Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Fleet, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Mildenhall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham

Acas is an executive nondepartmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Business and Trade. It was established under the Employment Protection Act 1975 and continues to be in existence under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Acass general duty is
to promote the improvement of industrial relations.

Our specific powers and duties:

• Offering conciliation in collective employment disputes (trade disputes) with a view to bringing about settlement.
• Providing conciliation and early conciliation services in actual and potential Employment Tribunal cases.
• Providing general advice and guidance on industrial relations matters.
• Preparing Codes of Practice on good industrial relations practice.
• Duties in relation to arbitration and to inquiries, as further detailed.

Our range of services stem from these duties and include:

• Conciliation, mediation and arbitration services to resolve disputes. 
• Information and advice, and business support to prevent disputes and promote the early resolution of workplace conflict, delivered across  channels, online, and in person, through a website, telephone helpline, facilitation, training and online learning. 
• Publishing insight, research and new thinking on employment policy and practice in GB. 

The Dispute Resolution Directorate has approximately 500 colleagues across GB and works on over 100,000 individual cases and c.600 collective cases each year. The purpose of the Dispute Resolution Directorate is to be the leading experts and practitioners in workplace dispute resolution making a real difference to our customers. Our directorate vision is to be credible, visible and accessible for our customers to want to use us:

• Credible: Expert colleagues, who are highly skilled, who know and love their craft and who apply it well.
• Visible: Our work and our impact will be well-known to colleagues, stakeholders, customers, and the wider community.
• Accessible to customers who want to use us: our reputation as experts in dispute resolution will create an appetite to use our services and will strengthen the brand of Acas.

The Director of Dispute Resolution is accountable for our performance and position as Britains foremost provider of workplace dispute resolution services. In this role you will further raise Acass profile, influencing and developing our reputation as trusted experts in the field of conflict management, dispute resolution and employment relations.

You will lead the successful delivery of the Acas dispute resolution services and will advise and support the CEO on key sensitive or high-profile cases. You will work closely with Executive Board colleagues to support wider policy thinking in this field. You will be a collaborative and supportive member of the Executive Board.

This vacancy arises at a time of significant change in the area of workplace rights and employment relations. The new government has set an agenda for workplaces (Labours Plan to Make Work Pay) and we anticipate that Acas will play an important part in that agenda. This post will be at the forefront, working closely with board colleagues and wider partners, including within government, to ensure that Acas fulfils its role as impartial and independent experts, trusted to deliver and trusted for its insights. Acas provides expert evidence and insight to DBT and Government to support the process of developing effective regulation and system innovation and change.

Our dispute resolution services are at the centre of this role, requiring strong leadership which prioritises the delivery of Acass statutory duties and powers in dispute resolution. You will build the credibility of the services by growing their success and you will increase the awareness and visibility of our services forging strong productive relationships as an influential leader able to promote and maintain our reputation in the business world.

You will be accountable for the performance and development of the Dispute Resolution Services, meeting service standards and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), increasing service reach, impact and efficiency. Agreeing and meeting KPIs and improving the quality and speed of our dispute resolution services will be vital in supporting our strategic ambitions. You will lead innovation and development of the services to meet future customer and stakeholder needs, constantly seeking opportunities for improvement.

You will be experienced and knowledgeable in employment relations, and you will have the skills which characterise conflict resolution i.e. able to listen, reason and persuade where needed. You will be confident in consulting and collaborating with trade unions and employer stakeholders, understanding how to create successful outcomes for parties in dispute, and understanding how to guide and support high profile cases. The post holder will be resilient under pressure of high workloads and able to operate under scrutiny.

Strong leadership is vital to this role, setting a clear direction and conveying a persuasive vision. You will engage people at all levels in the organisation and build capability and future sustainability.

Corporate Board Membership

As a member of the Acas Executive Board you will:

• Influence Acass strategic direction and provide corporate leadership to the whole organisation.
• Promote Acass reputation and increase its influence through engagement with key stakeholders, representing the organisation in a range of external forums.
• Exercise robust management of resources and budget for the Dispute Resolution Directorate (c. £22M).
• Role model Acas behaviours, including the Acas Leadership Way, leading by example in supporting a positive workplace culture, collaboration and innovation.

Main Accountabilities

The Director will be accountable for ensuring these activities are delivered directly or by delegating responsibility within the team; overall accountability remains with the Director.

Leadership

The post holder will be the leading voice on dispute resolution for Acas, internally and externally. They will advocate for the importance of dispute prevention and dispute resolution as part of a wider picture of the value of strong and effective employment relations. They will champion the expertise of Acas in this field and will position themselves as a leader who has high impact for customers, for stakeholders and for staff. Specifically they will:

• Lead the Dispute Resolution (DR) directorate with a clearly articulated vision, creating a sense of purpose for colleagues across the DR directorate, linking services to the wider Acas strategy.
• Actively promote the reputation of Acas and its expertise with customers and stakeholders including through talks, presentations and speaking at conferences.
• Build individual relationships with key customers and stakeholders, including employer bodies, trade unions, government contacts and others so that Acas insight around fast-moving disputes is strong, our expertise is shared, and we are well placed to influence and to support when needed.
• Set goals for the directorate and its services, and work with the DR leadership team to produce workable plans which deliver on those goals and support Acas strategic objectives and look for innovation to deliver more effectively and efficiently.
• Act decisively and make bold, unbiased strategic decisions, taking responsibility for those decisions and actions, and holding others accountable as well.
• Be visible and approachable to colleagues and others, reflecting the behaviours of the Acas Leadership Way, and engaging actively through clear, consistent and transparent communication, listening to feedback and acting on it appropriately.
• Promote a culture of inclusion and equal opportunity, enabling colleagues to feel empowered to innovate and grow, whilst promoting constructive feedback and challenge without fear of censure.
• Be self-aware of their responsibilities as a leader and role-model including taking responsibility for their own continuous self-learning and development.
• Provide strong leadership focusing on delivering outcomes, valuing people, customer service and efficiency and putting Acas values at the core of operational delivery.
• Ensuring clear objectives are set and measured across the directorate, creating development opportunities and promoting a strong collaborative culture. 
• Leading the development of skilled and engaged teams, confident managers and a responsive and customer focused culture.

Service Oversight

• Individual Dispute Resolution Overseeing delivery of the Acas individual dispute resolution services, including individual conciliation and individual workplace mediation, which help parties to reach an agreement and settle the dispute. 
• Collective Dispute Resolution Overseeing delivery of the Acas collective conciliation service which help parties, including employers and groups of employees and their Trade Unions, to come to an agreement, settle their disputes and improve working relationships.
• Ensuring effective operation of the collective arbitration and mediation services including maintenance of the panel of independent arbitrators and their development. 
• Continuous improvement and innovation in the development of all Acas dispute resolution services, shaping them to meet current and future needs. 
• Ensure the development of metrics and key performance indicators against a structured framework to measure functional performance.
• Ensure robust financial management of the directorate so that functional performance and reporting are aligned with organisation-wide performance and reporting.
• Own the budget and allocate funding to different parts of the directorate making effective use of all resources and their deployment to ensure the best use of public money, efficient service delivery and management of service risks.
• Maintaining day-to-day responsibility for effective deployment of customer management systems, in partnership with the Acas Digital Data and Technology Director.

You will be assessed using Success Profiles. The criteria assessed during recruitment will include:

• Behaviours the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job.
• Strengths the things we do regularly, do well and that motivate us.
• Experience the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.
• Technical the demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications.

As a member of the Executive Board you will be expected to display all the Success Profile Behaviours however, we have identified below the most critical for this role and the ones that you will be measured on. The following behaviours have been identified at Level 5 for Directors:

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing 
• Delivering at Pace

Essential Criteria Technical

• Track record of achievement in dispute resolution, understanding and experience of managing workplace conflict, dispute resolution and building sustainable employment relations.
• Evidence of being able to influence and impact at a high level in the field of employee relations.

Essential Criteria Experience 

• Evidence of being an external/ ambassadorial influential and inspiring leader, able to positively affect and raise their organisations profile with all external stakeholders and audiences, building strong productive networks and relationships.
• Authentic and strategic leadership at a senior level, working effectively with colleagues; setting a strong direction; conveying a persuasive vision; engaging people at all levels in the organisation. 
• Experience of leading operational improvement and in delivering innovation and transformation in service delivery.

Alongside your salary of £90,000, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service contributes £24,300 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

As a Civil Service employee, you will be entitled to a large range of benefits. These include:

• Generous Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance: 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 30 days after 5 years service; this is in addition to 8 public holidays; this will be complemented by one further day of paid privilege entitlement to mark the Kings Birthday.
• Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package: A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Staff Wellbeing: generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers. Childcare vouchers are available if you joined a childcare voucher scheme or a directly contracted childcare  scheme on or before 4 October 2018. We offer an excellent occupational health service and Employee Assistance Programme. For example, workstation assessments and free eye tests; you also have access to 24/7/365 counselling.
• Learning and Development: Access to learning and development opportunities tailored to your role and or relevant to your profession

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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Job contact :

• Name : Caitlin Tickell -Principal Consultant
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]