheme once escalated, including any external questions.
• Analysis of data to inform decisions and maintain relationships.
• Gather and share external intelligence from providers and key external stakeholders to ensure it becomes part of all relevant LAA and MOJ teams’ knowledge base.
• Identify risk to the disruption of service delivery, considering contingency arrangements and escalating to the Area Contract Manager.
• Develop and manage any other external stakeholder links as required by the LAA and MoJ.
• Work closely with Contract Managers to establish good working relationships with those who manage key Immigration Duty Rota stakeholders.
• Handle complaints in relation to the rotas.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills     •    Experience of stakeholder management, understanding who important stakeholders are and why, and ensuring that they are appropriately brought into the work of your team  
•    Confident decision making, taking a leading role in proactively managing own and team performance.
Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills    Knowledge of Office 365 applications
Person Specification    •    You are a highly organised self-starter, able to lead and motivate a team to deliver organisational priorities. 
•    You are driven, embrace change and are comfortable working within a fast-paced environment where no day is the same. You are not fazed by uncertainty and continue to deliver core objectives showing resilience and the ability to maintain composure when faced with challenges.
•    You can analyse information to inform your decisions to identify and prioritise key tasks as an individual and for your team.
•    You are able to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing and confident in using these skills to develop relationships and resolve problems.
•    You will enjoy working with a range of key stakeholders and build effective working relationships both inside and outside of the organisation. 
•    You are confident when delivering difficult messages and able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.

Assessment approach 
Application Process

You will be asked to demonstrate the following Behaviours during the assessment process:
•    Delivering at Pace
•    Making Effective Decisions
•    Working Together
•    Communicating & Influencing

If a large number of applications are received the initial sift will be based on the Lead Behaviour – Delivering at Pace

Interview / assessment Process

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview, likely to be conducted by MS Teams, and you will be assessed as follows: 
•    Against Strengths relevant to the role
•    Against the following behaviours
o    Delivering at Pace
o    Making Effective Decisions
o    Working Together
•    Your Experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy.

Interviews are planned for week commencing 19th June and 26th June.

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact – Karl Ford karl.ford@justice.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAAPeopleTeam@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, we will forward your complaint to the Civil Service Commission, an independent body, for review.