Supervision Senior Associate - Strategy and Operations

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Wednesday 24th April, and therefore we advise getting your application in no later than midnight on Tuesday 23rd April. You are able to upload the covering letter at the same point as where you are asked for your CV.

About Ofcom

Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day. We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio.

Our culture is clear – we live by our values: Empowerment; Excellence; Collaboration; Agility and Respect. These define how we work to deliver our purpose, now and in the future. The behaviours which support these values set the path for a fully inclusive and innovative culture at Ofcom.

We focus not only on what we do, but how we do it. We pride ourselves on being an organisation of people who genuinely care about helping others.

About Online Safety

Online services are integral to our daily lives: they have unlocked new ways to learn, create, collaborate, and communicate. However, they have also exposed users to new forms of harm including online scams, child sexual exploitation and abuse, and hate speech, as well as content harmful to children, such as pornography.

Ofcom has recently been given wide-ranging new powers by the Online Safety Act 2023. Our role is to hold online services to account for the steps they take to protect users from harm and ensure a safer life online.

We are recruiting a Senior Associate to support Ofcom in regulating online services. This role will focus on our strategy and operation, ensuring the team has the right focus, direction and resources to protect users and deliver on its ambitious plans. As part of our One Ofcom strategy, this role will be based in Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast or Cardiff.

About the Team

Ofcom’s Online Safety Group works to ensure UK citizens have a safer life online. The Group’s role is to lead work across Ofcom to implement the new regulatory framework for online safety, alongside the ongoing regulation of video sharing platforms.

The Supervision Team sits within the Online Safety Group and our role is to manage Ofcom’s relationships with regulated services. Our Team provides close, structured engagement with the most impactful services in scope of the online safety regime and promotes compliance among the many thousands of services covered by the new rules. We lead and deliver our supervision strategy in collaboration and coordination with other specialist teams in Ofcom.

Purpose of the role

The Strategy, Frameworks and Operations team within Supervision makes sure we deliver against Ofcom's overall strategy for online safety. We help set a clear strategy across diverse portfolios of regulated services. We track and report our progress against a complex work programme. We also support the development of new frameworks and capabilities, key relationships, use of technology systems, and automated processes across our supervisory work so we can have the maximum impact.

The successful candidate will lead on designing our supervision processes and approaches. You will be working collaboratively, not only across Online Safety, but across all of Ofcom’s functions and teams including Enforcement, International, Research and Intelligence, and others.

You will identify where there are gaps or issues in process, collect relevant information from colleagues, and recommend solutions. You will work with the wider teams to deliver these solutions ensuring our activities remain on track. You will oversee the delivery and testing of new processes and systems, identifying and acting on issues where needed.

• Co-ordinate activities across the online stakeholder and/or supervision programmes to ensure the successful delivery of Ofcom’s online safety supervision strategy.
• Maintain and drive the programme plan, ensuring workstreams and tasks are clearly scoped and delivered on time.
• Manage internal risk frameworks and corporate reporting.
• Design processes and map the approach (and associated resources/templates) for the use of formal and informal regulatory tools, including the factors to be considered in using certain tools such as our legal powers, decision-making arrangements etc.
• Engage with other regulators to understand the conduct of supervision under other regimes.
• Liaise with other Ofcom teams including other OS teams, Legal and Enforcement.

Content information and safeguarding

Applicants should be aware that whilst these roles should not involve directly exposure to illegal content, it could potentially involve working time spent on distressing content and material and/or themes. Ofcom is committed to safeguarding our colleagues who undertake this type of work and offers a range of tailored support options, including training, annual psychological assessments for those regularly doing this work and 24-hour access to counselling services.   

 Skills, knowledge and experience

Essential

• Experience in managing internal relationships and excellent collaboration skills, including the ability to engage with senior counterparts and manage sensitive issues and challenging conversations.
• Experience of planning and delivering a portfolio of work and leading work within a diverse team of different specialisms and internal and external partners.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, including experience in confidently presenting complicated issues to non-specialist audiences.
• Research and analytical skills, with experience in assessing complex issues and using your judgement to identify problems and develop solutions.
• Strong written drafting skills, with a focus on producing clear, concise documents for senior management approval
• Ability to understand and apply complex ideas or processes in a practical context, for example developing understanding of legislation, policies, guidance or processes and using that knowledge to advise others or improve practices
• Experience in a complex regulatory, policy, legal or compliance-focused environment

How to Apply

Please submit a covering letter along with your application of no more than a page, detailing your experience and suitability for the role.

Ofcom has a clear mission: to make communications work for everyone. To be able to deliver on this, we want our organisation to reflect the diversity of background, experience, upbringing and thought that exists across the UK. We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or disability

Where positions are listed as full-time, if you need reduced hours, part time, job shares or any other flexibly working arrangements, please still get in touch. We champion flexible working arrangements from day one of employment and are open to discussing and accommodating various work arrangements to meet your needs.

We strive to ensure all our recruitment information and processes are accessible and inclusive for everyone. If you require information in an alternative format or have specific preferences to support your application process, please emailour recruitment team or call us on (phone number removed).

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for our advertised roles. Learn more about this scheme on our website, Ofcom - disability confident scheme.