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

The Common Travel Area (CTA) Liaison Officer is an exciting, dynamic role designed to ensure successful engagement with CTA partners (UK and Ireland). Through deep collaboration with Irish partners and Home Office departments, we use the latest data and evidence to tackle CTA immigration travel abuse. 

The role will require gathering and developing information that is then disseminated to the relevant authorities/departments. You will develop open and transparent relationships that continuously improve/maintain the reputation of the Home Office in Ireland.    

• Work closely with Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and travel authorities to identify those who seek to enter the UK illegally via Irish air and seaports.

• Deliver regular training to partner agencies.

• Provide the Irish Naturalisation Immigration Service (INIS) and British Embassies abroad with intelligence to assist decision making regarding those who seek visas to enter both the UK and Ireland.  

• Continuously review data concerning those who have been refused entry into Ireland and have failed to comply with bail conditions. Conduct checks on Home Office systems and other systems to establish whether individuals have entered the UK illegally and action accordingly. 

• Assist the removal of immigration offenders within the CTA by acting as a liaison between the removing and accepting state.

• Provide CTA intelligence reports for Northern Ireland ICE and the wider IE by being innovative and work collaboratively with other stakeholders.   

• Liaise with both the British and Irish authorities to ensure that all work is compliant with GDPR and other relevant legislation.

• Develop and maintain close working relationships with all agencies involved with the CTA. 

Immigration Enforcement are looking for an enthusiastic officer to support the team in their Common Travel Area work. You will provide support to the team on administrative matters, including co-data sharing with stakeholders, managing a dedicated email inquiry inbox, providing accurate information in a timely manner, as well as taking a leading role in CTA related meetings with the relevant stakeholders. Part of your role will require frequent weekly travel to Dublin, at times this maybe early morning travel. Subsistence can be claimed in line with current Home Office policies.  

Person specification

• Have great communication and interpersonal skills.
• Have attention to detail.
• Have excellent organisational skills, with ability to prioritise workloads whilst remaining flexible to new challenges.
• Be adept at resolving issues and collaborating with others to achieve our objectives.
• Be adept at drafting responses to correspondence.
• Be forward thinking, with a desire to bring new ideas to the team.
• Be competent with IT systems, including Microsoft 365 applications.
• Possess a can-do attitude.

Essential Criteria

Candidates must be able to demonstrate:

• Experience of building and maintaining strong working relationships with others, considering different approaches with varied audiences.
• Able to plan and prioritise work, review progress and escalate barriers, to meet goals and deadlines.
• Experience in implementing improvements and being flexible and adaptive to change.
• Be organised and able to work well under pressure in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Experience in planning and directing stakeholder performance meetings.

Desirable Criteria

• Previous experience in a partnership engagement role.
• A sound working knowledge of the common travel area.
• Previous experience of delivering training. 
• Experience with working within GDPR regulations and sensitive data exchange. 

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)

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

The sift will be held on the statement of suitability (personal statement). 

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. 

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

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.

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.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK. As stated in the Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland recognise the birth right of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland.

Annual Hours Working Allowance

Annualised Hours Working (AHW) is an attendance system where staff work an agreed number of hours for the year rather than weekly conditioned hours. You will be required to work flexibly on any day of the week, including weekends, nights, Public Holidays and the Privilege Day, and the hours may vary each week. Attendance may also be subject to change at short notice.

The rate payable under the AHW scheme is driven by business requirements and may vary depending on location. Your initial rate will be confirmed when you have started in post and will be paid as a percentage of your basic salary.  If a member of staff has agreed an annualised hours arrangement, this does not become a permanent or guaranteed right. 

Annualised hours working is subject to changes in operational needs and managers can adjust, cease or suspend it, for operational or performance reasons. Annualised hours agreements are reviewed at least annually. The annualised hours year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

If an individual begins working on an annualised hours basis part way through the year, they will receive a part-year agreement and the Annualised Hours Allowance will be pro-rated for the remainder of the year to reflect that agreement. If you transfer to a non-AHW post the requirement to work in accordance with the terms of the AHW policy will also end, and you will move to standard Home Office Terms and Conditions.

The initial rate payable is 20%.

Age: These are shift working roles and so you must be 18 years or over.

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                                                                                                         

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).

Appearance                                                                                                                       

As part of this role you will be required to wear a uniform (which will be provided). Staff must ensure that their uniform is worn correctly, in line with these uniform standards, is kept clean and is well presented. To support this requirement, adequate uniform supplies will be available and issued. Uniformed staff represent their organisation at all times and should ensure that their dress and personal appearance reflects this responsibility.

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 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.