position
description /
Position: / Manager Regional Services
Children’s Worker: / No
Location: / Regional Office
Business Unit: / Regional Service Delivery
Group: / Service Delivery
Reporting to: / Regional Director
Issue Date: / February 2015
Delegated Authority: / Human Resources/Financial
Staff Responsibility: / Yes

Our Role

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is the lead agency for the social sector. We help the Government to set priorities across the sector, co-ordinate the actions of other social sector agencies and track changes in the social wellbeing of New Zealanders.

The Ministry provides policy advice, and delivers social services and assistance to children and young people, working age people, older people, and families, whānau and communities. We work directly with New Zealanders of all ages to improve their social wellbeing.

We serve over a million people, working out of more than 250 centres around the country. It is likely that every New Zealander will come into contact with the Ministry at some point in their life.

Our work, together with our social sector partners, is essential to achieving a sustainable and prosperous future, where all New Zealanders are able to take responsibility for themselves, be successful in their lives and participate in their communities.

Our Purpose

We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent.

Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake.

Our Principles

MSD people: All own what we all do | Take responsibility for what we do | Understand our role in the big picture, who can help us and who we can help | Navigate through ambiguity and the opportunity it brings to create better ways of doing things | Act with integrity, courage and transparency | Celebrate our achievements and those of our clients.

PositionDescriptionApprovedBy:

______
Deputy Chief Executive Service Delivery
Date: ……/……/……

Service Delivery

We work together to make a difference for New Zealanders. Whether that’s helping someone get sorted financially so they can study, supporting someone into work, ensuring support is there for someone who can’t work, helping one of our seniors by granting their entitlement to New Zealand Superannuation, or giving New Zealanders confidence that the system they fund is being used by people in genuine need.

We do this through three key groups; Regional Service Delivery, our frontline centres delivering face-to-face services across 11 regions, Contact Centre Services providing client services by phone, and Centralised Services - specialist teams managing processing of support and entitlements.

These three groups are supported by a number of teams, providing operational support, service development, learning and development, analytics and workflow management and engagement expertise.

Whatever part of Service Delivery we work in, we have a role in delivering services and making a difference for more than a million clients.

Purpose of the Position

The role of Service Delivery’s Regional Office is to support the regional leadership and implementation of national strategies at a regional level to achieve the outcomes required in Service Delivery’s strategic and business plan. The regional office will lead the Government’s social development, employment and income support services within the region and implement local solutions to local issues. The Regional Office provides stewardship within our community by supporting people to be safer, stronger and more independent.

The objectives of the Regional Office are to:

  • Lead and support the region’s service delivery function
  • Ensure the delivery of national standards and service delivery requirements
  • Provides information management, reporting analysis and quality assurance functions
  • Prepare regional plans that are aligned to national strategies
  • Target resources according to national priorities and regional focus
  • Support operational activity and improvement
  • Establish and maintain relationships with key stakeholders in order to increase opportunities for clients.

The Manager Regional Services manages a team of training, quality and advisory staff to support service delivery staff to achieve and exceed key performance indicators. The Manager Regional Services is responsible for identifying opportunities to maximise regional effectiveness and lead a culture of continuous improvement. This will be achieved through developing and implementing strategies to build the capability of service centre staff and ensuring best practice service delivery.

The Manager Regional Services also leads the implementation of change and provides management support to the Regional Director, including human resource management support and ad-hoc project management.

Working Relationships

Internal:

  • Regional Commissioner
  • Regional Director
  • Other regional office managers and staff
  • Service centre managers and staff
  • National OfficeService Deliverystaff
  • Human Resource Consultant and Business Partner team
  • Organisational Solutions Learning and Capability Development team
  • Other MSD stakeholders

External:

  • Other Government Agencies
  • Non-Government Organisations
  • External Service Providers

Key Accountabilities:

Key Result Area / Accountabilities
Strategy Development /
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of short to medium term operational plans for the region, in accordance with agreed business plans and policies and in alignment with national strategies.

Service Delivery People Capability and Practice Development /
  • Develops plans to build the capability of service delivery staff to support achievement of key performance indicators and best practice service delivery.
  • Develops and implements an annual training and quality programme for the region.
  • Ensures the provision of quality advisory services to service centre staff at all times.
  • Looks for opportunities to make improvements to service delivery through the delivery of training, quality and advisory services.
  • Preparesbusiness cases and make recommendations to the regional governance group on any new initiatives.
  • Works collaboratively with other teams within and across regions to ensure a consistent and co-ordinated approach in the services provided to service centre staff.
  • Maintains oversight of the benefit review committee / review of decision and medical appeal process and analyses the issues to inform the on-going training and quality programmes for the region.

Operational Management /
  • Develops and maintains appropriate systems to monitor and evaluate the progress of plans and strategies.
  • Contributes to the development and implementation of policies, operational guidelines, and business processes.
  • Ensures that all Regional Service Delivery activities are consistent and compliant with Ministry policies and requirements.
  • Ensures that all Regional Service Delivery’s operational activities are conducted in a timely, efficient, appropriate and effective manner.

Change Leadership /
  • Supports the Regional Director and Service Centre Managers and staff in the region by developing change implementation plans for new initiatives/policies/procedures by:
−developing a detailed plan on how the new function / business process will be implemented and any impacts for service delivery
−identifying resource requirements
−preparing clear timelines, a stakeholder management plan, a communication strategy and risk management plan
−staff are adequately trained
−effectiveness is monitored.
  • Supports the Regional Director by providing leadership on the implementation of change processes.
  • Ensures that change programmes are delivered effectively, within budget and expected timeframes.

Management Support /
  • Represent the Regional Director in various forums as required.
  • Be a key conduit for the Regional Director for Service Centre Managers and staff, ensuring the Regional Director is represented appropriately.
  • Liaises with Human Resources on HR issues and prepares information/advice to the Regional Director.
  • Leads the development and implementation of one-off projects to support the service centre operation.

People Leadership /
  • Provide staff with clear leadership and direction to support the Ministry’s strategic direction and business plan.
  • Establish performance agreements and undertake performance appraisal for direct reports.
  • Motivate staff to achieve objectives through appropriate and on-going feedback and coaching and the development of direct reports.
  • Ensure high levels of staff motivation focused on individual and team performance targets and service standards, thereby creating a high performance culture within the team.
  • Ensure teams have robust plans in place to build capability to meet current and future goals, and deliver on immediate and on-going requirements.
  • Manage, monitor and report on performance expectations and progress against projects and budget, monthly and as required.
  • Identify and act on training and development opportunities.

Relationship Management /
  • Build and maintain proactive, professional, collaborative and effective relationships with the regional managers, and key stakeholders as relevant to the role or assigned projects.
  • Represent the region credibly and professionally in relationships established as part of work undertaken.
  • Consult with key stakeholders to ensure support and buy in for the Regional Service Delivery team’s work programme.

Health, Safety and Security /
  • Understand and implement your manager accountabilities.
  • Ensure health, safety and security policies and procedures are understood, followed, implemented by all employees.

Technical/Professional Knowledge and Experience
  • Tertiary qualified in a relevant field is preferred.
  • Management expertise in a complex service environment.
  • Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing capability strategies to improve business performance.
  • Previous experience in developing processes and best practice in a service delivery environment
  • Demonstrated ability to translate analysis intoeffective operational plans / work programmes.
  • Clear understanding of continuous improvement processes.
  • Demonstrated experience in the use of project management practices.
  • Experience in the development of business cases or project proposals
  • Good understanding of information management techniques
  • Computer skills and the ability to analyse data using the appropriate tools
  • Demonstrated ability to write to a high standard (clear, accurate, concise, appropriate to the audience).
Attributes/Success Factors
  • Leadership skills
  • Able to work collaboratively as part of a broad management team
  • Knowledge of training, development and quality management concepts
  • Exercises sound judgement and political sensitivity
  • Highly effective oral and written communication skills
  • Exercises strong judgement and problem resolution skills
  • Effective change agent
  • Exceptional and proven relationship management skills
  • Strong facilitation, negotiation and communication skills
Other Requirements
  • Willing to travel to fulfil job requirements
  • Holds current drivers licence and is prepared to drive the Ministry’s vehicles

Manager Regional Services / 1