About the job

Job summary

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) is a unique position, independent of government, established by the Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a UK-wide remit to encourage good practice in the:

• prevention of modern slavery and human trafficking;
• detection and identification of potential victims;
• support to victims of modern slavery; and the
• investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of modern slavery offences.

The Independent Commissioner is supported by a small independent team. The team works collaboratively with the modern slavery ‘sector’ and key stakeholders (charities, the Home Office and other government departments, other public and local authorities, businesses, and international partners) to promote best practice in these areas.

Job description

This is a particularly exciting time to join us, following the December 2023 appointment of Eleanor Lyons to the post of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, as the commissioner’s office establishes its new team, sets out and delivers its Strategic Plan for 2024-2026.

The role will evolve as the team is embedded but broadly responsibilities will be as follows:

Working with the sector

• With the Chief of Staff and stakeholder engagement lead, manage the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's relationships with non-government organisations and the wider ‘anti-slavery sector’.
• Write and develop policy reports and content for the IASC office.
• Provide written and verbal briefing to the IASC on work of the sector.
• Own and maintain positive working relationships within the sector and government policy teams, including the Devolved Administrations, to represent the Commissioner’s interests and share IASC perspectives in meetings.
• Working with the Senior advisor on communications and engagement and Head of Strategic Analysis to plot publications, blogs and social media content against the wider media and political landscape.

Strategic plan, annual reports and other publications

• Develop key areas of interest, policy recommendations and milestones to advise and draft elements of the IASC’s Strategic Plan setting out the Commissioner’s work for the next three years, annual reports on activity delivered and other reports commissioned by the Commissioner.
• Work with stakeholders to feed in their priorities to the IASC’s Strategic Plan and annual reports.
• Draft a visionary, summary document of the IASC’s strategic priorities, draft annual reports, and other publications as necessary.

Legislation and Parliamentary engagement

• Supervise and track legislation in Parliament.
• Proactively spot opportunities to shape and influence legislation.
• Draft amendments and engage Parliamentarians.

Further information

• Whilst the independence of the IASC is critical to this role, as the IASC is not a separate legal entity, you will be employed by the Home Office, on Home Office terms and conditions and benefits. However, your role and tasking will be set by the Commissioner and their Chief of Staff.
• Some travel across the UK may be required, in support of engagements the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner may have in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Important information

• This post is being offered on a fixed term/loan basis for 21 months to complete a finite piece of work, with a possible extension.

The current expectation is that an internal HO candidate applying for a loan position would take up the post on Detached Duty and return to their original post, if available, at the end of the period or a similar grade within their home business area. 

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment accredited NDPBs).

Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

• Due to the nature of the role, this post is available on a full-time basis only and with the possibility of flexible working/compressed hours.
• 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). 

Person specification

The Head of Policy and Strategy is a key role within IASC to support the Commissioner and their team by:

• Providing IASC with insight, advice and recommendations aligned to the Strategic Plan.
• Produce reports for the office on key issues affecting modern slavery in line with the IASC’s statutory duties.
• Engaging constructively with a very broad range of stakeholders.
• Working collaboratively with the IASC’s Chief of Staff, the Head of Strategic Analysis, Senior advisor on communications and stakeholder engagement and Private Secretary; and
• Evaluating evidence to identify and assess potential policy options, provide valuable insight and constructive challenge to the status quo. Working closely with the Head of Strategic Analysis, you will develop policy recommendations for the office, liaise with NGOs and charities in the sector on their work, monitor Parliamentary activity and spot opportunities to influence and shape legislation.

Essential criteria 

• An understanding of modern slavery policy in the UK (including the Modern Slavery Act 2015).
• Seeing the Big Picture: Bring together views, perspectives and diverse needs of stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the issues surrounding policies and activities.
• Making effective decisions: Analyse and accurately interpret data from various sources to support recommendations and decisions. Find the best option by identifying positives, negatives, risks and implications. Present reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence.
• Communicating and influencing: Excellent written, verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a broad range of stakeholders (including challenging senior stakeholders).
• Delivering at pace: Experience of working in a changing, fast-paced environment and planning, collaborating, and delivering through others to meet multiple challenging deadlines.

Desirable criteria

• Existing positive working relationships on policy in the Home Affairs sector.

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 and Experience.

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

•  a CV detailing job history/qualifications - 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. Your CV will not be scored, but instead will be used to provide further context on your personal statement, and support conversations at interview.

• a statement of suitability/personal statement (maximum 750 words),which should demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description, other than Making Effective Decisions (which will be assessed separately). It is essential that in your written application you give evidence, using examples, of proven experience. These responses will be developed and discussed with candidates invited for interview.

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

• evidence of the behaviour Making Effective Decisions (250 words maximum).

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

We expect to hold the sift on the statement of suitability and the civil service behaviour: Making Effective Decisions. However, in the event a high volume of applications are received, the sift may be carried out just on the civil service behaviour: Making Effective Decisions.

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be behaviour-based questions on all those listed.

You may be asked to provide an oral presentation at the start of the interview. If so, you will be advised in advance of the topic of this presentation.

Sift and interview dates

The sift is expected to take place from 28th May 2024

Interviews are expected to take place from week commencing 10th June 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

PLEASE NOTE: Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given.

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

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

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 and generating of examples/answers from internet sources including Artificial Intelligence. If any is detected the application may be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving civil servants. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

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 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.