About the Role
The Assistant Principal Officer will lead a high-volume operational area responsible for the registration, assessment, triage and progression of complaints, ensuring all cases are handled efficiently, accurately and in line with statutory requirements, organisational procedures and service standards. The role also has responsibility for a customer experience team, overseeing customer service delivery while driving quality assurance, process improvement and service transformation initiatives. The successful candidate will manage complaint intake and workflow processes, compliance and admissibility checks, quality assurance activities, customer engagement and people management, ensuring a fair, impartial, timely and consistent service for complainants, providers and other stakeholders.
Reporting to the Director of Registration, Early Resolution and Transformation, the postholder will play a key leadership role in workforce planning, performance management, operational risk management and continuous service improvement. The role involves using management information to support decision-making, contributing to organisational projects and policy development, and leading change initiatives that enhance complaint handling processes, quality standards, staff capability and customer experience. Applicants will need to demonstrate strong leadership, sound judgement, operational management capability, effective communication skills and a commitment to delivering high-quality, customer-focused public services.
Key Responsibilities:
- Leading the day-to-day operation of the Registration and Early Resolution team to ensure the timely and effective management of a high-volume caseload;
- Managing complaint registration, assessment, jurisdictional and compliance checks, and associated workflow decisions in line with legislation, policy and procedure;
- Ensuring robust quality assurance arrangements are in place so that decisions, correspondence, records and process outputs are accurate, consistent and of a high standard;
- Driving high standards of customer service, including the management of sensitive and complex interactions with complainants, providers and representatives;
- Leading, motivating and developing staff, including work allocation, performance management, coaching, attendance management and supporting staff wellbeing;
- Using data and management information to monitor throughput, trends, risks, service levels and team performance, and taking appropriate action to address issues;
- Working collaboratively with internal stakeholders to support service integration, process improvement, digital transformation and organisational change;
- Ensuring compliance with governance requirements, risk controls, data protection obligations and internal policies; and
- Contributing to the achievement of organisational objectives through active participation in projects, reporting, planning and strategic initiatives.
Essential Requirements:
Candidates must, on or before 14 July 2026, meet the following essential requirements:
- A recognised qualification at Level 7 or higher in management, public administration, law, business, governance, quality assurance, customer service, human rights or a related discipline.
- A minimum of 3 years’ direct management experience in a high-volume operational environment, with responsibility for delivering results through teams and maintaining service standards.
- Demonstrated experience of leading and managing people, including work planning, performance management, staff development, employee engagement and the management of competing priorities.
- Proven experience of managing process-driven work requiring high levels of accuracy, consistency, timeliness and quality assurance.
- Relevant experience in complaint handling, case intake, registration, assessment, compliance checking, customer operations, adjudicative support, regulatory administration or a comparable service environment.
- Strong evidence of sound judgement, decision-making and problem-solving, including the ability to assess issues, apply policy or legislative requirements and make balanced, well-reasoned decisions.
- Experience of analysing operational data and management information to monitor performance, identify risks or trends, and improve service delivery and throughput.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively and professionally with internal and external stakeholders, including in sensitive or challenging situations.
- Demonstrated ability to lead change, improve processes and contribute to organisational or service development initiatives.
- A clear understanding of the values and responsibilities of public service, including governance, accountability, fairness, confidentiality and customer service.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience working in a regulatory, ombudsman, legal, complaints resolution, financial services, pensions or other public sector environment.
- Experience of overseeing registration, triage, admissibility, jurisdictional assessment or early resolution processes.
- Experience of operating in a governance-rich environment with responsibility for compliance, audit readiness, records management or risk controls.
- Experience of developing and implementing quality assurance frameworks, standard operating procedures, service standards or performance dashboards.
- Experience of leading service improvement, digital change in an operational setting.
- Knowledge of administrative law, fair procedures, complaint resolution processes or relevant legislative and regulatory frameworks.
How to Apply:
A comprehensive CV and a short cover letter outlining why you wish to be considered for the post and how you believe your skills, experience and values meet the requirements for the position must be uploaded via the portal at https://www.consciatalent.com/fspo no later than 5pm (Irish time) on Tuesday 14th July 2026.
Applications will not be accepted by any other method, nor if received after the closing date.
When outlining your application, accuracy is essential. The information you supply in your application will play a central part of the selection process.
If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your application within 24 hours, please check your junk/spam folders as email notifications may be filtered here.
The onus is on each applicant to ensure that they are in receipt of all communication from Conscia Limited. Conscia Limited accept no responsibility for communication not accessed or received by an applicant.
If you have any queries about the role, please contact us at fspo@consciatalent.com
