Somek & Associates is a brand leader in providing expert witness services for clinical negligence and personal injury litigation, as well as other areas of dispute involving health or disability issues including family matters, criminal cases, tribunal, coroner's court and professional regulation issues.
We take the business of being an expert witness seriously, aiming to provide first class expert witnesses, in addition to a quality service for our clients.
Our Vision
To be the organisation of choice for expert witness services in the UK
Our Mission
- To ensure courts have the best expert evidence with which to deal with cases justly
- To ensure lawyers litigating cases (and other case workers instructing us) have supreme confidence in their decisions based on our quality expert input
- To ensure our expert input is seen as value for money
The role
The Team Leader of the Operations Support Team is intended to manage and develop the way the Operations Support staff operate, ensuring professionalism and efficiency. The team are the first point of contact for clients and experts and the Team Leader will need to ensure all communications (phone, email and post) and the processing and management of evidence and other documentation relating to medico-legal cases, are managed appropriately and accurately to deliver a quality service and support all other teams in the business.
Hours: Full-time / permanent (Monday to Friday) 9am to 5.30pm (including 1 hour break)
Location: 9 Chess Business Park, Moor Road, Chesham, HP51SD
Accountable to: Business Process Manager
Key liaison: You will be required to liaise with and work closely with:
- Business Process Manager
- Case Administration Team Leader
- HR
TEAM LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES
- With the support of HR/Business Process Manager, onboarding and inducting all new team members. Including review of job descriptions, screening CVs and applications and interviewing candidates.
- Undertake training and supervision of team members.
- Conduct regular 1-2-1's and annual appraisals.
- Manage the team's sickness absence and annual leave ensuring the team is able to function during periods of absence.
- Manage performance i.e. establishing competencies, setting of performance improvement plans.
- Create, review and update Operations Support processes in line with best practice standards.
- Identify improvements within the team to increase efficiency and implement change accordingly.
- Hold regular team meetings, with a view to communicating with and supporting the team, improving team performance, documenting issues and developing the Operations Support service, ensuring that an agenda and minutes are produced.
OPERATIONS SUPPORT RESPONSIBILITIES
- Providing the client with a quality and positive experience at the first telephone point of contact
- Being a primary contact for all telecommunications into the office, which will involve screening telephone calls, identifying the user in accordance with company policy and assigning to the appropriate S&A team member
- Managing the Administration email inbox, reviewing and assigning messages to the correct case and case handler as appropriate
- Providing front of house function (answering door, greeting visitors and maintaining the visitor's book)
- Updating the office calendar
- Overseeing the scanning and processing of some confidential hard copy but primarily electronic documentation - this is mainly evidence and communications from solicitors - onto the database and ensuring the storage and destruction of evidence in accordance with company policy and GDPR
- Reviewing and managing the various administrative menus on the database (e.g. Evidence Missing, Evidence Issues, Royal Mail Track & Trace etc)
SECONDARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Processing requests and responses as allocated / tracked to you
- Liaising with other key S&A personnel, including the reports administration team and report trainers
- Other general administrative duties
PERSON SPECIFICATION
The Team Leader for the Operations Support Team will need to:
- have excellent written and verbal communication.
- have strong leadership skills.
- possess good organisational and time management skills.
- be proficient in MS Office.
- be reliable and trustworthy.
- be able to use own initiative, whilst also working as part of a small team.
- be able to work flexibly.
- be able to work under pressure and prioritise their own workload.
QUALIFICATIONS / EXPERIENCE
Educated to Graduate Level required. Previous management experience desirable.
NOTES:
References are required and any offer of employment will be subject to a 6-month probationary period.
Confidentiality
The nature of the work of Somek & Associates is highly confidential and the post holder will be expected to maintain full confidence.
All staff are part of the "Somek team" and may be required to assist other teams