PI OPERATIONS MANAGER

Working closely with the Head of Personal Injury and as a critical part of the overall Leadership Team, the role is to take an operational lead on the RTA, EL/PL fixed fee regime, Multi-track claims and damage-only motor claims litigation.  

The role involves the monitoring of service standards, professional compliance obligations and client care, together with operational management within the department. Whilst the role does not have a direct fee earning responsibility, the role holder should have experience of personal injury claims handling.

The role holder will:

• Have line management responsibility for the Claims Support team who service the central reception line for the law firm, administrative tasks, and are the initial customer facing team for all motor claims.
• Have operational management responsibility for the department’s graduate academy
• Be responsible for the department’s costs performance to include recruitment costs and driving improvements/efficiencies in case handling and reducing in write-offs
• Have excellent knowledge of personal injury claims and the Claims Portal, together with the best practice of running more complicated multi-track claims
• Consult and have responsibility for driving change to claims handling models to improve efficiencies
• Deal with complaints at first tier and provide an appeal function under the company’s complaints procedure and will act as a referral point for resolving compliance queries and Code of Conduct issues.
• Liaise with the firm’s Compliance Officer and take the lead on complaint audit, the analysis of trends and delivery on recommendations to make improvements against root causes.
• Build strong relationships with business partners and attend quarterly review meetings as required, together with coordinating and delivering on business partner audit requirements.
• Have a strong relationship with colleagues and attend meetings to improve collaboration and efficiencies across the group, significantly in respect of non-personal injury claims, outsourcing, claims and marketing.
• Consult and play an active part in the design and implementation of policies and procedures within the department and wider business.
• Build strong operational relationships with all suppliers and monitor their performance and have accountability for the financial management and reconciliation of those supplier relationships which include medical agencies, chambers and other relevant suppliers.
• Consult and lead on the operational contractual agreements required on behalf of the department with suppliers and others
• Have a strong relationship with the firm's marketing team and lead on the coordination of marketing initiatives within the department
• Consult and lead on a training plan for the department and have the responsibility for coordinating the training needs for all teams, liaising with the firm's Learning and Development Team in relation to soft skills, whilst coordinating technical training separately.
• Be accountable for the department’s induction programme and operational elements for new starters/leavers including liaison with HR, Facilities, Operations and the Compliance teams.
• Have responsibility for embedding a strong high performance culture within the department and wider department, ensuring that appropriate support, supervision and leadership is in place across the team to enable individuals to perform to their full potential in respect of both financial and technical measures
• Foster a collegiate working relationship within Personal Injury and ensure that all operational activity within the department is co-ordinated and delivered effectively

The role involves a high level of data analysis and the ability to adapt and manipulate MI to support all team leaders. The role will lead on obtaining, developing and managing MI reporting with support from IT.

The role involves assisting and consulting in respect of change management to enable fixed fee motor work to achieve high and continuously improving levels of efficiency, productivity and profitability, requiring a high level of understanding of the firm’s case management system and the processes that sit behind the system. The role will involve an understanding of the A2A function of the claims management system and the ability to contribute to and lead process changes.