Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Intake Caseworker
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Closing date: 26 July 2026 Online assessment: 03 – 05 August 2026 Assessment centre: 18 August 2026 Interview date: 25 August 2026
About us
At The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, we make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by UK Government departments and the NHS in England. We work closely with people to understand where, how and why public services sometimes fall short and fail to put people first. We share findings from our casework to help Parliament scrutinise public service providers. We also share our findings more widely to help drive improvements in public services and complaint handling.
Our culture is open, friendly and supportive. We listen, we learn, and we treat everyone with dignity and respect. Inclusion and wellbeing are at the heart of how we work, and we strive to create a workplace where every colleague feels valued, supported and able to thrive.
We work in a modern, flexible way built on trust and autonomy. You will split your time between working from home and spending around 40% of your week in our Manchester or London office, where collaboration and connection with your team are an important part of how we work.
The role
Working as part of the Casework team, a large part of the role is to be an independent decision-maker on complaints. This involves giving people information and advice about making a complaint.
As an Intake Caseworker, you will be the first point of contact for all initial communication with PHSO and will advise complainants on the best route to deal with their complaint.
As an Intake Caseworker, you will be responsible for:
- managing personal caseloads
- responding to general enquiries on a daily basis via the helpline
- identifying, acquiring and assessing information to resolve enquiries and assessments in line with PHSO policy and guidance
- making low risk decisions on cases
- communicating effectively with interested parties both orally and in writing, ensuring that communication is customer-focused and fit for purpose.
The Successful Applicant will have:
- strong communication skills, both written and verbally
- experience of handling challenging calls in a professional setting
- experience of communicating with complainants with complex communication needs
- the ability to analyse complex information and reach a decision
- experience of managing a caseload and good planning and organisational skills.
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We recognise the value of lived experience. If you have experience of complaining about any public body, we strongly encourage you to apply.
Our benefits:
- Civil Service Pension scheme
- 32.5 days annual leave (plus bank holidays on top)
- hybrid working, 40% office based
- flexible working
- access to a free, confidential Employee Assistance Programme offering 24/7 advice and support from professionals and counsellors
- comprehensive learning and development programme
- employee discount scheme across hundreds of retailers
- bicycle loan scheme
- season ticket loan
- gym membership subsidy
- paid for professional memberships
- eye test reimbursement.
How to apply (and how to do well)
You will answer four scored questions at application stage. We use these to shortlist and longlist, so your answers matter.
- choose real examples (from professional settings)
- focus on what you did, not what “we” did as a group
- explain your thinking: what you looked at, what you decided, and why
- keep it clear and specific, avoid generic statements
Please do not use AI to write your answers. We need to assess your skills, and applications may be rejected if answers appear AI-generated.
If your examples are very short, mostly opinion-based, or don’t describe a specific situation and outcome, you are unlikely to score well.
Inclusion & Wellbeing
Equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing are vital to the way we work and our culture. We want our colleagues feel included, valued, and supported at work. It is essential that we are representative and accessible for the people who work here and those who use our service.
Actions we take to embed this include:
- an anonymised shortlisting process to make sure it is fair and unbiased
- monitoring the demographic trends in our workforce and making measured, sustained efforts to improve our diversity at all levels
- providing wellbeing support and opportunities for personal and professional development for all colleagues
- creating spaces for connection and engagement through our employee network groups and social clubs
- part of the disability confident scheme
- providing reasonable adjustments
- engaging in regular inclusion learning to enhance the cultural competency of our organisation.
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We know the value of having diverse, representative teams across our organisation. Which is why we particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented within the team. These include people who are:
- Asian, Black, Mixed Ethnicity or another ethnic background
- disabled
- LGBTQ
Contact and important information
If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Grant Taylor, Operations Manager, Grant.Taylor@ombudsman.org.uk
Interviews: held onsite
Feedback: we do not offer feedback at application stage
Right to work: we can only consider candidates with the right to work in the UK.
Sponsorship: we are unable to offer sponsorship (we do not have a licence).
Applications: we do not accept CVs—please apply via the application form (‘apply now’).
Agencies: no agencies; applications from individuals only.
Early closure: we may close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications.
Salary: non negotiable
Important notice: fraudulent job postings
We have been made aware that some websites are falsely advertising job vacancies for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). We only advertise job vacancies through these official channels:
- our website
- Civil Service Jobs
- GOV.uk
- Indeed
- Ombudsman association
- BMEjobs.co.uk
- Disabilityjob.co.uk
- Neurodiversityjobs.co.uk
- LGBTjobs.co.uk
Do not share personal details with any other websites claiming to represent PHSO. Contact our recruitment team to report any concerns at recruitment@ombudsman.org.uk
We are changing our name
We are changing our name. Later this year we will become the Public Service Ombudsman. This will make it easier for people to find us and understand what we do. The service we provide will remain the same. Visit our website to find out more.
If you have any questions, please contact us at recruitment@ombudsman.org.uk.
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