About the job

Job summary

The Serious Organised Crime and International Criminality Directorate sits within the Public Safety Group in the Home Office.  The purpose of the Directorate is to support the delivery of Home Office objectives – in particular to cut crime and protect the public – by strengthening and delivering international cooperation on law enforcement and criminal justice as well as tackling serious organised crime domestically in the UK and overseas.  ​

The post holder will lead the UK’s approach to international judicial cooperation on criminal justice matters, including leading the extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance policy teams. They will also be responsible for the UK’s international agreements on law enforcement and criminal justice – both in terms of ensuring the effective functioning of existing agreements, such as Part 3 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and negotiating new agreements driven by the operational requirements of UK operational partners.  ​

The post holder will also need to be flexible to take on other international criminality cooperation responsibilities in response to Ministerial priorities, in particular on law enforcement cooperation in the second half of 2024 given the pressures on the wider directorate to deliver the INTERPOL General Assembly in the UK in November 2024..​

The post holder will need to work closely with a wide range of partners across government (FCDO, UKMIS and Cabinet Office) as well as operational agencies (eg NCA and CPS).  Excellent stakeholder management skills for policy development and managing sensitive operational issues with public safety implications will be essential.​

The Directorate is currently based jointly in central London (2 Marsham Street) and – as part of the Places for Growth agenda – in a growing second hub based in Salford.  The post holder can be based in Home Office accommodation either in central London or in Salford.​

Occasional travel domestically – in particular to/from London/Salford – may be necessary. It will also require some travel internationally

Job description

Lead a team of approx. 25 people in accordance with the Civil Service Leadership Statement with a focus on promoting diversity and inclusion.​

International Agreements​:

• Lead the Home Office’s work to develop and deliver priorities for bilateral and multilateral agreements on law enforcement and criminal justice, including to enhance the operation of existing agreements. Plan and where relevant lead negotiation of agreements that will enable the UK to better tackle international criminality and work with other global partners to protect the public.​
• Lead work on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement TCA with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation, including operation of the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, and advise Ministers on issues arising from our relationship with the EU in this area.​
• Represent the UK in international fora on international law enforcement and criminal justice matters, coordinate international engagement on law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation, and support Ministers and senior officials in their responsibilities to Parliament in this area (including support for Select Committees appearances). Plan and manage delivery of primary and secondary legislation on international law enforcement and criminal justice.​
• Lead production and interpretation of system metrics for cross-border law enforcement and criminal justice capabilities in order to inform strategy, drive decision-making and monitor impact, working with operational partners and the Joint International Crime Centre. ​

Judicial Cooperation​:

• Lead Home Office policy on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, including leading policy development and advice to Ministers on extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance policy, and handling advice on high-profile or unusual cases, working closely with the UK Central Authority. Sustain and develop the relevant operational communities and engagement fora. ​
• Oversee the running of the UK Desk at Eurojust.​

Person specification

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria:

Essential Criteria:

• Lead, motivate and empower your team to deliver high quality outcomes; deal with complexity and ambiguity; and create resilience in a team whilst working under pressure. Contribute to the delivery of the Home Office’s diversity and inclusion agenda, including on race.
• Provide clear, concise and evidence-based policy and handling advice to Ministers on international law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation.​
• Provide senior leadership in policy delivery, including through the appropriate use of PPM techniques, and deliver through others.​
• Deliver successful negotiations in an international context.​
• Gain the confidence of Ministers by seeing the bigger strategic picture on the UK’s relationships with partners as well as the wider domestic and international context.​
• Build effective relationships with senior stakeholders across the Home Office, Whitehall, Devolved Administrations, operational and international partners to inform strategy and deliver.

Desirable Criteria:

• Expertise on international law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation​
• Proven ability to engage and influence overseas counterparts at a senior level.​

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Home Office contributes £20,250 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

Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online, no later than 23:55hrs on Sunday 3rd March 2024.

Provide some basic personal information:

1. A CV - setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years;
2. A Statement of Suitability – (limited to 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.

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.