confident in our judgement a passion for doing the right thing

Transcription

1 ombudsmen

2 confident in our judgement a passion for doing the right thing Welcome. I am really pleased that you are interested in the ombudsman service. You may be wondering, is this the right job for me? So let me tell you a bit more about us and the role of our ombudsmen. Our purpose at the ombudsman service is simple ensuring people dealing with financial services get honest answers when they have problems. We cover just about everything in financial services from complaints about investment advice and payment protection insurance, through to spread-betting and pet insurance. Last year we handled over 2 million enquiries and resolved over 500,000 formal complaints. Our challenge is to settle disputes without taking sides. Our focus is the individual facts and circumstances of each case. It s our role to bring common sense, sensitivity and wisdom to bear cutting through complexity and getting to the heart of the issue. Our decisions are legally binding, and we have extensive powers to make awards against financial businesses in individual cases. So we need to have confidence in our judgement and a passion for doing the right thing even when we know our decision is likely to disappoint one side. As an ombudsman you are at the centre of our service. A service that makes a difference to people s lives and that helps shape the way financial services work. You will operate as part of a team, probably focusing on one of our major casework areas. And you will join a panel of ombudsmen designed to ensure we work effectively and consistently together. You will work closely with our adjudicators and others across our service to ensure we meet high professional standards in everything we do. But the decision in the individual case is for you to make. Once you meet our high standards of decision making we will need you to handle cases on your own initiative. You will bring to each case not just your skills and analytical strengths, but also your understanding of the concerns of ordinary people and businesses to ensure your answer is fair and reasonable. Just as important, you will be happy to explain your decision. Your decision will be published so that all businesses and consumers can benefit from your findings and our approach. So you will be able to explain complex issues simply to our diverse audience and critically to the individuals directly involved. Perhaps it will be a really complex or groundbreaking case we deal with many genuinely difficult issues. Or perhaps a case that really moved them we deal with customers in some of the most challenging circumstances of their lives. But ask any of our ombudsmen, me included, and they will be able to tell you about the cases that they have resolved. The cases they most remember. The cases where they felt they made a difference. Our organisation is recognised worldwide as a leader in our field. We re also a best company in the not-for-profit sector, and a leader in diversity both as an employer and a service provider. We are a firmly values-led organisation one that s always seeking to do the right thing and to page 2

3 improve our services. That means we have a can do approach, where people support each other to succeed and to strengthen our service for the benefit of consumers and businesses. So what are we looking for in our ombudsmen? We need a range of skills and expertise, which you ll have gained from a successful career in your current field. Many of our ombudsmen had a legal background or experience in financial services before they joined us. But it s not essential, and many other ombudsmen have brought different experiences to the role. You need to be a leader someone who can inspire confidence and can help lead our thinking, and coach our people. Most of all you need to be comfortable making decisions which may be unpopular and which could change people s lives. Behind every complaint are a real person and a real business. People s livelihoods can depend on your decisions. So this isn t a job for everyone. It s for people who care about making a difference. I don t think there s much else that s quite as rewarding. Caroline Wayman chief ombudsman like to know more? We publish our plans for the year ahead at the start of each financial year. This sets out the challenges we predict, the priorities we agree and the key measures we set ourselves for the year. And our annual review looks back at the past year, with facts, figures and information about our work and the trends in complaints. To find out more about the types of complaints we deal with, see our regular newsletter, ombudsman news, which includes case studies and case highlights. our values We believe we work best when we keep in mind what s important to us and stand by our values in all areas of our work. What matters to us is that: we do the right thing we treat our customers well and respect their needs we do what we say we ll do we re inquisitive and build everyone s knowledge diversity and fairness at the heart of everything we do We want to ensure we re reaching out to the widest range of people in how we recruit and in the services we offer. Our service is for everyone. We aim to be accessible and to adapt to all the needs of our people, customers and job applicants. So please let us know if you d like information in a different format or language, or if you d like us to adapt the way we communicate with you. page 3

4 ombudsmen location South Quay, London docklands salary 59,945 plus excellent benefits what an ombudsman does An ombudsman has three key areas of responsibility: technical expertise casework You ll make legally binding decisions on cases all ombudsmen work on individual cases as principal decision maker. Initially, your focus will be on the casework element of the job, so making sure that your decisions are of a high quality is vital, as is dealing with a large volume of cases quickly. You may also be involved in delivering casework projects in defined areas. acting as a professional leader Ombudsmen play a key role in building and developing professional excellence across the whole organisation. So you ll support our adjudicators in developing and learning from the decisions we make. Ombudsmen do this in several ways for example, by providing case specific support and training, and drafting notes about our casework approach. providing professional guidance This can involve assisting with example cases particularly challenging cases which indicate internally and externally what our stance is on a specific issue. It can also mean being the point of contact for routine casework enquiries from external parties, or helping us develop our approach in a particular area of expertise. about you your experience includes making tough, evidence-based and fair decisions either in law, in business, or in a policy environment coaching and mentoring others providing excellent customer service the ability to work independently, whilst also understanding the need to work collaboratively as part of a team to achieve shared goals clear evidence of success at a senior level in your chosen field page 4

5 We have legally binding powers, so you ll need to have or develop expertise in the relevant areas of law. We welcome experience in law, quasi-judicial environments or dispute resolution. Knowledge and expertise in relevant financial services products may be an advantage. In addition, as you progress in your role you may also work on projects or develop policy so previous project or policy experience can be useful. what makes a good ombudsman? you re open-minded and have strong problem solving skills having the intellectual ability to take complex issues, multiple facts and emotive arguments and cut through complexity to reach a fair and reasonable judgement being unprejudiced and deciding each case on the individual facts involved taking ultimate responsibility for making daily decisions you re customer focused keeping in mind that behind every case are real people the consumer and the financial business and that at stake may be large sums of money and livelihoods being sensitive to customers needs making sure you make the customer (the business and the consumer) feel heard when communicating your decision you re a team player who builds and shares what you know helping us to be consistent by making sure our frontline caseworkers understand our approach you re a key source of knowledge within our organisation being a role model for responsible knowledge sharing, providing guidance and developing others and encouraging others to do the same you deliver what you say you ll do performing well under pressure and staying well organised recognising the importance of deciding cases quickly without compromising quality communicating your decisions in a well-reasoned, logical and straightforward way you have excellent staff engagement skills having the ability to coach individuals and teams on their approach, giving positive and difficult feedback to teams and individuals page 5

6 interested in what you ve heard about the job of an ombudsman? here s how to apply If you think you have the kind of perspective we re looking for with the open mind, cool head and sound judgement that makes an ombudsman we d like to hear from you. Please send us your details, attaching your CV and a short covering letter (no more than two sides, please) telling us: why you re the right person to become an ombudsman details of your current remuneration and notice period If you applied to be an ombudsman in the past year and weren t successful, then unfortunately we can t accept another application from you at the moment. what s the process? We ll look at your application and, if you re shortlisted, we ll contact you to explain the role in detail. You can ask lots of questions at this point. Because our ombudsmen have to make some very difficult decisions, we ll ask you to take an ability test, which you can do online at home in your own time. If you pass this and we both agree the role sounds right for you, we ll invite you to an interview at our office in London docklands. We ll also ask you to complete a case study during that visit, which will give you a real flavour of what we do here. If you like what you see at that point, and we re satisfied you ve got the right skills for us, we ll invite you to a final interview at our office. You ll meet some of our ombudsmen there, giving you a chance to ask them what the role is really like, and to talk through your approach to the case study. This stage also involves giving a short presentation. page 6