Job summary
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority (HFEA) is the UKs independent regulator of clinics providing
fertility treatment and research involving human embryos.
We
are looking for a Head of Licensing to lead our statutory, quasi-judicial
licensing service, which licenses fertility clinics and research. This is a
varied and rewarding role in a small, specialist and high profile regulatory
body.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is quality
focused and enjoys being on the cutting edge of statutory decision-making,
performing a role that requires good internal relationships and excellent
judgement in situations involving legal risks and contentious issues.
The right candidate will have solid prior experience working
in a licensing environment at a managerial level, and may have worked in
another regulator or similar public body.
As well as a good working knowledge of licensing and
managing formal committees, you will bring an understanding of public sector
transparency requirements and an awareness of legal risks. You will also have
experience of leading and managing a team, developing staff and liaising and
working effectively with lawyers and senior people.
Bringing a continuous improvement mindset and an eye for
detail, you will be a skilled communicator. You will have previous experience
of writing and presenting high quality papers to senior audiences.
"At this stage we are not in a position to consider agency CV's."
Interviews - 09/09/24
Main duties of the job
The post holder will:
Lead the HFEAs licensing and appeals service,
taking overall responsibility for our statutory licensing arrangements and the
associated committees.
Ensure that meetings are well run and supported,
and that decisions are robust and consistent.
Work with and manage a Licensing Manager and a
team of three committee secretaries to ensure a high quality service.
Take a lead role in corporate projects with a
focus on or interdependency with the licensing function.
Have oversight of the servicing of occasional
representations hearings and appeals, working with the Licensing Manager to
ensure arrangements are in place, including appropriate fire-walling.
Manage terms of office and recruitment and
induction for the external panellists who sit on our appeals bodies.
Manage the teams work, direction, staff and
budget.
About us
This post is
offered as either office based (in which case you will need to attend the
office at least one day per week our current team day in the office is
Wednesday) or home based (in which case office attendance will be specified by
your line manager based on business need). Our office is in Stratford, east
London, in attractive new premises on the edge of the Olympic Park, alongside
several other health Arms Length Bodies. In addition to flexibility and hybrid
working we offer generous annual leave and pension arrangements.
We offer27.5 days annual leave (rising by one-day for each year of service, up to 32.5
days) entry into the Civil Service Pension Scheme and access to Perkbox
benefits portal.
The HFEA is a member of the
Community Race and Work Charter and the Disability Confident Charter. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and
supportive working environment that is free from any form of discrimination. We
recognise that there are real benefits of having a diverse community of staff
and aim for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of
society. Additionally, we adopt a
culture that hopes to attract and retain talented individuals that want to work
with us.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Head of Licensing will lead the HFEAs licensing and appeals
function, taking overall responsibility for our statutory licensing
arrangements and all associated committees and channels. This entails oversight
of the quality and operational delivery of the HFEAs core licensing function,
including the licence committee that hears representations and external Appeals
Committee, and line managing the Licensing Manager.
Key responsibilities
1.
Lead the overall licensing function,
with a focus on ensuring that meetings are well run and supported, and that
licensing decisions are robust, consistent and accurately recorded. This will
entail working closely with the Licensing Manager (LM) to ensure that meeting
arrangements and paper sets are of the highest possible quality, liaising with
members and the Compliance team as needed to initiate system improvements.
2.
Act as owner of the various Licence
Committee products such as decision trees and relevant standing orders and
ensure they are legally robust and updated as needed.
3.
Manage and develop the Licensing Manager.
4.
Attend meetings of the various
committees as required, supporting the Chair and members as needed.
5.
Overall responsibility for ensuring
the licensing team and committee members maintain their awareness of legal
risks and the nature of quasi-legal decision making, and liaising with senior
staff, the Compliance team, and board members to ensure that queries, new
issues and any resulting process changes are well thought out and communicated.
6.
Liaising with senior staff, the
Compliance team, and board members to ensure that queries, new issues, projects
requiring licensing input and any resulting process changes are well thought
out and communicated.
7.
Ensuring there is regular
communication between the Licensing and Compliance teams, co-Chairing meetings
alongside the Chief Inspector, while maintaining a firewall when it is
necessary to do so.
8.
Lead on ensuring up to date and
appropriate licensing practices and tools are in place, including standard
operating procedures and quality assurance measures, ensuring that any changes
are well understood by the team and that performance metrics are accurately
reported and explained to SMT, CMG and the Authority.
9.
Ensuring there is a robust quality
assurance system in place for papers, agendas, minutes, licences and notices,
and that any licences and notices issued following meetings are issued promptly
and accurately.
10.
Take a lead role in any corporate
projects that have a focus on or interdependency with Licensing, for example
changes to Standard Licence Conditions. Ensure that any licensing project work,
or licensing input to projects is well coordinated and supported, with a focus
on minimising potential errors that could impact on future licensing decisions.
Act as the sponsor for major licensing projects such as relicensing exercises.
11.
Ensuring implementation of any
recommended changes or feedback arising from the licensing committees annual
reviews of effectiveness, liaising with the Compliance team and others as
necessary.
12.
Have oversight of the servicing of
occasional representations hearings and appeals, working with the Licensing
Manager to ensure that arrangements are in place and outcomes communicated
appropriately, and that any necessary internal firewalling is put in place.
13.
Lead the annual refresher training for
Appeals Committee and Representations members.
14.
Work closely with the Board Governance
Manager in the Planning and Governance team to ensure that terms of office are
managed and that new licensing committee and panel members (Authority members
and external members), and their advisers, are appropriately recruited (where
applicable), trained and inducted before taking up their roles.
15. Manage the Licensing teams work, direction,
staff and budget.
16. Operate as an effective member of the Strategy
and Corporate Affairs leadership team and the wider HFEA Corporate Management
Group.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Head of Licensing will lead the HFEAs licensing and appeals
function, taking overall responsibility for our statutory licensing
arrangements and all associated committees and channels. This entails oversight
of the quality and operational delivery of the HFEAs core licensing function,
including the licence committee that hears representations and external Appeals
Committee, and line managing the Licensing Manager.
Key responsibilities
1.
Lead the overall licensing function,
with a focus on ensuring that meetings are well run and supported, and that
licensing decisions are robust, consistent and accurately recorded. This will
entail working closely with the Licensing Manager (LM) to ensure that meeting
arrangements and paper sets are of the highest possible quality, liaising with
members and the Compliance team as needed to initiate system improvements.
2.
Act as owner of the various Licence
Committee products such as decision trees and relevant standing orders and
ensure they are legally robust and updated as needed.
3.
Manage and develop the Licensing Manager.
4.
Attend meetings of the various
committees as required, supporting the Chair and members as needed.
5.
Overall responsibility for ensuring
the licensing team and committee members maintain their awareness of legal
risks and the nature of quasi-legal decision making, and liaising with senior
staff, the Compliance team, and board members to ensure that queries, new
issues and any resulting process changes are well thought out and communicated.
6.
Liaising with senior staff, the
Compliance team, and board members to ensure that queries, new issues, projects
requiring licensing input and any resulting process changes are well thought
out and communicated.
7.
Ensuring there is regular
communication between the Licensing and Compliance teams, co-Chairing meetings
alongside the Chief Inspector, while maintaining a firewall when it is
necessary to do so.
8.
Lead on ensuring up to date and
appropriate licensing practices and tools are in place, including standard
operating procedures and quality assurance measures, ensuring that any changes
are well understood by the team and that performance metrics are accurately
reported and explained to SMT, CMG and the Authority.
9.
Ensuring there is a robust quality
assurance system in place for papers, agendas, minutes, licences and notices,
and that any licences and notices issued following meetings are issued promptly
and accurately.
10.
Take a lead role in any corporate
projects that have a focus on or interdependency with Licensing, for example
changes to Standard Licence Conditions. Ensure that any licensing project work,
or licensing input to projects is well coordinated and supported, with a focus
on minimising potential errors that could impact on future licensing decisions.
Act as the sponsor for major licensing projects such as relicensing exercises.
11.
Ensuring implementation of any
recommended changes or feedback arising from the licensing committees annual
reviews of effectiveness, liaising with the Compliance team and others as
necessary.
12.
Have oversight of the servicing of
occasional representations hearings and appeals, working with the Licensing
Manager to ensure that arrangements are in place and outcomes communicated
appropriately, and that any necessary internal firewalling is put in place.
13.
Lead the annual refresher training for
Appeals Committee and Representations members.
14.
Work closely with the Board Governance
Manager in the Planning and Governance team to ensure that terms of office are
managed and that new licensing committee and panel members (Authority members
and external members), and their advisers, are appropriately recruited (where
applicable), trained and inducted before taking up their roles.
15. Manage the Licensing teams work, direction,
staff and budget.
16. Operate as an effective member of the Strategy
and Corporate Affairs leadership team and the wider HFEA Corporate Management
Group.
Person Specification
Managing work
Essential
- Ability to work under pressure and prioritise effectively.
- Ability to make reasoned judgments in high-risk situations.
- Ability to keep calm in stressful situations, managing colleagues and members sensitively yet robustly.
Knowledge
Essential
- Good working knowledge of licensing and wider corporate governance practices and public sector transparency requirements
- Awareness of legal risks and the nature of quasi-legal decision making.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of leading and managing a team
- Experience of line managing and developing staff
- Experience of managing formal committees and panels ideally in a licensing or similar statutory setting
- Experience of liaising and working with lawyers
- Experience of liaising with senior staff and board members
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and an ability to coach and improve others in this area
- Experience of establishing and running a robust quality assurance system
- Experience of writing and presenting high quality papers to both senior and internal audiences
Desirable
- Experience of managing a licensing team
- Experience of managing a budget
- Experience of presenting to a Board
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
Desirable
- Legal or governance qualification or corresponding prior experience in a legal licensing or senior governance role
Person Specification
Managing work
Essential
- Ability to work under pressure and prioritise effectively.
- Ability to make reasoned judgments in high-risk situations.
- Ability to keep calm in stressful situations, managing colleagues and members sensitively yet robustly.
Knowledge
Essential
- Good working knowledge of licensing and wider corporate governance practices and public sector transparency requirements
- Awareness of legal risks and the nature of quasi-legal decision making.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of leading and managing a team
- Experience of line managing and developing staff
- Experience of managing formal committees and panels ideally in a licensing or similar statutory setting
- Experience of liaising and working with lawyers
- Experience of liaising with senior staff and board members
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and an ability to coach and improve others in this area
- Experience of establishing and running a robust quality assurance system
- Experience of writing and presenting high quality papers to both senior and internal audiences
Desirable
- Experience of managing a licensing team
- Experience of managing a budget
- Experience of presenting to a Board
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
Desirable
- Legal or governance qualification or corresponding prior experience in a legal licensing or senior governance role
