Finance, Strategy & Corporate Services Directorate
Partner Services Team Role
Service Delivery Manager
January 2015
The Student Loans Company - 2014
Our Vision
To be valued as a digital, customer-focused, centre of excellence
Our Mission
We enable our customers to invest in their futures by delivering
secure, accurate and efficient assessment, payment and
repayment services
SLC needs to focus on essential organisational change to deliver an effective and efficient student finance service to its
customers. This is a transformation during which it is vital that SLC remains stable and sustainable whilst we become a Digital,
Customer Focused, Centre of Excellence.
Alongside exemplary customer service and agile delivery, there is a longer-term strategy to deliver efficiencies and productivity
gains throughout the organisation with a view to realising these benefits as soon as possible.
To ensure that SLC can achieve its objectives in a more cohesive, customer-focused way we need to work more collaboratively
by taking accountability and, where appropriate, sharing responsibilities, in order to make effective decisions that focus on our
Vision, deliver our Mission and reflect our Values.
To achieve this we need to work in less complicated structures with clearly understood boundaries.
In order to fulfil the Mission, we are strengthening accountability and providing clarity for all roles and responsibilities, but
especially those of leadership and management.
We expect everyone working at SLC to be in a position to establish collaborative working throughout the Company ensuring a
focus on quality and value in service delivery.
To achieve our Vision we are designing new structures with the aim of increasing our customer focus with the right balance
between front-line and back-office processes but also the flexibility to continuously improve and to innovate.
As a Partner Services Team Member
You will deliver value by:
Forming a direct, collaborative relationship with stakeholders. This will maximise efficiencies and address change, operational delivery,
problem resolution and policy assessments ensuring that:
•
The execution of full end-to-end processes for applications, assessment and payment to students and learners is enabled by
dependable, timely and accurate information from service partners
•
The end-to-end processes for payment to Delivery Partners achieve SLC “Pay” commitments
•
The levels of satisfaction from service partners are high enough for SLC to receive support, endorsement and insight to enable
continuous improvement
The function will:
Manage the exchanges between SLC and its Delivery Partners. There are three core service exchanges:
a)
Services given by Delivery Partners to enable SLC to deliver services to its customer
b)
Services given by SLC to its partners as business customers
c)
Delivery of insight and advice to internal and external policy development teams, to reflect the views, concerns and interests of SLC’s
business customers.
The Partner Services team will operate as a single point of ownership for the following interactions with our business-to-business Delivery
Partners (FE LPs, HEIs, HEFCE, SFA,), organisations that partner us in delivering student finance information and guidance, (e.g. HELOA,
NCS), representative organisations that advise us (AMOSSHE, BUFDG, NASMA, HELOA etc), awarding authorities that SLC suppliers
services to (SAAS, ELBs NHS). The scope of each composite team in Partner Services covers all these groups.
•
These business interactions are:
•
business service delivery interfaces
•
product/service development
•
account management
•
advice and guidance in respect of student finance
Service Delivery Manager
Responsible To:
Management
Authority:
Staff :
SLC Budget
Authority:
Head of Partner Services
3 Direct Report;
Service Line Manager, Account
Services Manager (FE / HE)
circa 40
Authority for service delivery
budget, sub-set of Partner
Services budget, with
expenditure limit of £50,000.
Purpose of the role:
•To manage the delivery of services from SLC’s
external Delivery Partners (HEIs, LPs, LCs, ELBs, IAG
partners, National Data-Sharing organisations).
•To create trusted and national expert advisors
who provide an excellent technical, advisory and
IAG service to business customers (Delivery
Partners) incorporating the service management
best-practice, utilising account management, helpline, and specialist advice.
•To plan, deploy and utilise resources, (people,
technology, contact channels) to maximise the
fulfilment of the needs of SLC’s Delivery Partners.
•To provide overall direction and leadership to
team managers, in accordance with supplier and
customer management disciplines
•To engage with team managers, motivating and
inspiring the team to deliver their best and
champion a customer focus and continuous
improvement culture within the department.
•To provide line management role for the Partner
Services Delivery department, and deputise for the
Head of Partner Services
Service Delivery Manager
Key Responsibilities:
•Motivate and develop team to deliver results which meet expectations of our delivery partners.
•Ensure that all staff receive relevant personal and aggregated development to ensure they meet their personal objectives and targets
•Coach and develop your team managers ensuring that they are equipped to effectively manage their teams
•Work as a team toward improving Stakeholder Satisfaction and service fulfilment targets.
•Ensure partners activity is monitored, supported with full advice and guidance and adheres to time, best practice and service obligations,
interpreting user insight and performance data to drive excellence in delivery and continuous improvement
•Ensure partners receive help and support to consistent, complete and accurate standards
•Maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the operational interfaces with other operational teams
•Work towards planning and attaining targets across all targeted areas, including service levels and scorecards, accounting for the complex
needs of customers, and deploying resources accordingly, and creating an awareness of performance across your team and discuss how it
impacts the customer.
•Monitor the effectiveness of the department to ensure directorate standards are maintained, targets are met and the department
adheres to procedures and regulations, including the Leading the Way framework
•To act as Business Lead for mandatory and discretionary projects owned by Partner Services.
•Manage the functions of the Partner Service delivery dept.
•Contribute as a key member of the Partner Services Division’s management team, and to the Finance, Corporate Services & Strategy
directorate.
•Ensure all staff within the team to have SMART objectives and individual PDPs
•Deputise for the Head Of Partner Services
•Work with support partners i.e H.R, Hub, OD&L to balance the needs of the customer and the business
•Assist in the entire recruitment process for all new employees
•Ensure all people management activities are carried out in line with the principles of Investors in People (IiP), Leading The Way
commitments, and service management standards.
•Ensure that all practices and procedures are fully compliant with regulations
•To assist in mandatory or special project teams which will assist in the management of Partner Service’ activities and maximise capabilities
and productivity
•To ensure that new technology and practices are implemented effectively without affecting the levels of customer care provided by the
department
•To own and be responsible for specific business relationships on behalf of SLC, with external organisations , keeping aware of their
developments and overseeing response plans in SLC.
Services Delivery Manager
Key Outputs:
Skills, Knowledge and Experience:
•Partner contacts handled to quality, accuracy
and timeliness targets
•Responses and actions executed in line with
define guidelines and timings.
•Outgoing calls for action delivered to campaign
targets and relevant monitoring systems
implemented.
•Contact management and tracking systems
•Insight and feedback to inform SLC
enhancements
•Educated to degree-level or equivalent
•Essential experience in overseeing services to and
from external service partners
•Proven successful competencies in people / team
management and utilisation
•Very experienced in people recruitment and
development and coaching
•Highly experienced/proven track record at
account / supplier management
•Good knowledge of student funding and the
education sector
•Excellent relationship management and
engagement skills, with the ability to influence and
negotiate service interactions with external
parties.
•Very strong planning, and organisational skills
•Understanding of all contact centre technologies
•High levels of IT literacy, including an awareness
of contact centre technologies.