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.

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.

See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Job description

This is an exciting role within the high-flying Ministerial Correspondence team. The team has a crucial role in influencing and quality assuring the writing style of the department as well as identifying key correspondence trends and building statistical data for stakeholders. As a Ministerial Correspondence Admin Officer, you’ll have a unique opportunity to handle operational correspondence sent to the HMRC CEO and HM Treasury.  

As a crucial member of our dynamic team, you will play an important role in handling correspondence at the highest level, fostering relationships with key stakeholders. This position offers a unique chance to make a significant impact while working in a fast-paced environment. Additionally, you will contribute to growing the team to meet the increasing demands and maintain the departments exceptional standards. 

Person specification

• Team inbox management and post count
• Open, date stamp and count hard copy post
• Registering cases – including the task of creating and sending acknowledgements  
• Action cases transferred in/out from other government departments
• Action urgent cases and chasing emails
• Update spreadsheets with new and updated contact and business information; share details with team colleagues
• Prepare draft packs up with returned draft letters for signature by Chief Executive and Director General’s, pass to the Officers to proofread and action  
• Update and maintain spreadsheets with daily work delivery; host morning team meetings, liaising with team members to effectively allocate daily work
• Assisting executive officers with triaging cases in preparation for registration • Team inbox management and post count 
  
• Open, date stamp and count hard copy post 
  
• Registering cases – including the task of creating and sending acknowledgements  
  
• Action cases transferred in/out from other government departments
• Action urgent cases and chasing emails
• Update spreadsheets with new and updated contact and business information; share details with team colleagues 
  
• Prepare draft packs up with returned draft letters for signature by Chief Executive and Director General’s, pass to the Officers to proofread and action  
• Update and maintain spreadsheets with daily work delivery; host morning team meetings, liaising with team members to effectively allocate daily work 
  
• Assisting executive officers with triaging cases in preparation for registration .

Other work:

• Provide admin support to Officers, Quality Manager, and Operational Manager where appropriate
• Provide cover for the team on early/late rota 
• Provide cover and support to the FOI and Policy teams which includes registering cases. 
• Support Private Offices with queries and any other work 
• Liaise with business areas to coordinate a response within 15 days 
• Ensure that phone calls/enquiries from MPs, taxpayers and business areas are answered promptly and effectively and escalated to Team manager as required 
• Share any lessons learned with colleagues at team meetings or by email. 

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%.

Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

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 250 word Personal Statement and a 250 word statement for each specified behaviour. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Your 250-word Personal Statement should demonstrate what can you bring to the role and why you are suitable for the role. 

Sift 

Selection will be by sift and (if required) interview.

An initial sift based on the lead behaviour - Making Effective Decisions may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application progresses to a full sift, all sift criteria will then be considered.

If an initial sift is not required, applications will be assessed using all elements of the application: Personal Statement and Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions and Managing a Quality Service.

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

Interview 

The interview process will include Behaviours (Making Effective Decisions and Managing a Quality Service) & Strengths-based questions. Full details will be provided to those candidates invited to interview.

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

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.

Interview dates to be confirmed.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 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.

Eligibility

To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please review the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.

Reasonable Adjustments 

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

If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Diversity and Inclusion

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

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. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.

For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values

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.

We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

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. 

The Civil Service runs 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. 

Locations 

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.

Security Update

For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks.

Additional Security Information

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for CTC is 3 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

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.

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

Further Information

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. 

Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.

Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk

Problems during the application process 

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

If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.   

Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 346923 & vacancy closing date 08/04/2024. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.

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

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.