About the job

Job summary

Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the government’s immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. It also aims to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on the Immigration Enforcement careers page.

Job description

Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) teams are committed to disrupting and dismantling the organised crime groups facilitating immigration abuse, utilising a financial investigation capability to remove the proceeds of crime and strip criminals of their assets.

CFI teams are committed to tackling organised immigration crime and taking a balanced approach to volume crime. This work is supported by a small team of administrative and operational support staff. You will be required to manage a wide range of tasks that are often urgent, complex and sensitive. You must therefore be able to build a sound, high level knowledge of the business as well as be adaptable, remain calm under pressure and have the ability to handle a range of issues with diplomacy and discretion.

To succeed in the role, you will be hard working, tenacious and have strong interpersonal skills and be confident working with data. You will need to think strategically to identify opportunities for engagement but also have the ability to make things happen using your well-honed organisational skills and keen eye for detail.

This role will provide support to the Manager (G7) responsible for CFI Southern Command West covering Hounslow, Heathrow, Croydon, Basingstoke and Stansted.

The Business Support Manager (BSM) will work closely with the G7 to co-ordinate activity and manage business support across the Southern Command West.  This is an opportunity to work in a varied role, dealing with a wide range of tasks and a wide range of partners at all levels, within and outside the organisation. The role would suit a highly organised team player, who is flexible, is able to work on their own initiative, is capable of exercising discretion, with good communication skills and who is able to work when necessary to tight deadlines.

The post provides a good opportunity to work in a high profile role and will involve providing support for tasking within the Command, support for national CFI meetings as well as specific support for specific portfolio/project work.

The post holder will be expected to work closely with regional crime team support officers, regional managers, senior managers, the central CFI Private Office and other key stakeholders across the UK.  It is a good opportunity to work on a wide range of strategic issues as well as more routine day to day matters. It would suit an officer who is interested in gaining experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders whilst broadening their understanding of CFI’s work within Immigration Enforcement.

There will be occasions where travel both within and outside the region may be required to attend meetings as well as a requirement on occasions to work flexibly to meet tight deadlines. The post is suitable as a full-time role or part-time role and is suitable for Hybrid working pattern.

The Business Support Manager will have responsibility for co-ordinating the support functions within each of the regional to ensure effective support to operational teams, accurate collation of Management Information (MI), performance, assurance and risk data for regional and senior managers. The BSM will also support the G7 as directed by monitoring Outlook traffic and responding/delegating/answering urgent tasking from the centre.

Please note: Due to the nature of the work and the geographical area, some travel by official vehicle will be inevitable and applicants must hold a full and valid manual UK driving licence.

Person specification

The successful candidate will be responsible for (but not limited to):

• Supporting the G7 and officers within the region in relation to specific project work and stakeholder engagement
• Reviewing and standardising all MI with other business managers across the Commands to develop corporate memory and easily accessed MI
• Ensuring all MI complies with information management best practice and data protection rules
• Identifying opportunities to stream line processes, identify efficiencies and best practise
• Overseeing and ensuring the effective management of the assets within the Command
• Monitoring and quality assuring any procurement process across the commands to ensure compliance with budgetary and commercial guidelines
• Establishing and maintaining accurate registers of assets, skills, and data access across the commands and ensure regular reviews are completed
• Establishing and maintaining accurate staff, training, security and any contract registers
• Collating and preparing operational updates and MI from across the commands for tasking and other meetings
• Supporting TCGs (Tasking Coordination Group) etc as appropriate through recording, distribution and monitoring of accurate minutes/actions
• Collating and preparing MI in response to ad hoc requests by senior managers in response to strategic issues
• Monitoring and promoting case management best practice and data quality
• Overseeing, maintaining and testing Business Continuity Plans
• Collating and maintaining regional risk registers in conjunction with the HMIs and G7 to inform Command and national risk registers
• Assisting with regional accommodation projects ensuring regular liaison with CFI Private Office and Estates leads
• Acting as the POC for business support enquiries with the CFI Private Office
• Assisting with property ensuring guidance and policies are adhered to

Essential Criteria

• Excellent communication and written skills
• The ability to work at pace and under pressure, be proactive and prioritise key activities
• Ability to establish and maintain strong relationships
• Strong drafting and organisational skills
• Must have current or previous office management experience
• Good IT skills, particularly MS Excel/Word.

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 inclusion.

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 - Making Effective Decisions (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 statement of suitability (personal statement) and the behaviour Making Effective Decisions.

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 (Making Effective Decisions) 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. 

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be a blended approach of strength-based questions and behaviour-based questions on all listed behaviours.

Strengths are the things that you do regularly, do well and that motivate you. To find out more about strength based questions click here.

You will also be required to prepare a short presentation (no slides or handouts required) to present at interview, further details around what the presentation will entail will be provided before the interview.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 4th March 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 25th March 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.

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

Reserve List

A 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.

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.

Are these Reserved Posts for UK Nationals only?

UK nationals who hold dual nationality are able to apply for this reserved post. If a UK passport is not being presented, then candidates will need to provide alternative evidence of UK nationality in line with the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

There is no shift working requirement, and therefore no AHW allowance available for this post.

If you are considering applying for part time hours, please contact HORCCampaignTeamIE@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 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

Open to UK nationals only.

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.