About the job

Job summary

About Risk and Intelligence Service (RIS)

Risk and Intelligence Service (RIS) is at the heart of HMRC compliance and enforcement activity. The purpose of the Intelligence team within RIS is to develop and enhance the intelligence picture of organised crime and serious fraud impacting HMRC. We then deliver quality intelligence products to drive decision making and compliance interventions to maximise our impact.  

We do this by: 

• Collecting, collating, and exploiting intelligence to identify the greatest threats to HMRC and drive operational decision making.
• Providing information, intelligence & live operational support to HMRC teams, Law Enforcement, and international partners to increase their impact and effectiveness.
• Developing and delivering high impacting intervention opportunities to stop and disrupt serious non-compliance.
• Collaborating with national and international partners to increase our collective impact and capability.
• Fraud Reporting Gateway team assists in the delivery of this function. 

See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Job description

The post holder will join the Fraud Reporting Gateway (FRG). The FRG is part of the Intelligence Services branch of RIS Intelligence. The team receive, assesses, and disseminates intelligence derived from Human Intelligence (HumInt) sources, including the HMRC Fraud Hotline, which is open from 09:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, to a wide range of customers. 

Human Intelligence (HumInt) is the term we use for someone who gives HMRC information about possible criminal offences, regulatory breaches, or non-compliance by a third party. The intelligence usually involves alleged wrongdoing and is a key source of intelligence for RIS. 

The team’s activity supports HMRC and external partners to tackle evasion, avoidance, serious non-compliance, and wider criminality. Such cases are expected to contribute to the strategic objectives in the Customer compliance Group business plan. 

Responsibilities 

The responsibilities may include but are not limited to: 

• Handling telephone calls from the public in relation to HMRC fraud.
• Using internal and external databases and other sources to interpret, analyse and accurately record the intelligence received.
• Handling restricted and confidential material.
• Providing support to wider operational teams.
• Maintaining good working relationships with colleagues and managers.
• Assessment and enhancement of the information received, via various communication channels, creating reports/Intelligence packages for dissemination to customers.
• Working in a continuous improvement environment and working closely with others to share ideas and improve processes.
• General office duties including managing and maintaining team mailboxes and databases, stationery ordering, processing of travel bookings, booking meeting / conference room facilities.
• This is a customer facing role that requires office attendance. 

Person specification

• This is a customer facing telephony role, so the post holder should have excellent communication skills alongside the ability to gather information accurately, whilst effectively communicating with the caller.
• The post holder should have the ability to analyse and effectively handle complex information from a wide range of sources.
• The post holder should be able to manage a challenging workload with changing priorities, be a team player but also work independently to a high standard. 

Desirable Criteria

Recent knowledge and evidence of working within either the Criminal Justice or Tax compliance environment would be advantageous, however training is available. 

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%
• A cycle to work scheme
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30 days, plus public holidays, and privilege leave
• Access to a range of retail, travel, and lifestyle employee discounts

Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

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.

The application process is made up of two stages. You must complete all stages of the application process before the closing date. 

• Application Form - You will be asked to complete a basic application form, detailing your personal details and eligibility. 
• CV and Personal Statement - Applications will be sifted on the personal statement. Your CV will not be scored and is for information only. 

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

A Personal Statement of no more than 500 words with examples showing why you are suitable for this role, evidencing the requirements set out in the job description, responsibilities and person specification.

 A CV of no more than 500 words. This should include: 

• A brief job history for the last 3 years, showing role and tasks performed. 
• Relevant skills. 
• Key achievements. 
• Relevant qualifications and experience for the role. 

Any additional wording may not be considered. 

Interview
 
If you are invited to interview, we will contact you via email or your Civil Service Jobs account to arrange a suitable date and time. 

In the interview we will ask you some "Behaviour-Based" questions.

An example of a Behavioural question is:  

Tell me about a time when you’ve had to deal with a difficult customer? 

It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in. We recommend you use the WHO or STAR model to explain, for example: 

What was the task, how you approached the work/situation and what the outcomes were, what did you achieve? 

What was the situation? What was the task? What actions did you take? What were the results of your actions? 

We will also ask some “Strength-Based” questions, which demonstrate the things you do well and/or are motivated by. 

A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation offering a more inclusive approach. 

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers. 

Interviews dates to be confirmed. 

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Eligibility

To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.

Reasonable Adjustments 

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. 

If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Diversity and Inclusion

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.

For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process. 

The Civil Service runs 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. 

Locations 

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

Security Update

For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks 

Additional Security Information

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

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

Further Information

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process. 

Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.

Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk

Problems during the application process 

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. 

If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.   

Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 340971 & vacancy closing date 29/02/24. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.

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

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.