About the job

Job summary

This is an exciting role for a motivated and experienced leader within the newly created Illegal Migrations Operations Command (IMOC) working under Director General Stuart Skeates, Strategic Operations for Irregular Migration.

The IMOC will work across the Migration and Borders system and the Home Office to implement and then operate the processes within the new Illegal Migration Act.

This role is within the new end to end case working function called Illegal Migration, Relocation & Returns Service which is currently being established.

The casework command will be responsible for managing the cases of individuals who fall under the duty to remove, from point of claim to their relocation to a safe third country, the country of which they are a national, or one for which they hold a passport / identity document. It involves ensuring that we have the most effective systems to progress both cases in detention and those released into the community awaiting relocation or removal; removing legal barriers; that we continue to evolve our response to ensure it is digitised, efficient and continue to drive innovation.

This is an exciting time to join the unit which will be operational in line with the anticipated commencement of the Act.

Job description

You will be working within a fast-paced department, overseeing teams within the new Illegal Migration Relocations and Returns Services command.

You will provide leadership to caseworking teams in your unit, collaborating closely with Senior Caseworkers to deliver objectives. A strong delivery focus and emotional resilience is essential.

As a Team Leader, you will be responsible for managing a team, leading by example, providing support and working to develop your team to help them deliver on shared goals and targets, whilst enabling them to achieve sustainable outcomes.

The ability to adapt to changing priorities is essential, so flexibility is vital. You will provide visible and reliable leadership, supporting colleagues in your unit in adapting to change.

Some of the key responsibilities in these roles include (but are not limited to)

• Leading and managing operational teams to support the achievement of key individual objectives and quality standards
• Prioritising workloads in accordance with operational procedures to achieve targets and standards
• Continuously improving efficiency and effectiveness of operations
• Ensuring the team works effectively with operational partners and stakeholders
• Effectively identify and manage business risks
• Supporting the delivery of change across the organisation
• Effectively leading, driving, and coaching teams through the change process
• Building staff/business capability to be fit for the future
• Ensuring individuals and teams adhere to Data Protection, Security, Health & Safety policies

The above is indicative, not exhaustive. To meet the needs of this evolving team you will be expected to work flexibly across the unit’s priorities in order to deliver high-quality and timely outcomes and you will be required to keep asylum and immigration knowledge up to date.

Successful candidates will be required to attend an in-person training programme. This may require travel to a different location to your usual office location.

Person specification

We are looking for proven leaders, who have successfully managed large teams working to challenging objectives. You will need to be able to work under pressure, have a strong delivery focus and be flexible, adaptive and positive in solving problems.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate sound interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills and the ability to create a positive team culture.

As a Team Leader you will:

• Lead your team by example, providing inspiration, direction and support, ensuring the delivery of high performance levels by engaged team members
• Drive efficiency outcomes by planning, implementing and evaluating changes, involving your own team and wider stakeholders and colleagues
• Show innovation and creativity to lead activities that support efficiencies and improvements
• Operate as part of a team focused on agreed goals and priorities to achieve collective commitments, effectively managing resources in an ever-changing organisational structure to drive efficiencies and keep costs down
• Build individual and team capability by personally coaching and mentoring colleagues at all grades on a variety of procedural and leadership skills, promoting and making full use of professional learning products available
• Be accountable for managing workloads, attendance and conducting regular one to one, face to face performance reviews, confidently addressing risks to performance achievement and driving forward continuous improvement
• Through your behaviour and ways of working develop an environment of inclusivity and trust where everyone feels their contribution matters and they can reach their full potential

Essential Criteria

• Experience of leading and managing operational teams in a fast-paced high-profile environment
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to build productive relationships across teams and with stakeholders
• Ability to analyse a wide range of data sources to make considered, sustainable decisions on operational matters
• Manage talent, build high performing teams, championing diversity and equality and inclusion, fostering employee engagement and wellbeing. Role model Home Office values and behaviours
• Able to demonstrate excellent verbal and written skills
• Committed to meeting the high standards of conduct and behaviour that is expected of a civil servant.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in managing workflow
• Experience in secretariat/communications
• Experience in managing safeguarding considerations
• Experience of working in an immigration or asylum capacity would be advantageous

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 statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 750 words)
• Provide evidence of the 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 behaviour Leadership and the statement of suitability (personal statement).

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

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 scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for the statement of suitability.

Interviews will be a blended approach of behaviour and strength based questions & experience questions which will assess you on the following:

• Line managing
• Adapting to change

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 8th January 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 29th January 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
• Skype for Business/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.

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 location-based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role or similar role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

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. Candidates who are successful at Interview will be placed in order of merit per location and provisional job offers will be made in strict merit order per location preference. Provisional offers are made, as they are on condition that you successfully pass all pre-employment checks.

Note for Candidates:

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. 

If you are considering applying for part time hours, please contact HORCCampaignTeamHMPOandUKVI@homeoffice.gov.uk to discuss your request as not all working patterns may be accommodated.

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).

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.