About the job

Job summary

This is a Fixed-Term Appointment (FTA) due to the time limited nature of the role within the DARR programme. It is expected to last 23 months but may be extended or made permanent depending upon business requirements.  

For MOD candidates only: Whilst this is an FTA, all internal MOD employees successfully recruited into DARR will be transferred into DARR as their new business area for the duration of their appointment. Successful candidates applying on promotion will be substantiated into the new grade. There is no requirement, therefore, for line management approval to apply. At the end of the appointment if it is not possible to extend the FTA, DARR will work with you to find an alternative position within the department, in line with departmental policy.    

For OGD candidates only: If you accept a fixed-term appointment with MOD, the preferred option is for you to transfer from your home department on a loan basis to ensure you can return to your home department at the end of the fixed-term appointment. Exceptionally, if a transfer on a loan basis cannot be agreed by your home department, you would transfer and become a permanent employee at MOD but on a fixed-term basis. This will not affect your continuity of employment. If you face a redundancy situation at the end of the fixed-term appointment you will be treated as a permanent civil servant for redundancy and priority mover purposes only. You must have two years’ service to be eligible for redundancy benefits under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. 

Candidates will require LM approval before applying on a loan basis.Candidates who apply on promotion will join in the higher grade, but it is for the home department to agree whether they accept the higher grade on return. This would be included in the loan agreement. 

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

All jobs within DARR are predominantly based at MOD Main Building, with some roles requiring greater office attendance than others. The team support hybrid working with a mixture of home /office-based working to be agreed with line manager and based upon business requirements. For current MOD employee’s retention of current duty station will be considered.

Job description

The Defence Afghan Relocations and Resettlement directorate was established in 2022 by the UK Ministry of Defence to administer the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme. ARAP was set up to provide a safe and legal means of relocating to the UK for those Afghans that served for, with or alongside UK Armed Forces in support of the UK mission in Afghanistan. Many thousands of deserving Afghans who kept our troops safe during their deployments in Afghanistan were brought to safety during OP PITTING, the airlift out of Kabul in August 2021 as the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. However, not all of those Afghans eligible for relocation under ARAP were on those flights, and it is DARR’s mission to find those Afghans who satisfy the ARAP criteria and bring them and their family’s members to safety in the UK where they will be supported as they begin their new lives.

DARR work across Whitehall and have international relationships at the highest strategic level (including regular Ministerial engagement).  

DARR is a friendly and welcoming Directorate, with individuals bringing a diverse mix of skills and experience. You will be supported to grow in your role, gain new skills, learn from others and do so in a safe environment where you can bring your whole self to work.

The Eligibility team in DARR make decisions on applicant and family members eligibility for the ARAP scheme. The teams work to distinct work-streams that support specific parts of the case working process, with a core objective of effectively processing ARAP applications from eligible principal applicant and their family members along the ARAP customer journey process.  

The Eligibility team consider applications and implement decisions on ARAP applications, the associated applications to relocate Additional Family Members to the UK and associated reviews.

This role involves working on a key Ministry of Defence priority and will provide valuable experience of both policy and delivery, specifically casework delivery. You will support the team to deliver at pace and you will play a key role in DARR, collaborating with teams across the directorate. You will take pride in delivering an excellent customer service to Afghans facing often very challenging circumstances, where the decision taken by the Ministry of Defence may be a key determinant of the next steps in their lives.

You will be expected to support the Casework Team Leaders in providing updates on Casework activity for DARR Senior Leadership, Ministerial and cross-HMG use. Attention to detail and accurate and policy-compliant record-keeping / audit trails are essential. 

This is an excellent opportunity for an individual with casework or similar operational delivery experience.

Successful candidates will:  

• Make sound decisions in accordance with relevant Government Policy seeking guidance from colleagues, senior members of staff and technical specialists when required.
• Ensure sensitive and personal information is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2015.
• Dealing promptly with queries in a sensitive and respectful manner, identifying if translation or interpretation is required to better aid the applicant.
• Carefully analyse evidence provided and requesting further information from various stakeholders (including applicants) where necessary.
• Cultivate positive working relationships with a variety of stakeholders to support and drive forward DARR priorities.
• Ensure casework data is correct and up to date for various uses across the DARR team to inform reporting and discussions on decision rates, flow rates and resource projections. 
• Adhere to DARR governance protocols. 

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following:

• Experience of working for Government or working closely with Government in an operational environment.
• A focus on people, welfare, and development.  
• Strong written and oral communications skills.    
• Good judgement and evidential consideration around decision making.
• Being confident and credible collaborator with partners.
• High levels of organisation and time management skills.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,290, Ministry of Defence contributes £9,528 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

We’ll assess you against these experiences during the selection process: 

Experience: Previous skills and experience through a personal statement (upto 1000 words) against the Essential Criteria. 

Candidates should provide a name-blind, or anonymous CV, which demonstrate you have the skills and experience required for this role. 

At the interview stage you will be assessed against the following: 

Experience: Previous skills and experience against the Essential Criteria.

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

Candidates must have or be willing to undergo SC clearance. 

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

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

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.