About the job

Job summary

Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the government’s immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. It also aims to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on the Immigration Enforcement careers page.

Job description

The Operational Capabilities Command (OCC) is a directorate within Enforcement, Compliance & Crime (ECC). Our mission is to ensure that operational colleagues have the skills, capabilities, tools and infrastructure which are modern, environmentally sustainable, fit for purpose and allows staff to maximise their operational effectiveness.

Our aim is to work across people and strategic workforce planning, change, digital, performance, engagement, risk, law enforcement engagement and our vulnerability and fair treatment teams collaboratively as one team. We will act as agents of change, to provide the innovation, service and thought leadership that is needed so that Enforcement, Compliance & Crime (ECC) runs well as a command now and transforms further to meet the demands and opportunities of the future.

Operational Safety and Wellbeing (OSW) oversees several critical areas of staff safety and wellbeing including Safe Systems of Work, National Generic Risk Assessments, Critical Incident and Post Incident Management, Mental Health First Aid and Trauma Incident Management, Uniform, Airwaves Radios and Fleet.

The role is a critical leadership post working to the Director of Operational Capabilities Command. The post will provide tactical leadership, set direction and priorities, and engage partners to deliver on shared outcomes. They will lead their teams through ongoing change to drive improved operational capabilities. The postholders will need to get the best out of a diverse workforce with specialist skills spread across multiple sites in the UK.

The unit supports Immigration Enforcement in a number of employee safety, incident and health and wellbeing areas. OSW has excellent working relationship with other law enforcement partners as well as strong stakeholder relationships across the Home Office.

This is a demanding role which requires a strong operational focus. The successful postholder will require a high degree of personal resilience so will need to be a self-starter who is comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. It will require the ability to be flexible and adaptable, with the ability and willingness to work at pace in a fast-moving and unpredictable environment.

They will also need to possess excellent leadership manage a workflow which is complex and dynamic dealing with the wellbeing of our people and ensuring that they are provided with appropriate preventative and intervention support at appropriate points.

This is a national post. National travel will be required, including regular travel to sites across the United Kingdom including overnight stays.

Do you meet the key eligibility criteria?

In order to be eligible, you MUST meet ALL the following criteria.

• I am at least 18 years old at the time of application.
• I am a UK National.
• I hold a full manual UK Driving Licence.
• I will be able to provide all the ID documents required to complete my pre-employment screening and security clearance.

Please note due to business needs this role is only available with full-time hours.

Person specification

The successful candidate will be responsible for (but not limited to):

• Representing and promoting the standing of Immigration Enforcement and OSW amongst internal and external partners
• Providing support to the Operational Capabilities Command Director and the wider IE Senior Leadership Team
• Working closely with other leaders across Immigration Enforcement
• Line Managing a team of Grade 7s including embedding an inclusive working environment
• Being an active member of the OCC Senior Management Teams and providing support where required
• Leading specific work areas covering the Operational and wider Health and Safety areas of Immigration Enforcement work including strict adherence to legislative requirements, Critical and Post incident Management, Staff wellbeing including Mental Health First Aid and Trauma Incident Management, Uniform and PPE, Radios, and Vehicle Fleet

Essential criteria

• Experience in a leadership role
• Experience in Drafting, Research and Reporting Skills
• Operational knowledge of the work of Immigration Enforcement arrest, detention, removal and prosecution activity
• Experience of implementing positive working relationships and building strong stake-holder relations including with Senior leaders
• Adaptability and ability to lead and guide people through ongoing change and drive forward operational capability improvements

Desirable criteria

• Appropriate qualifications in Occupational Health and Safety, Critical Incident and Wellbeing

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:

• a CV detailing job history/qualifications
• a statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 750 words)
• provide evidence of the Lead 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 Lead behaviour Leadership and the statement of suitability (personal statement).

The CV will not be scored.

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

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(s) Leadership scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for the statement of suitability.

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.

Please note:

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

Problems during the application process

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application (e.g. you have ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we may not be able to reopen your application.

Please note, we cannot make amendments to any part of the application.

Please use the following in the subject line in your email if you need to get in contact with us about your initial application “Please re-open my application – Vacancy Ref 343719 Closing Date 18/03/24.

For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details with reasonable adjustments section.

Tie break decisions

The strengths and behaviours being assessed will be ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores. Please note that the order in which behaviours are listed in the advert does not necessarily reflect the order of importance.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 18th March 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 8th April 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
• Microsoft Teams

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.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Selecting your locations

Please note only list locations where you are prepared to work and can travel to (as you could be offered any of your noted preferences).

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 on the understanding that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only. If you are posted to a location that you have requested and you do not accept that location, you may not be offered another role. Please note, only advertised locations can be offered.

Reserve List

Where a campaign identifies more appointable candidates than there are available vacancies, a reserve list may be held for up to 12 months.

Reserve lists will be managed by locational merit lists, appointing in merit order per location. You may be offered a post at any of your preferred locations.

Whilst on a reserve list we may offer you an alternative similar role in the Home Office. Should you reject an alternative role, you will remain on the reserve list for the role you applied for. If you accept an alternative role, you will be withdrawn from the reserve list.

Please note there are no guarantees that further vacancies will arise in the locations you originally applied for before your time on the reserve list expires.

Candidates Please Note:

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.

Candidates Please Note: There is no shift working requirement, and therefore no AHW allowance available for this role.

Please note this role is only available with full-time hours.

Flexible Working Agreement

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).

Travel Expectation

Some roles may require candidates to travel around the country. This applies particularly if the role could be based anywhere, or if there is a requirement to travel to other official sites, which may include overnight stays. For this vacancy, travel will be expected across all Immigration Enforcement locations.

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 

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 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.