About the job

Job summary

 Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC. 

    

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential. 

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

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.

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.

About SOLS:

Across Solicitor's Office and Legal Services (SOLS) we provide legal services to the whole of HMRC. This includes:

• The conduct of independent reviews of decisions made by HMRC which are requested by customers under the legislative provisions.

• The conduct of tribunal and civil litigation on a full range of services.

• Work on new legislation.

• Drafting of statutory instruments and other legal documents.

• Legal advice to ExCom and staff.

We also provide technical accountancy and forensic services to HMRC, are head of the Compliance Accountants’ and Insolvency Professions as well as handling Ministerial Correspondence and Freedom of Information requests for HMRC.

Job description

HMRC is offering exciting opportunities to join them as a paralegal. HMRC paralegals work in varied and fast-paced teams in HMRC Solicitor’s Office and Legal Services. The posts are with HMRC SOLS Legal Operations.

The Legal Operations Teams:

• Work a range of litigation.

• Work to and comply with Tribunal/Court Directions.

• Support lawyers with more complex litigation.

The positions are varied and fast-paced, and you will have responsibility for supporting lawyers dealing with cases from commencement of proceedings through to hearing and conclusion at Tribunal or Court. These are challenging but ultimately, highly rewarding roles, requiring you to:

• Work flexibly and as part of a team, working with and maintaining good relationships with all colleagues and customers.

• Have determination to ensure completion of tasks and take responsibility for your own area of work. 

• Have good communication skills and commitment to ensuring deadlines are met.

• You will be expected to develop a good level of knowledge, skills and understanding and work as part of an integrated SOLS and the wider HMRC environment.

 The successful applicants will be responsible for delivering casework, the duties vary depending on the post but will include some of the following:

• Make decisions about case progression.

• Independently draft and serve notices and applications to be served on the Tribunal.

• Independently draft and send case correspondence.

• Check, proof and serve witness statements.

• Prepare chronologies.

• Identify relevant documents and produce bundles.

• Draft statement of case and other key documents.

• Provide legal support to experienced senior colleagues on complex cases.

• Some administrative duties.

There is also an expectation for you to quickly grasp the specialist processes that are key to the delivery of work in the area to which you are appointed.

This vacancy is only available at the specified locations, alternative locations are not available.

Your office location is contractual so if you are successful, there is an expectation that you will attend that office location as required by the business. You need to consider how you will meet this requirement before you apply and discuss any concerns with the vacancy holder before accepting any role.

There may be a need to travel across the UK with occasional overnight stays being required and there may be a need for occasional travel for business purposes.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Applications will be considered from candidates qualified to degree level in law or who have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law or have achieved CILEx level 6.
• Candidates should confirm that they have the specified qualification and give details of any experience working as a paralegal in a litigation environment.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,782, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £8,851 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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

How To Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a name blind CV, a 500-word Personal Statement, a 500-word Statement on the essential criteria and separate 250-word statements addressing the specified behaviours.

Your application will include:

• A CV, to include job history covering up to the last 4 years.

• A 500-word Personal Statement to include what you can bring to the role including evidence of how you work in a pressured environment tailored to the job specification.

• A 250-word Statement on the Behaviour Making Effective Decisions to include: Taking responsibility for making effective decisions. Explain how decisions have been reached. Demonstrate the consideration of all options and wider implications.

• A 250-word Statement on the Behaviour Working Together to include: How you would contribute to an inclusive working environment where all options and challenges are listened to and all individual needs are taken into account. Offer support and help to colleagues. Change ways of working between teams in order to achieve results.

• A 500-word statement on how you meet the Essential Criteria. The full word-count does not need to be used – bullet points will be sufficient.

Your CV should cover your job history and will be scored against the roles and responsibilities outlined in the advert. 

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications. 

Sift

 A preliminary sift on the Essential Criteria will be conducted and only candidates meeting the criteria will progress.

In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will assess the CV and Personal Statement. (The CV and Personal Statement will be given a combined score).

Those applications progressing to a full sift will be assessed using the Behaviour Statements: Making Effective Decisions and Working Together.

If an initial sift is not required, applications will be assessed using all elements of the application: CV and Personal Statement (the CV and Personal Statement will be given a combined score) and the Behaviour Statements Making Effective Decisions and Working Together.

Candidates who are successful at the sift stage and progress to interview will be interviewed online.

Interview 

The interview process will include Behaviours (Making Effective Decisions and Delivering at Pace) and Strengths-based questions. Full details will be provided to those candidates invited to interview.

This is an example of a strengths-based question:

“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

Sift and Interview dates to be confirmed.

Start dates may not be agreed straight away but this will be discussed further with successful candidates.

Eligibility 

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via: ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’ 

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application. 

Reserve List 

A reserve list may be held for 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. 

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and appointments will be made in strict merit order.

Criminal Record Check 

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.  

Reasonable Adjustments 

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

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

• Contact the UBS Recruitment Excellence Team via ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.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. 

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. 

Terms and Conditions  

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.  

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.   

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.  

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations. 

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert. 

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.  

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. 

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.  

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

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.