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Working in
Operational Delivery

The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP), is the largest of all Government professions. Our members make up over half of the Civil Service Workforce. We deliver exceptional services to millions of UK citizens at home and abroad.

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Our roles are varied and skilled, ranging from prison officers, data analysts and insolvency clerks to passport issuers, benefits claim processors, Border Force officers and many more. As ODP professionals we either work directly with the public, or we support colleagues who do.

We aim to provide efficient, trusted services designed around user need to deliver improved outcomes for the country. We need effective leaders who are inspiring, confident and empowering and who live our values. They will lead skilled people who are high-performing, adaptable and take personal responsibility.

We help to make the Civil Service a great place to work for everyone. To be inclusive, flexible, modern and connected, sitting at the heart of a wider public service.

  • Being part of ODP will help you learn and develop new skills, connect and feel part of a thriving community; and be inspired to achieve our vision of role-modelling exceptional Operational Delivery.
  • We can help you develop at any stage of your career. Whether you are looking at progressing or want to learn new skills to help deliver even better customer service in your existing role, we can help.
  • We help you progress and become leaders of the future by offering ways to advance your career. And that’s not all. We also help departments to find the most talented amongst you, to make sure our best people are in the right place at the right time.
  • As a member of the largest professional community in government, you are able to develop conversations both within and across departments, so you can share your knowledge and experience and learn from others. This helps our profession to continuously improve and gives you more opportunities to think about how you can develop your career in ODP.
  • Our people make our profession. Together, we create and deliver exceptional services to citizens. We develop effective leaders who are inspiring, confident and empowering and who live our values. Our profession is inclusive, flexible, modern and connected, sitting at the heart of public service delivery.
  • One example of ODP’s commitment and ability to respond to demands is the Surge and Rapid Response Team (SRRT). They support central Government departments and agencies to manage predictable peaks in service demand, and to respond to unexpected crises within the scope of ODP.
  • We have a Professional Skills Framework to help colleagues identify their learning needs. It helps you to understand how to develop and progress your skills and career within the Operational Delivery Profession. The framework describes core ODP skills, job families and role profiles. It sets out the range of careers available and defines the skills and experience needed for ODP roles across all grades. You can access it by following this link: ODP Professional Skills Framework.

Working in ODP you can do a range of jobs. There are hundreds of different roles within the profession so to make it easier to identify your role when you join, we break the profession into four job families. Job families are how we group certain roles together. By doing this, we can then offer the right learning and development to the right person, so it’s easier to find what you need.

Our Job Families

Leadership and Management

Help, Advice, Support and Service Delivery

Validation, Compliance, Support, Safety and Enforcement (Regulation)

Business Management and Operational Support

The public face of Civil Service

We span a huge variety of roles and work across numerous government departments, including but not limited to; Cabinet Office, Department for Work & Pensions, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, HM Land Registry, HM Revenue & Customs, Home Office, Office for National Statistics, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, and Public Health England.

“For me, ODP is about being part of the important work of encouraging others to take advantage of all the learning and development opportunities we have available so everyone can reach their full potential, achieve their goals and continue to provide high-quality service to our customers.”

Hebe Adams

Trainer, Rural Payments Agency

A photo of Hebe Adams, she is outside in a field in the sun, and is wearing mirrored sunglasses.

Operational Delivery Profession

Visit the Operational Delivery Profession pages on GOV.UK.

ODP Job Vacancies

Find opportunities to become part of our cross-government community on Civil Service Jobs. You can also sign up for new vacancies alerts tailored to your skills and experience.