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 National Command and Control Unit (NCCU) is the Immigration Enforcement (IE) 24/7 first point of contact for our main customers which are all UK Police Forces. We support the IE wider priorities by identifying immigration offenders encountered by the Police either roadside or in custody and referring them to Immigration Compliance and Criminal and Financial Investigations teams for further action. We act as the first point of contact for all Clandestine events as well as being the IE Communications Hub. NCCU identifies incidents of a serious and high-profile nature and provides expert coordination and support to the management of these incidents.

You will work as part of NCCU’s Learning, Development and Quality Assurance (LDQA) Team, completing quality assurance audits from a prescribed selection of enquiries, ensuring delivery of high-quality results for our customers and excellent performance outcomes across the Unit. You will deliver effective training on Immigration Enforcement policy and processes to new and existing admin and operational staff both in person and remotely. You will be key in ensuring colleagues are fully trained and supported to be confident in their role. Regular duties will include the maintenance and updating of existing training course documentation to reflect changes to policy and processes, and assisting with the development of new courses, including the documentation, media, and methods. You will participate in a minimum of two operational shifts per month, efficiently answering telephone and email enquiries from police forces nationally in a fast-paced contact centre environment.

Person specification

We are looking for confident and proactive individuals with excellent communication skills who can work to a high standard within a fast-paced environment, driving forward a culture of accuracy, continuous improvement, and excellence. 

Responsibilities:

• Performing in a demanding, fast-paced and performance driven working environment.
• Managing your own workload, prioritising and ensuring delivery of key performance indicators whilst also responding to ad-hoc business requirements.
• Following set processes to assure the work of colleagues, providing relevant feedback to peers, line managers and the Senior Management Team.
• Demonstrating excellent written and verbal communication skills, building rapport, and establishing good working relationships with colleagues and partners.
• Committing to continuous improvement and the delivery of best practice. Strong candidates will demonstrate an ability to review current practices and suggest innovative ideas for improvement.
• Showing adaptivity and creativity in solving problems and dealing with change.
• Conducting challenging face to face conversations with colleagues with confidence and sensitivity, always remaining respectful and inclusive and maintaining strict confidentiality. 

Bespoke training and mentoring will be provided, as well as further Learning and Development opportunities that support your role.

NCCU is a 24/7 shift working unit and you will be required to work flexibly on any day of the week, including weekends, occasional nightshift working, and hours may vary each week. Attendance may be subject to change at short notice. There may be a requirement to undertake some occasional travel across the UK.

Essential Criteria

Candidates must be able to demonstrate:

• Deliver quality results at pace, through flexibility in their approach. They must be able to prioritise their work and adapt their approach to meet deadlines.
• Work well individually and as part of a team. Have responsibility for effective personal and team delivery.
• Have a proven record of accomplishment of achieving own excellent quality assurance and performance outcomes.
• Be passionate about providing outstanding customer service to stakeholders.
• Demonstrate strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt communication to the needs and circumstances of varying situations.
• Be confident in conducting difficult and challenging conversations with peers.
• Demonstrate proficiency in using Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office products, and the ability to accurately update and maintain data. 

Desirable Criteria

• Previous experience of performing in a fast-paced, busy call centre environment.
• Previous experience conducting quality assurance audits.
• Previous knowledge of the Borders and Migration system.
• Level 3 Award in Education and Training or equivalent.

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 Lead behaviour Communicating & Influencing (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 Lead behaviour Communicating & Influencing and the statement of suitability (personal statement).

The CV will not be scored.

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 behaviour 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 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

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

Problems during the application process                                                                     

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application (e.g. you have ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we may not be able to reopen your application.

Please note, we cannot make amendments to any part of the application. Please use the following in the subject line in your email if you need to get in contact with us about your initial application “Please re-open my application – Vacancy Ref 345473 CLOSING DATE 2nd April 2024.

For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details with reasonable adjustments section.

Tie break decisions                                                                                                     

The strengths and/or behaviours being assessed will be ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores. Please note that the order in which behaviours are listed in the advert does not necessarily reflect the order of importance.

Sift and Interview dates

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

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 29th April 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change.

Interviews will be face to face. Further details will be provided ahead of interview.

Candidates Please Note:

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.

Annual Hours Working Allowance                                                                   

We operate 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. This role currently attracts Annualised Hours Allowance of 19%. This is to compensate for working shift patterns including night shifts, early morning starts, late night finishes, weekends, and public holidays.  Shifts can vary in length and can be up to 12 hours. Shifts can be changed or extended according to business need. The rate payable is dependent on location and role and is indicative of the shift pattern you will be required to work. The higher the AHA, the more flexible you will be required to be. Please note that the allowance is subject to regular review and can go down as well as up.

Age: These are shift working roles and so you must be at least 18 years or over to apply for this role. You will be required to work between 22.00 and 06.00, so this is a legal requirement. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/night-working-hours and Child employment: Restrictions on child employment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Part-Time                                                                                                                         

We encourage applications from candidates who wish to work part-time however, unless specified in the advert, part-time opportunities cannot be guaranteed in frontline roles due to the 24/7 operational nature of the business. Those wishing to work part-time should notify the vacancy holder as soon as a provisional offer of employment is made to explore whether this can be accommodated [at your selected location]. Please note that full shifts (of up to 12 hours) will be required even if a part time contract is sought.

Please note that not all work patterns can be supported within this role, successful candidates should discuss work patterns with the vacancy holder ahead of accepting any offer.

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.

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).

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

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.