About the job

Job summary

• Are you well organised?
• Can you manage under pressure?
• Have you considered a career in immigration and law?

Customer Services is a recently established capability, playing a key role within the Migration and Borders System. Customer Services has typically over 13m customers annually, with a workforce of over 14,000 across its legacy constituent business units. We take a customer-led approach to delivering services, whilst always maintaining robust security controls. 

Appeals, Litigation and Administrative Review (part of Customer Operations Support Services within the Home Office) is responsible for dealing with all applications where an immigration appeal or legal challenge has been lodged. Litigation caseworkers work to assess the challenge against the facts of the case, relevant guidance, policy and caselaw to determine whether it is appropriate to defend the challenge.

Appeals, Litigation and Admin Review (ALAR) Directorate, consists of approximately 1400 staff with litigation teams operating out of 6 locations. 

Everyone in ALAR plays a key role in contributing to the Home Office’s overarching strategic objective of controlling immigration and building a safe, fair and prosperous United Kingdom. 

We currently have vacancies for litigation caseworkers to join our Litigation Operations (Lit Ops) teams based in Bedfont Lakes, West London. The office is in a semi-rural location with the potential for Hybrid working where business needs allow. 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. Please note, to support learning and development and help to build capability, litigation caseworkers undertaking training and/or mentoring may be required to attend the office more regularly than this.

These posts offer a great opportunity to join the Home Office and develop a career within the Civil Service. 

Additionally, ALAR is committed to supporting staff with obtaining relevant professional qualifications. We have an innovative programme of support, which provides opportunities to qualify as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) or as a solicitor. We currently have around 60 colleagues on the CILEx route and 4 on the solicitor route. We also have 18 colleagues about to commence a Legal Business Administration apprenticeship, which provides a stepping-stone to our other opportunities for people with little or no prior legal knowledge. 

Litigation Operations (Lit Ops) Teams 
Lit Ops is an exciting, challenging and rewarding place to work. We are responsible for managing pre-action protocol letters and judicial review challenges, often to tight legal deadlines. Some of the legal challenges we manage are complex, novel and politically sensitive and our handling is often in the public eye. You can expect some of your cases will have Ministerial interest and they may be featured in the national press.

Job description

As a litigation caseworker you will predominantly work on pre-action protocol work and managing judicial review challenges in the Upper Tribunal and High Court. You may also be involved in cases progressing to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Initially, you will develop expertise in a particular area of immigration – perhaps around human rights or asylum – and as you gain experience, there will be opportunities for you to take on a wider range of areas. With the support of colleagues, you will become skilled at spotting which decisions should be defended and which may need to be reconsidered and prioritising your work appropriately to ensure legal deadlines are met and quality is maintained.

You will respond to pre-action protocol correspondence as it arrives and be responsible for drafting clear responses setting out the Home Office position to the challenges, seeking input from operational decision makers as needed. If challenges proceed to judicial review, you will continue to work alongside operational decision makers, policy colleagues and other professionals to provide clear and timely instruction to government lawyers. Ultimately, you will be responsible for the management of the judicial review from the start to the end so will gain experience in litigation handling, preparing cases for court and managing conclusions.

We are proud of the support we give our staff to develop both within their roles and in the wider organisation. Please note that due to the resource and time Lit Ops dedicates to training and mentoring colleagues to become effective in the litigation caseworker role, there is a general expectation that candidates will remain in post for a period of 12 months. Beyond that, the litigation caseworker role is a great springboard for an interesting career in the Civil Service and many of our litigation caseworkers progress on to other roles within ALAR, the Home Office and across the wider Civil Service.

Person specification

We are looking for candidates who are:

• Organised, who plan and are well prepared, who also seek to maximise time and productivity.
• Precise, detailed focused and ensure work is accurate and error free.
• Able to think ahead, to anticipate and avoid problems before they occur.
• Able to establish mutual respect and trust, building relationships with others internally and externally.
• Resilient, with an inner composure to recover quickly from setbacks and learn from them.
• Responsible, to take ownership for own decisions and be accountable for what has been delivered.
• Support others in leading change.
• Use their judgment and take a considered approach to situations and tasks when making decisions.
• Highly motivated and inspire others to move things along to achieve target goals.

Responsibilities

The litigation caseworker role will involve:

• Assessing the challenges set out in pre-action protocol correspondence or judicial review claims against UK immigration legislation, policies and procedures and the decisions taken on immigration applications.
• Responding to pre-action protocol correspondence and referring to operational areas for action to remedy any original errors in the decision being challenged.
• Escalating policy or procedural issues arising from pre-action protocol correspondence, judicial review claims and private law damages claims.
• Liaising with and instructing, government lawyers to achieve an agreed course of action in managing litigation, including approving grounds of defence on behalf of Secretary of State for the Home Department.
• Supporting government lawyers and counsel on defending cases at the oral or substantive hearing stages, including securing witness statements when needed.
• Making decisions on when cases should be settled and working with stakeholders to secure financial authority where it is appropriate to do so, to ensure the best cost outcomes.
• Liaising and providing advice to decision makers and supporting them in learning lessons from legal challenges.
• Maintaining accurate records of activities/work completed across a range of systems.

Clear guidance sets out how to manage your cases and you will be given regular opportunities to develop your knowledge through training and other learning initiatives. You will also be surrounded by other technical specialists, such as senior caseworkers, who will be on hand to help you navigate the management of your caseload. You will be supported by a line manager who will have regular coaching and performance conversations with you to help you reach and exceed your potential.

Essential Criteria

• An undergraduate bachelor’s degree, in any subject or recent experience of complex case working in a government litigation team, or in a government case working team with significant litigation experience.
• Ability to analyse complex information with a focus on identifying errors and irregularities.
• Good communication and customer service skills with a particular emphasis on excellent written/drafting skills.
• Ability to comply with set standards following guidance and procedures, in order to develop a strong working knowledge of immigration law.
• Experience or ability to make high quality decisions in a changing and time pressured environment.

Note: We will not be able to make a formal offer of employment without evidence of the degree award or demonstrable recent experience of complex case working in a government litigation team, or in a government case working team with significant litigation experience.

We don’t expect you to have knowledge of immigration law – we deliver a comprehensive induction and ongoing training to enable you to become a subject matter expert – but an interest in immigration as well as experience in litigation may help you in hitting the ground running.

We are holding two one-hour live events to share some hints and tips with you. During these events, we will be giving an overview of the recruitment process and explaining how applications can best showcase evidence from their examples. The session will include: the Recruitment Process, Personal Statement, Blended Interview and a Question-and-Answer Session.

Existing caseworkers will also provide an insight into a typical day working for the Litigation team.

To attend any of the events you would be required to pre-register on Eventbrite, please see links below:

• Tuesday 9th January 2024 at 12:00-13:00 - Event 1
• Thursday 11th January 2024 at 16:30-17:30 - Event 2

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.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

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

• Statement of Suitability (personal statement) (maximum 500 words).

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

Your statement of suitability must be aligned to demonstrate how your skills and experience align to the five essential criteria of the role specified above. Please note you should provide evidence of the essential qualifications or experience within your personal statement. If this is not evident your application will not be progressed.

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

Sift

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

Interview

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, using all the behaviours listed in this job advert (preparation recommended).

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

The Civil Service Strengths Dictionary will give you an idea of the strengths we look for in the Civil Service, although you will never be expected to demonstrate all of these for one job. Before the interview it would be helpful to reflect on what you feel are your personal strengths and preferred ways of working.

For the behaviour-based questions you will be asked to give examples to demonstrate the Making Effective Decisions and Managing a Quality Service behaviours. 

When interviewed on your behaviour examples, it is helpful to use the STAR method to framework your answer:

1. The specific Situation you were in
2. The Task you had to complete
3. The Action you took and
4. The outcome/Result

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

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 22nd January 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 5th February 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

Due to time constraints, we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s).

The interview will be via a pre-recorded interview using Launchpad (virtual Interview). 

Please note - A full explanation of how the Launchpad interview will take place will be provided to you. If you are invited for interview, you will be required to have access to

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good Internet access

You will receive a link to complete a video interview and we will be asking you to video record your responses to pre-recorded questions. You will have 5 days to complete your interview once you receive the invite.

Although we would appreciate your co-operation submitting within the 5 days, we will try to exercise flexibility in offering you an alternative date/extension.

Successful candidates will be required to attend an appointment to conduct ID checks before pre-employment checks will begin.

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.

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.

Please note: 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.

A reserve list may be created for other similar roles for a period of 12 months. Selection will be in Merit Order to fill the same role or similar roles with closely matching “Essential Criteria” and Success Profile elements without further assessment.

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.

For more information about working for the Home Office, please visit Home Office Careers website.

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

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 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 counter-terrorist 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

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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.