Office for National Statistics
Field Operations Manager
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We are recruiting for two locations: Newcastle and London & Reading. As part of your application, you will be asked to indicate which location you wish to be considered for.
Newcastle
Candidates applying for the Newcastle location must be able to travel within the region:
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Newcastle
- Leeds
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- York
- Sheffield
London & Reading
Candidates applying for the London and Reading location must be able to travel within the region:
- London
- Southampton
- Bournemouth
- Bristol
- Oxford
- Birmingham
- Cambridge
- Exeter
Successful candidates will be employed on a home-working contract and will be regionally based within their chosen location (North or South). Whilst this is a home-based role, regular travel is a key part of the position.
Job Summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Office for National Statistics as a Field Operations Manager, leading a team at the heart of data collection across the UK.
The Social Survey Field Collection Division is a large and operationally complex area responsible for enabling the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to collect high-quality survey data from households across the UK.
It is organised into three business areas Face-to-Face Field Operations, Audit & Quality, and Strategy & Programmes—which collectively oversee the interviewing community and deliver the enabling functions needed to support a wide-scale, largely remote workforce.
Together, these business areas provide leadership, frontline delivery, governance, and innovation, ensuring that ONS survey data collection remains robust, efficient, and responsive to changing demands.
This work is guided by the division’s mission statement: “We are a flexible and diverse community of data collection experts, and our mission is to collect and deliver high-quality, trusted social survey data from the public, utilising robust, sustainable and innovative processes to paint a picture of rapidly changing life in the United Kingdom.”
Job Description
As a Field Operations Manager, you will play a key leadership role in ensuring our field interviewer and management resources are deployed effectively to deliver an ambitious programme of work. Working as part of a supportive management team, you will help drive operational performance, balance priorities, and ensure resources are aligned to deliver high-quality outcomes for our customers and stakeholders.
This is an exciting opportunity to lead teams through a period of significant transformation. You will provide visible and inspiring leadership, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, empowered to contribute, and confident to challenge constructively. You will also help shape and implement new ways of working, supporting the delivery of strategic improvements, driving performance, and embedding best practice across Field Operations.
Your teams will be based across the Newcastle or London and Reading Region, and regular travel will be a key part of the role.
Working Arrangements
This is a Higher Executive Officer (HEO) Field Operations Manager role.
Successful candidates will be employed on a home-working contract and will be regionally based within their chosen location (North or South). Whilst this is a home-based role, regular travel is a key part of the position.
You Will Be Expected To Travel Across Your Chosen Region To Support Operational Delivery, Attend Meetings, And Engage With Colleagues And Stakeholders. As a Minimum, You Should Expect To:
- Meet with your manager and team members at least twice per month.
- Attend meetings and events at ONS sites and other agreed locations when required.
- Travel throughout your selected region as part of your day-to-day responsibilities.
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This role requires attendance across five working days (Monday to Friday), with flexibility in working hours provided in accordance with business needs and operational requirements.
Training
We offer a blend of in-person and virtual training. As part of the successful candidates' training, there will be a requirement to attend in-person training at our Titchfield office. Travel and subsistence costs will be covered for this in-person training.
Car And Driving License
A car and driving license is preferred, as travel will be required to the areas where interviewers within the team are working. To qualify for the standard mileage rate, the car must carry comprehensive insurance which includes a clause for business use. If you do not have a car, you will have to be reliant on public transport. Please ensure you are able to access a public transport link.
Before applying, please ensure you are able to meet the travel requirements associated with your chosen location.
If you would like to discuss the location, travel expectations, or working arrangements in more detail, you are encouraged to contact the Hiring Manager using the details provided in the advert. They will be happy to provide further clarification and answer any questions you may have.
Reserve List
ONS regularly recruits for Field Operations Manager positions. Candidates who meet the required standard but are not immediately appointed may be placed on a reserve list and considered for future vacancies during the life of the list.
When matching candidates to future opportunities, we will consider the region selected during your application. This means you may be considered for vacancies in alternative locations within your chosen North or South region, subject to business need and suitability.
Responsibilities
- Ensure there is sufficient interviewer resource available capable of delivering the work programme.
- Focus on improving performance via effective pro-active management and learning.
- Pro-actively report on risks and issues related to business continuity.
- Handle and resolve a wide range of operational and people matters. Provide advice to managers and senior staff.
- Allocate field work making effective and efficient use of available interviewer hours, taking account of business priorities.
- Ensure that Health and Safety policy and procedures are effectively implemented.
- Recruitment of staff whilst adhering to policy and procedure.
- Directly line manage a team of home-based Interviewer Managers and be countersigning manager for approx. 90 interviewers.
- Effectively communicate and collaborate with staff and colleagues.
- Act as a positive force for constructive contacts between field and HQ.
- Work with others to ensure best training of managers and interviewers.
- Work with others to deliver business plan changes and improvements.
- Ensure underperformance and attendance matters are pursued and dealt with in line with ONS policy and procedures. Deal directly with difficult cases.
- Accumulate the local and regional knowledge to support business requirements.
- Ensure effective and efficient use of own and team's time and travel; ensure adherence to central guidance and most economic use of travel and subsistence.
- Line Management of approximately 8 interviewer managers, who will each have teams of approximately 15 interviewers.
- You will lead and support on recruitment activities within your region.
- You will be provided with a laptop and smartphone for business use and to access your work emails.
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Please refer to the Candidate Pack for further details about the role and associated travel requirements.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Experience of managing remote teams along with managing Survey Operations.
- Leadership skills and communication skills including visibility and creating an inclusive environment.
- Previous recruitment experience.
- Evidence of promoting a change either technological or cultural.
- Evidence of communicating messages with positivity and enthusiasm using a variety of different channels.
Licences
A car, driving license (full UK or EU full member state equivalent) and internet connection at your residential address are essential requirements for this post. To qualify for the standard mileage rate, the car must carry comprehensive insurance which includes a clause for business use.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
Salary
Alongside your salary of £34,587, Office for National Statistics contributes £10,019 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.
Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.
Inclusion & Accessibility
At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.
If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.
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.
Visa Sponsorship
ONS are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants are expected to hold a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are applying on a time-limited visa, this will need to be valid for at least 18 months at point of application.
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