About the job

Job summary

HMICFRS independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire and rescue services – in the public interest. We promote improvements in policing and fire and rescue services to make everyone safer. 

We are independent of the Government, police and fire and rescue services. We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered and produce major reports that shine a light on issues at the very heart of policing and fire and rescue services.  

Our reports are widely covered by the media and help inform the public of the performance of their local police forces and fire and rescue services. You can find out more about HMICFRS on our website and see some of our recent reports. 
 
Working at HMICFRS gives you an opportunity to make a real difference to the quality of local police and fire and rescue services and the lives of the public.  

HMICFRS is a unique organisation with staff seconded or loaned from across the Civil Service, police forces and fire and rescue services. As short-term, contracted staff, our Associates work alongside these staff and play an important part in contributing to the success of our inspection programme.  

We set ourselves high standards, taking great pride in the quality of work we achieve and the opportunities we create for our staff. 

Find out more

If you would like to talk to someone about this role and what it’s like working for HMICFRS we would be pleased to hear from you.  Please contact recruitment@hmicfrs.gov.uk  and we can arrange for someone to contact you. 

Job description

Working in HMICFRS as a Force Liaison Lead (FLL) puts you at the heart of our inspection work. You will be responsible for leading and delivering the continuous assessment model of inspection in your allocated forces. 

You will be the primary point of contact between HMICFRS and your allotted forces, supporting His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) and their Chief of Staff to build and manage the relationship successfully.  You will work in partnership with chief officers, helping them to drive improvements and supporting forces to learn from other organisations and recognised promising or innovative practice.

Leading, supporting and inspiring a team in their inspection duties, you will conduct fieldwork over a set period.  This will include formulating recommendations, areas for improvement and writing reports for the public. Developing plans of action for your inspectors, adopting a critical analysis approach, you will lead by example and provide your team with constructive feedback on their performance.   

Being innovative and open minded, you will be at the heart of our determination to support the delivery of better and more cost-efficient public services.

You will also work collaboratively by contributing to other inspections in your allocated forces relating to areas such as child protection, crime data integrity and custody inspections.

With a detailed operational knowledge of policing or law enforcement in England and Wales, you will have experience of leading investigations, police response to critical incidents and more complex operations. As a confident and emotionally aware communicator who can make effective decisions in a fast-paced environment, you will be comfortable working with incomplete data to come up with an overall picture and well-considered conclusions.

These roles require a flexible approach – and in turn, you will have the freedom to work from home. You will be required to spend most of your time in force on inspection work and/or managing relationships. The role usually involves working with two or three forces, depending on the local context. So, you will need to travel, and spend some periods away from home.

You will be able to do most of your planning and report writing from home.

Responsibilities

FLLs act as ambassadors for HMICFRS and consistently demonstrate the highest standards of professional conduct.

Regular activities include:

• Leading PEEL continuous assessment inspections for your allocated forces, including planning and fieldwork.
• Maintaining relationships with your allocated forces and the relevant office of police and crime commissioner or equivalent, through regular contact, and keeping the forces updated about future inspection work.
• Supervising inspection team staff (including associates, peer inspectors and short-term secondees), providing feedback on their performance.
• Drafting reports of your force’s PEEL inspections, and working with central HMICFRS teams to ensure the reports are quality assured and edited to a high standard.
• Together with the force and HMICFRS analysts, monitoring force performance and ensuring our monitoring portal (including our register of recommendations) is kept up to date and accurate.
• Advising the HMI and Chief of Staff on relevant public confidence issues, such as cases of misconduct, matters affecting the chief officer team, police deaths on duty and deaths in police custody.
• Dealing with complaints from the public to HMICFRS about your allocated forces.
• Supporting other FLLs in their forces where appropriate.
• Contributing to other inspections such as child protection, crime data integrity and custody inspections of your allocated forces.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Detailed operational knowledge of policing and/or law enforcement, its management and how policing and law enforcement operates within England and Wales.
• Experience of presenting to, and managing relationships with, senior level stakeholders.
• Experience of relationship management and working with partners; and / or proven experience as a senior leader. Ideally this will have involved leading the police response to critical incidents, major investigations and / or complex operations or programmes.
• Experience of seeing the big picture by synthesizing a wide range of incomplete and complex data and presenting well-considered conclusions. 
• Effective oral and written communication skills, with experience of preparing structured reports or papers of a high standard.

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of identifying and/or leading organisational improvement.
• Experience of report writing for publication for an external readership or for the public.
• Experience of HMICFRS inspection processes.
• Skills for Justice HMICFRS Inspection Development Programme accreditation.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

We are committed to investing in our staff and providing all staff with opportunities to maximize their skills and achieve their potential.  We offer a range of work-based training and  development opportunities including access to coaching and mentoring, and five days volunteering per year.

HMICFRS has an Inspection Development Programme and linked accreditation process that all inspection staff undertake in our organisation. The scheme is approved by Skills for Justice and is based on you demonstrating competencies against a framework of role-specific tasks.  The expectation is that all new inspection staff will complete a portfolio of evidence within agreed timescales (normally 12 months) and once this is complete it will be assessed by a trained assessor.

• An environment with flexible working options

We promote flexible working that balances professional and personal commitments. We support virtual and smart working, making best use of our technology and building  collaborative working models to help all staff to work from home and/or in the office in a ‘hybrid’ way. 

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

The diversity of our people is a real asset to HMICFRS. We are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best. We particularly welcome applications from candidates from ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities, as they are currently under-represented within this grade level.

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 and Personal Statement (Max word Limit 500 words) and a number of behaviour examples.

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

Please note your personal statement should be aligned to the essential criteria.

Behavioural statements

You need to provide specific examples of when you have demonstrated particular skills or qualities for each of the five Civil Service behaviours listed. Your examples must also show how you meet the Essential criteria and skills listed in the job advertisement.

We recommend that you use the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) method to help make sure your examples are clear and highlight your skills and qualities. Each example should set out what you have done, how you completed the task and the results of this action to allow the panel to assess how you meet the required behaviours.

Please make sure you have provided sufficient information – it is not enough to submit a list of bullet points. Please refer to the Success Profiles (opens in a new window) to make sure you are familiar with what is required for each behaviour. You will not be expected to meet every single aspect of every behaviour, but must show a good range or depth for each behaviour to be successful at the sift stage.

At sift we will assess your personal statement and behaviour examples.

The CV will be for information only and not scored.

The first stage of the sift will be carried out on your Personal Statement. If you do not meet the essential criteria, your application will not progress further. For those who do meet the essential criteria, their application may progress to the second stage of the sift process.

The second stage of sift is based on the lead behaviour Communicating and Influencing.

If your application progresses to a full sift, all behaviours listed in the advert will then be considered. 

If successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview where you will be tested against all the listed behaviours and experience based on the essential criteria stated in the advert.

Sift and interview dates

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

Interviews to be carried out by video link week commencing the 8th April 2024.

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

Important information please read before applying on secondment:

These are Remote Access worker posts. These posts will be attached to one of the office locations. Remote Access workers, as part of the secondment will not be entitled to London Weighting Allowance. You will be required to attend HMICFRS offices or other locations on a regular basis and your travel, accommodation and subsistence costs will be reimbursed according to HMICFRS policy.

These roles are only open only to serving police officers or staff equivalent. The role will involve regular travel and overnight stays.

Secondees can be appointed to HMICFRS for a maximum of 4 years – this includes new and previous postings.

Candidates who have served for the maximum tenure length, cannot be reappointed for 12 months from the date their previous secondment ended.

Candidates will need their Force/ Service to complete the Approval Form (see attachment), This should be uploaded with your online application form. Without this form supporting your application and confirming release for secondment we cannot proceed with your application.

Allowances:

Your full-time employer will continue to pay your salary as well as any allowances including compensatory grants and pension contributions to which you are entitled. Your force will then invoice HMICFRS for the amount. While on secondment, you will be entitled to a central service allowance of £1,260 per annum (non-pensionable).

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

We often have similar roles available at different grades.  Should candidates be placed on a reserve list we may be able to offer a similar role or a lower grade role without the need for them to go through a further selection process.

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

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.