About the job

Job summary

Border Force is a Law Enforcement arm of the Home Office. We are responsible for handling the UK border control by implementing immigration and customs regulations and working with the wider Home Office on counter terrorism, organised crime, modern slavery and trafficking. Learn more on the Border Force careers page.

Job description

The Border Force Learning & Development Function

This provides an expert learning service within Border Force (BF) Operations providing services to around 15,000 staff within the Home Office. 
The Learning & Development Team, deliver operational training to frontline Border Force staff, equipping them with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to work in a law enforcement environment. Trainers primarily deliver foundation training in Immigration and Customs functions to new recruits but will have the opportunity to deliver other training to established staff and contingency personnel of all grades across the UK.

The Role

You will be working to an Assistant Director and your role as the Senior Learning Manager is to lead and manage the Border Force Training Team based in one of the advertised locations. This will include the direct line management responsibility for the Training Delivery Managers and countersigning responsibility for up to 16 trainers (permanent and associate trainers).

You will be responsible for delivering the National Delivery Plan (NDP) aligned to Border Force learning needs to meet business priorities, and in collaboration with colleagues across the country. 

To Note:

• The Senior Learning Manager role does require weekly attendance of a minimum of 3 days a week in their selected  training hub location.
• We are advertising three roles and we wish to post a candidate to each of the noted training hub locations, therefore please ensure that you only select locations that you are prepared to work at. 
• The Home Office operates a flexible working policy which promotes a healthier work/life balance offering a tailored approach to what works for us as individuals, balanced with the needs of our teams and the organisation. Further information about flexible working will be explained to you when you join the business by your line manager. Please also see additional information in the Further Information section of the advert.
• Normal contractual arrangements within the Home Office require employees to have a work location, and our policies have been adapted to facilitate flexible and remote working.
• Whilst flexible and remote working is accessible to you,  The cost of travel to commute to your base and the cost of accommodation if required, sits with you, as the employee.
• The minimum part time working requirement is 4 days per week. If you have further questions regards part time work please contact the vacancy holder (see Further Information). 
• Travel to other locations within the UK may be required.

Person specification

You will:

• Work closely with key business stakeholders to deliver operational learning requirements.
• Manage the resourcing requirements of the team to ensure that effective training delivery is maintained.
• Compiling and providing management information to Senior Leadership and the business on Learning and Development activities.
• Lead a key portfolio area of learning management (yet to be identified) as part of the Home Office Learning Transformation agenda.
• Develop L&D and management skills through continuous professional development (CPD), including maintaining business knowledge and providing support to frontline operations.
• Working with business leads across the Home Office to ensure learning products are delivered to meet business requirements.
• Manage the process of developing and delivering effective learning in conjunction in line with our national delivery standards.
• Support the coordination and planning of effective operational learning delivery in partnership with other senior learning managers.
• Maintain Stakeholder engagement and management.
• Manage the continous professional development of the team along with their wellbeing through coaching and mentoring.

Essential Criteria

You will Demonstrate and have Experience of:

• Background in Learning and Development and/or Border Force Operations.
• Strong management and leadership experience
• Effective decision making and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage change in a constantly evolving environment.
• Strong planning and organisational skills 

Desirable Criteria

• Learning and Development qualification at NVQ level 3 or above.
• Full valid UK Driving Licence either manual or Automatic.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:  

• a CV detailing job history
• a statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 1000 words)
• provide evidence of the behaviour Leadership (250 words maximum)

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The statement of suitability should be aligned to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description.

For guidance on how to construct your personal statement, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links – Statement

For guidance on how to construct your behaviour examples, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links –Behaviours

 The sift will be held on the behaviour Leadership and the statement of suitability (personal statement). 

The CV will not be scored.

The statement of suitability will be scored first for all candidates. Those candidates who achieve the minimum pass score for the statement of suitability, will progress to a further sift where the lead behaviour (Leadership) will be scored. These candidates will therefore receive a sift score for both elements.

Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the statement of suitability will not have their lead behaviour scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for the statement of suitability.

However, if a large number of applications are received, the sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability (personal statement) only. 

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be a blended approach of strength-based questions and behaviour-based questions. 

Strengths are the things that you do regularly, do well and that motivate you. To find out more about strength based questions click here

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 8th January 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 29th January 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change. 

 Interviews will be carried out via video. Candidates will be required to have access to:

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good internet connection
• Skype for Business/Microsoft Teams    

PLEASE NOTE: Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given.

Further Information

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role or similar role become available within that period you may be offered this position. 

When completing your application you will have the opportunity to select your preferred location(s). Please ensure you select all locations you are interested in. Candidates who are successful at Interview will be placed in order of merit per location and provisional job offers will be made in strict merit order per location preference. Provisional offers are made, as they are on condition that you successfully pass all pre-employment checks.

Note for Candidates:

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism and copying of examples/answers from internet sources. If any is detected the application will be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants. 

If you are currently an agency member of staff working within the Home Office, a contractor or contingent worker you can only apply for roles that are advertised externally, i.e. outside the civil service. If you are eligible to apply for a role, you are required to select yourself as an external applicant and not internal when submitting your application on Civil Service jobs. This will prevent any delays in pre-employment checks should you become successful in being made an offer of employment after the Interview stage.

Are these Reserved Posts for UK Nationals only?

UK nationals who hold dual nationality are able to apply for this reserved post. If a UK passport is not being presented, then candidates will need to provide alternative evidence of UK nationality in line with the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Working Pattern 

There is no shift working requirement, and therefore no AHW allowance available for these roles.

Part Time Working

If you are considering applying for part time hours, please contact HORCCampaignTeamBorderForce@homeoffice.gov.uk to discuss your request as not all working patterns may be accommodated.

Flexible working

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working.  This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estates capacity, by Spring 2024.  Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details).

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to  bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Additional Security Checks: As well as successfully obtaining UKSV clearance and passing the right to work and pre-employment screening, anyone who applies to work for Border Force will also be subject to additional Border Force specific security checks, as part of the pre-employment process, to determine their suitability to work for the organisation.

Please see the Home Office Recruitment Privacy Information Notice (PIN) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recruitment-privacy-information-notice for more information on how your details may be shared for the purpose of additional security checks.

Please see the Border Force Privacy Information Notice (PIN) on Border Force privacy information notice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information on how your details may be shared.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.