JO APPLIATION PAK - Thames Valley Housing Backup Exec, Cisco, AWS); the ability to lead on incident...

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1 | Page JOB APPLICATION PACK Job Title: Infrastructure Services Manager Directorate: Corporate Department: ICT Location: Twickenham

Transcript of JO APPLIATION PAK - Thames Valley Housing Backup Exec, Cisco, AWS); the ability to lead on incident...

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JOB APPLICATION

PACK

Job Title: Infrastructure Services Manager Directorate: Corporate Department: ICT Location: Twickenham

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Dear Candidate Thank you for your interest in working for Thames Valley Housing. In this pack you will find the Job Description and Person Specification for the role you are applying for. We encourage you to read the guidance notes and fill in the application form carefully, giving all relevant information and in particular setting out the ways in which you meet the criteria to be assessed through the application form. The criterion set out in the person specification contains all the competencies for this role and will be assessed at different stages of the selection process. Please see the guidance notes for further information on this. Thames Valley Housing is a user of the government’s “two ticks” disability symbol, which recognises organisations that are positive towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the short-listing criteria are guaranteed an interview. I hope that you find the job description interesting and decide to apply. I wish you success and we look forward to receiving your application form. Thames Valley Housing Recruitment Tel: 0208 607 0600 Email: [email protected] Web: www.tvha.co.uk/careers

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CONTENTS

About TVHA………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Our Competency Framework………………………………………………………………………………………5 Equal Opportunities…………………………………………………………………....................................6 Job Advert…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..7 Job Description…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 Person Specification………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 Guidance Notes for Applicants………………………………………………………………………………….15 Personal Statement Example...…………………………………………………..................................17

Guide to Competency Based Interviews…………………………………………………………………….18 Preparing for Competency Based Interviews……………………………………………………………..19 Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………21

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ABOUT TVHA

We are a medium-sized housing association based in Twickenham, South West London.

We own, manage or take care of loans for over 14,500 homes in London, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Sussex. These include traditional rented housing, shared ownership, key worker and student accommodation.

In order to generate a profit to help fund our social purpose, we also have a market rent business called “Fizzy” and a joint venture to build housing for sale.

OUR CORPORATE VALUES Our vision and mission are what drives us. We could make it big and complicated, but it’s really pretty straightforward. Our Vision “For everyone to have the chance to build their lives from a base of a good home” We believe that a good, safe, secure home is a critical foundation for successful people, families and communities. Without one, it’s difficult to do well at school, hold down a job, or raise a family. Our Mission “To provide good quality affordable homes and invest in communities” The housing crisis is particularly acute in London & the South. We build good quality, new homes and manage them well. And we grow the social capital of the communities we work in. Stepping Up! They are five key values that we live by. Sometimes it’s straight forward to live by them. Sometimes it’s harder, it challenges us. But they’re our guiding light. It’s how we Step Up. Think forward—Question how we do things. Think ahead. Innovate. Think We—Lets work together to achieve our goals. Think Openly—Lets be transparent and true to our work. Think with Compassion—Offer your time and support. Act with empathy and understanding. Think Energy—Be passionate about delivering great customer service and making things happen.

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OUR COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK What are Competencies and how are they used? A competency is an ability, skill, knowledge or trait that is needed for the successful performance of a job. It is often defined in terms of behaviours. Overall, competencies are a set of behaviours that an individual must possess in order to perform to the optimum level within that role. When used properly, and in conjunction with other working practices and procedures, competencies can ensure fairness, openness and equality in the way we recruit staff, select people for training, identify clear development paths and promote people. The Competency Framework contains a total of ten competencies and it is considered that to carry out a role at a particular level an individual should possess those competencies that are ‘Core’ for that level. The depth of which these core competencies are required will vary according to each role. Core competencies are far broader in their application and apply to all jobs within TVH. This document details the core competencies which TVH recognises as necessary. The person specification highlights the competencies we want to assess as part of our recruitment process, but the following areas are important all of the time.

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Equality & Diversity On fairness, openness, and welcoming of difference We want everyone to look forward to coming to work every day, so we encourage fairness, openness and welcoming of difference. We aim to treat everyone fairly. We won’t have any harassment or discrimination. We’re strong supporters of equality and diversity, and we employ people on merit and qualifications, according to how well they suit the role. We believe that no one should ever be treated badly because of their race, colour, ethnic or national origin, or because of their religion or faith, gender, sexuality, partnership status, age or disability. We do our best to make our workplace and facilities accessible for people with disabilities. We think we’ve got it right, but if you find something that’s not accessible, please let us know so we can fix it.

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JOB ADVERT

INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES MANAGER

Location: Twickenham Contract type: Permanent

Salary: £55,000 Hours: 35 hours per week

Closing date: Midday 12th October 2015 Interview Dates: 15th October 2015

About Thames Valley Housing We are a medium-sized housing association based in Twickenham, South West London. We own, manage or take care of loans for over 15,000 homes in London, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Sussex. These include traditional rented housing, shared ownership, key worker and student accommodation, and a commercial rental business, Fizzy Living. Our vision is for everyone to have the chance to build their lives from a base of a good home. Our mission is to provide good quality affordable homes and invest in communities. We love to build. Not just housing and communities, but skills and careers too.

About the role You’ll lead the delivery of day to day ICT support, making sure the infrastructure works for the organisation's 230 or so staff and various outsourced suppliers. It’s a small team of four - an Infrastructure Manager, the Infrastructure Services manager and two technicians. The Infrastructure team leads on the ICT helpdesk, dealing with requests and routing items to the Business Systems team where appropriate. You’ll be overseeing VMware, SQLserver, Citrix/Xenapp, CISCO VOIP, and the typical collection of mobile phones, tablets and laptops; thin clients, some PCs; MFDs and meeting room equipment. There's a good mix of ensuring "business as usual" runs smoothly, and project work: identifying, evaluating and delivering system improvements. A new strategy has been approved, putting online services and technology at the heart of improving our customer experience and increasing our internal efficiency. We already have a reputation in the sector for innovation and a high level of systems use. We’ll be building on our investment in virtualisation, assessing both cloud and on-premise hosted solutions, and giving staff access to tools to help them support customers in the shift to digital services. About you You'll have experience in a similar role in a similar sized corporate environment. You'll have expertise with the core kit we currently use (MS including systems centre, VMware, Citrix/ XenApp, Backup Exec, Cisco, AWS); the ability to lead on incident management and some projects. You’ll be leading the delivery of service to internal customers so you’ll have great customer service skills and experience of improving efficiency and change control. We're looking for someone with a broad range of

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experience - technical expertise, problem solving and solution design, team and supplier management, and customer-handling skills. Telephone interviews will be held on 15th / 16th October followed by an interview at Thames Valley Housing on 21st October. Applying process: Please apply online and submit a personal statement addressing: A) How your knowledge, experience & skills meet the essential and desirable requirements B) How you meet the technical and core competencies highlighted in red in the person specification

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JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title: Infrastructure Services Manager Directorate: Corporate Services Department: ICT Location: Twickenham Responsible to: Infrastructure Manager Organisation chart

Main purpose of the job Lead the delivery of day to day ICT support to the organisation’s users, covering servers, network, desktop, telephony and mobile kit. Oversee the online helpdesk to ensure that calls are promptly prioritised and allocated to appropriate team members. Undertake more complex support tasks, supervise the work of the Infrastructure Technicians, and manage issues referred to specialist suppliers. Take responsibility for the maintenance of the infrastructure estate; keeping records of ICT assets (physical hardware, licences, release versions) and ensuring renewals and upgrades are implemented. Contribute to the creation of Infrastructure plans, and delivering upgrade projects. This will include

Head of ICT

Infrastructure Manager

Infrastructure Services Manager

Senior Infrastructure

Technician

Infrastructure Technician

Web & Digital Services Manager

Systems Development

Analyst

Business Systems Manager

Support Analyst/Prog - x 2

Support Analyst/ Proj Mgr x 3

Project Manager(Housing)

Project teams (varying)

ICT Administrator

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advising on hosting options (cloud or on-premise), and equipping the organisation for the shift towards online services. This is a technical role and you will be the final point of escalation for 3rd Line issues. Main contacts which the post-holder has within and outside the organisation All ICT users: on site, at satellite offices and working remotely; Hardware, software and related service suppliers. Budgetary responsibilities specifically attached to post Agree pricing, for renewals and routine new equipment, with Infrastructure suppliers; raise and confirm purchase orders for agreed work, and maintain appropriate records. Main duties and responsibilities Helpdesk and Reactive Infrastructure Support

Manage the delivery of Infrastructure support. This will involve hands-on support to users, as well as back-end troubleshooting of servers and network. Front-end support includes thin client, traditional PC, VOIP telephony, MFDs and smart phone hardware, as well as MS Office desktop applications. Back-end support includes Active Directory, VMware, SQL server, Backup Exec.

Ensure that all infrastructure support calls received by the helpdesk are resolved within agreed timescales; escalating to the Infrastructure manager when needed. Keep users informed of progress; monitor and respond to satisfaction ratings.

Manage the team’s shift rota and work as part of it, ensuring the team provides cover from 08.00–18.00 on working days. Typical shifts are 08.00–16.00 or 10.00–18.00, alternating, as agreed by the Services manager. Undertake after-hours/weekend work as required (with paid overtime or time off in lieu). This includes being on call on a rota to respond to emergencies when required.

Support all TVH working locations, by connecting remotely or making trips to satellite offices when necessary (e.g. 7 NHS offices, Fizzy sites, and Woking).

Undertake/supervise user administration tasks, including adding and deleting users (on Voice over IP as well as PCs/servers), allocating permissions and providing basic ICT induction for new starters.

Liaise closely with colleagues in the Business Systems, Web and Project Teams to ensure service delivered to internal and external customers is seamless.

Identify any service request patterns and ensure they are reviewed with other ICT managers, informing planning for training or future services, to reduce call volumes.

Operational Infrastructure Management

Lead day to day maintenance tasks and incident management, ensuring that any lessons learned are fed back into the team’s plans and processes; and that formal incident reports are compiled for the Directors. This will include: o Daily back-ups o Monitoring systems capacity and performance (using appropriate tools/alerts) o Applying patches and upgrades, for business applications as well as core infrastructure.

Assemble, configure, install and maintain PCs, printers, scanners, office phones, mobile handsets and other peripherals.

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Assist in maintaining data security, including comprehensive back-up and recovery arrangements. Ensure physical infrastructure security is maintained. Advise users on data security.

Contribute to, and take part in, Disaster Recovery exercises and Business Continuity planning. Manage internal and supplier resources to ensure that all infrastructure activities are undertaken with minimal

business disruption, and are properly documented and communicated. Ensure that assets and licences are appropriately recorded and renewed.

Projects

Take an active role in projects, under guidance from the ICT Infrastructure Manager, dependent on experience and business need, eg:

Researching and recommending solutions available, including technical and commercial aspects; Acquiring and installing new software and hardware; Liaising with users to agree requirements and roll-out plans; Liaising with suppliers.

Staff Management

Manage the two Infrastructure Technicians. This will include:

Day to day supervision and support; Learning/development and career guidance; Performance management, including formal processes such as annual appraisals, sickness monitoring and

feedback; Planning leave, training etc with the Infrastructure Manager, so that cover is provided for key systems on

all work days, and out of hours when necessary.

Supplier Management

Lead the day to day liaison with Infrastructure suppliers. Support Business Systems colleagues by providing technical input to discussions with Business System suppliers.

Collect data on Infrastructure supplier performance, to provide input to Account management meetings, helping to manage performance and ensure value for money.

Take the lead in managing particular suppliers, as agreed with the Infrastructure Manager. Observe TVH procurement policy, Bribery Act and OJEU requirements etc.

Miscellaneous

Carry out other duties as may be reasonably assigned from time to time by the Infrastructure Manager, compatible with the level of this job description.

Created by: Caroline Morgan, Head of ICT Date: 29 September 2015

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PERSON SPECIFICATION Role: Infrastructure Services Manager Department: ICT Directorate: Corporate Services

Knowledge, Experience & Skills Essential/Technical

Experience of maintaining Microsoft server products: Windows 2008/12, including Active Directory Administration. Certified to at least MCSA (Infrastructure) (server 2008/2012) level or equivalent.

Experience of working with VMware.

Experience of working with Citrix/XenApp (published desktops).

Experience of using SCCM to package/deploy software, manage alerts and image workstations and laptops.

Experience of using Symantec Backup Exec 2012/2014.

Asset management, including servers, traditional PCs, thin clients, MFDs, printers and mobile telephony.

Evidence of delivering high levels of internal customer service.

Knowledge of contemporary tools for collaboration and sharing.

Experience of staff supervision/team leading.

Desirable

Microsoft: MCSE Server.

VMware: Certified to VCP5-DCV.

Citrix/Xenapp: Certified to CCA level.

Networks: CISCO network support.

CISCO Call manager phone experience.

Mobile device experience.

ITIL Service Management familiarity, or a similar structured approach.

COMPETENCIES (Please provide written evidence in your personal statement of how you have demonstrated the competencies highlighted in red in your previous experiences. The questions at interview stage will also be based on these competencies.)

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Core Results Focused Uses directorate/department objectives to identify team KPIs to drive service delivery and meet goals Planning and Organising Delivers the project plan/departmental objectives to plan and budget Working Together Involves others to work towards shared goals and objectives Customer Driven Plans and organises delivery of customer service Leadership (Developing and Managing People) Gives basic direction and instruction Applied Thinking Recommends improvements to processes and services at a team level by analysing patterns and trends from information Initiative and Innovation Develops and implements initiatives at a local level. Managing Relationships Builds positive and reciprocal relationships that benefit the Association Continuous Improvement Delivers improvements at a team level Management Commercial Awareness Demonstrates awareness of commercial aspects of the business

Other Commits to equal opportunities and health and safety

LIVING AND DELIVERING THE CORPORATE VALUES Think Forward – Question how we do things. Think ahead. Innovate

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Think We – Let’s work together to achieve our shared goals.

Think Openly – Let’s be transparent and true to our word.

Think With Compassion – Offer your time and support. Act with empathy and understanding.

Think With Energy – Be passionate about delivering great customer service and making things happen

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GUIDANCE NOTES FOR APPLICANTS Introduction These notes aim to help you complete your job application form. Please read carefully before you start completing the application form. Completing your Application We will use the information you provide in your application to decide whether or not you meet the essential requirements listed in the person specification. Please note that if you don’t give examples through your application how you meet the criteria, your application will not be taken to the next stage. The following sections below outline the contents of the job description and person specification and will be useful when completing your application. Thames Valley Housing has set out the performance and behaviour expectations for each role within the organisation. The job description sets out the family tree, main purpose of the job, contacts and key tasks for the role. The person specification contains the following:

1) KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS This is broken up as “Essential & Desirable” These are knowledge and outcomes required to perform effectively within the role and you are required to provide details of relevant experience for this role.

2) QUALIFICATIONS

These are the qualifications which are essential or desirable for the job.

3) COMPETENCIES These are a set of behaviours an individual must posses in order to perform to the optimum level within that role.

4) OTHER

Depending on the role, there may be other criteria that the job holder needs to demonstrate e.g. if a job involves travelling, you will need to have a full drivers licence.

Short-listing The people short-listing will use information from your application and personal statement to determine whether you will be short-listed for assessments/interviews for this role. They will focus mainly on the essential criteria listed in the person specification. You should therefore show through your application form and your personal statement how you meet the essential criteria.

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Assessments/Interviews If your application is short-listed, you will be required to undergo some testing from a range of

Ability Tests

Written Exercise

Job related tests

Psychometric tests

IT tests References We will need two good references.

Your current employer. If you are unemployed, this will be your most recent employer. This will be

someone senior to you who can assess your work for us, not a colleague or friend at work.

A previous employer, or someone with a senior role who can vouch for you.

Driving If the job needs you to drive, we will need to see your driving license DBS check

For some jobs we will need to carry out a Disclosure & Barring Service check. We’ll say so in the job description if that’s the case. Eligibility to work in the UK It’s against the law for us to take on people who do not have the right to work here. If we offer you a job, we will ask you to prove this to us. We’ll send you a list of documents you can use for this. (Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act.) Data Protection By law, we have to let you know that we keep the personal information about you that you put in a job application. When you sign and send an application in, we take this to mean that you are giving us permission to keep it, and to use it to get in touch with you, if we find a job we think would suit you in the following six months. Your Views We’re happy to hear from you. We want to improve our recruitment, so please do let us know what you think about the process.

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PERSONAL STATEMENT [To download a Word version click here] Name of applicant: [Text here]

Role applying for: [Text here]

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

Tell us about the knowledge and work experience that you’ve had – everything that makes you believe you are the right person for the job

[Text here]

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

How do your skills match what we’re looking for?

[Text here]

COMPETENCIES

Please give real life examples of how you have demonstrated the competencies in bold listed on the Person Specification (Please refer to appendix 1 and useful examples)

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A GUIDE TO COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWS At Thames Valley Housing competency-based interviews are a key part of candidate selection. Here is a brief guide to what such interviews involve, along with some advice on how best to approach them. Introduction Competency-based interviews are based on the idea that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. Accordingly, the interviewer’s goal is to obtain specific examples of when and how you demonstrated particular behaviours. Interview questions are carefully designed to probe specific skill, competencies and characteristics which are relevant to job success for the position in question. All candidates are asked the same questions and notes are taken in order to evaluate candidates. The word competency is widely used in business and personnel psychology and refers to the behaviours that are necessary to achieve organisational goals. A competency is also something you can measure and lists of competencies form a common language for describing how people perform in different situations. Every job can be described in terms of key competencies and these are described in the person specification attached to each job description. This means that competencies can be used for all forms of assessment, including appraisals, training needs analysis and selection. Whilst each interview may vary in terms of the questions asked/competencies reviewed, there are general themes that are usually covered. It is well worth preparing for this type of interview by, for example, being familiar with some of the possible questions and how you would answer them. At TVH we have eight core competencies and two managerial competencies. These have been developed in association with our corporate values* to support the organisation’s vision and goals. These core competencies, together with the knowledge and technical skills required to fulfil the role, are detailed in the person specification. These will form the basis of the questions you will be asked.

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PREPARING FOR COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWS Competency-focused, well structured answers are extremely powerful and will impress the interviewer(s). Below are some hints and tips which you might find useful:

To prepare for competency-based interviews, first review the job description and person specification

carefully and identify the skills and traits likely to be assessed. Next, identify the situations and

experiences that you will refer to in the interview to demonstrate these skills and traits. (You may

have already included some of your examples in the supporting statement that you submitted during

the application process. That’s fine. You may be required to expand on these examples in your

interview.)

The STAR model will provide a structure to your answers:

Situation - describe a situation or problem you have encountered; Task - what was required of you in terms of aims/objectives/challenges? Action - what did you do (as opposed to your colleagues/team-mates/manager)? Result - what happened/what was the outcome of your actions?

You will be asked to provide specific examples with lots of detail. When using this format it is useful to

give the panel a little bit of Situation and Task but the bulk of your example should consist of your

Action - what you did and said in this situation.

Remember to include good examples of where you have demonstrated any of the Corporate values in

your past experiences.

Apply your common sense - if you have applied for a customer-facing role, then it is most likely that

you will be asked to describe situations where you have interacted with a customer and delivered

good customer service. Similarly, if you have applied for a technical role, you will most likely be

assessed on your ability to analyse and solve problems.

Think back over your past experiences and situations you have been involved in that might

demonstrate to an interview panel the behaviours they are looking for. The examples might be from

work, college, sports, volunteer roles or other groups or teams you may have been part of. Try to think

of your most recent experiences so you can remember lots of detail about what you did in that

situation (i.e. try to use examples that are no older than 2 years).

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You might find it useful to have a go at being interviewed with the help of a friend or family member.

Don’t try to rehearse or memorise your answers, simply familiarise yourself with your previous

experiences in a structured way to help you remember what you did in these situations.

Tips for the interview

Be yourself - act naturally;

Try to relax and ask for water if you need it;

Don’t be afraid to take time to gather your thoughts and think of your best example to fit the question

before speaking;

It’s OK to ask questions - remember it is a two-way conversation;

It’s also OK to ask the panel to repeat a question, or clarify your understanding for what you are being

asked;

If you are unsure about whether your example is what the panel was looking for, at the end of your

response check with the panel that you have answered their questions;

The panel will be busy taking notes during the interview and may not be able to maintain eye contact

with you throughout the interview. Don’t let that distract you or put you off. It’s their job to get

everything down so they have an accurate record you have said in the interview - it does not mean you

are giving bad examples.

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Name Definition Level Descriptors

1 Applied Thinking Makes use of relevant information to resolve problems, identify opportunities and reach appropriate solutions.

Leader Identifies new business opportunities by evaluating company performance from a range of information

Expert Sets Directorate/Departmental priorities by developing solutions to support the business plan

Professional Recommends improvements to processes and services at a team level by analysing patterns and trends from information

Vocational Solves basic problems within clearly laid out policies and procedures

2 Results Focused – “Getting things done”

Achieves successful delivery of tasks and objectives by effectively managing others or taking direct action.

Leader Sets the performance framework for the organisation to meet corporate goals, achieve results and champions improvements

Expert Sets the performance framework for the Directorate/Department to meet objectives, KPIs and continuously seeks improvements in delivery

Professional Uses Directorate/Department objectives to identify team KPIs to drive service delivery and meet goals

Vocational Takes responsibility for achieving individual objectives and contributing to team targets

3 Planning and Organising Plans and organises work and activities to meet objectives whilst achieving quality and value for money.

Leader Structures the business plan to deliver key objectives while allocating appropriate resources

Expert Develops project plans and identifies departmental activities and resources required to meet organisational goals

Professional Delivers the project plan/departmental objectives to plan and budget

Vocational Contributes to the team/project objectives by effectively setting own work plan and prioritising key tasks

4 Initiative and Innovation Takes a creative approach to work by formulating new ideas or adapting existing ideas in a new or unexpected way to create opportunities.

Leader Develops ways of capturing innovation and creativity across the organisation and delivers through others

Expert Plans and implements new ideas in the long to medium term and takes the lead in delivering change within Directorate

Professional Develops and implements initiatives at a local level

Vocational Addresses current opportunities by improving and adapting existing approaches

Appendix 1

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Name Definition Level Descriptors

5 Working Together Works co-operatively and flexibly across cultures and organisational boundaries to achieve shared goals

Leader Creates a positive team working environment

Expert Builds the team to deliver a high quality service

Professional Involves others to work towards shared goals and objectives

Vocational Works co-operatively with other members of the team and direct customers

6 Managing Relationships (Influencing, persuading and negotiating)

Builds and maintains relationships to achieve positive outcomes for the Association

Leader Extends networks and uses indirect influence to build external relationships to achieve long term strategic organisational goals

Expert Maintains networks and plans impact

Professional Builds positive and reciprocal relationships that benefit the Association

Vocational Builds rapport with colleagues and direct customers/suppliers

7 Continuous Improvement (Striving for Excellence)

Looks for opportunities to improve (self, products and/or services)

Leader Creates a continuous improvement environment

Expert Drives Departmental activity to continuously improve systems and processes

Professional Delivers improvements at a team level

Vocational Drives self to deliver results and aspirations

8 Customer Driven Provides an excellent service to all customers

Leader Develops the strategy to meet the long term interests and aspirations of customers

Expert Champions and promotes the delivery of quality service to all customers

Professional Plans and organises delivery of customer service

Vocational Delivers a high quality service

9 Commercial Awareness Understands relationship of operational issues to wider business context

Leader Defines and develops TVH’s commercial objectives to maximise the organisation’s financial wellbeing

Expert Delivers the commercial objectives

Professional Understands the purpose and content of the Corporate business plan

Vocational Demonstrates awareness of commercial aspects of the business

10 Leadership (Developing and Managing People)

Inspires and motivates others to develop confidence and capability to

Leader Leads the organisations to deliver high performance

Expert Is a role model for effective leadership

Appendix 1

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Name Definition Level Descriptors

realise their full potential Professional Supports team development

Vocational Gives basic direction and instruction

Appendix 1

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