About the job

Job summary

We are looking for great candidates to join us at HM Land Registry as Registration Officers in our Service Delivery Directorate. As a Registration Officer, you will carry out key administrative tasks that keep HM Land Registry running effectively. Working as part of a close-knit team, in this vital role you will process casework to maintain and update the Land Register for England and Wales.

Job description

From processing and discharging mortgages and transferring the ownership of land to answering customer queries, you will carry out important work that has real effect on lives and businesses across England and Wales. You will receive fantastic training to make you an expert in your field.

Undertaking a comprehensive training path, you will learn the skills required to be the best at what you do. With access to an independent learning platform, you will be able to progress at your own pace with as much support as you need to grow into the role. Once your training is signed off, you will quickly settle into the role and manage your personal workload. If you want to progress, there are plenty of opportunities to take on extra work and responsibilities, and room to grow and move up through the organisation.

HM Land Registry plays a vitally important role in the property market, underpinning property ownership worth over £4 trillion across England and Wales including over £1 trillion of mortgages. We have been safeguarding our land and homes for the last 160 years and play a critical role in supporting the government’s housing and infrastructure objectives. This uniqueness is part of what makes us so special. The other part is our people.

Person specification

With an eye for detail, you will be able to spot mistakes where others don't. You will be a strong team player with effective verbal and written communication skills. This is a job with responsibility, so you will need to rise to the challenge, taking ownership of the work you do and the results you achieve with great organisational and time management skills.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £24,564, HM Land Registry contributes £6,632 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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, Ability, Experience and Technical skills.

Before applying, please note that this vacancy is part of a national recruitment campaign across a few of our HM Land Registry offices. If you are interested in applying for this role, you can only apply at one office location, therefore please ensure that you only apply for the advertised vacancy at your preferred location. The vacancy is available at the following locations: Birkenhead, Durham, Fylde, Gloucester and Leicester, and their respective advertised vacancies can be found on Civil Service Jobs.

After submission of the first stage of your application form, you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Verbal Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the full application form.

The closing date for the test and full application form is 11:55pm on Monday 8th April 2024. You must build in time to complete the full application form if you pass the online test. It is recommended that you complete the practice test before completing the online test. For more information about preparing for the Civil Service Verbal test and access to the practice test, please follow this link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/preparing-for-the-civil-service-verbal-and-numerical-tests  

If you pass the online test, you will then move onto the next stage of the application process, where you will be required to copy your CV into the online application form and complete the Technical skills section of the application form.

In the CV section of the application form, please enter your qualifications and work history.

Within the Technical skills section, in no more than 250 words, please describe a situation when you have worked with detailed information, needing attention to detail and accuracy.

Please review your application form before clicking ‘submit’ – once you have submitted, you will not be able to amend your application. Ensure your application form is received by the closing date for receipt of applications – this is 11:55pm on Monday 8th April 2024.

Due to the anticipated high volume of applications, it is possible that you may pass the minimum score for the Civil Service Verbal test, but we might have to raise the pass mark and as a result, you may not progress to the next stage.

The sift will be completed shortly after the closing date, however due to the size of the campaign it may take a few weeks to complete the sift.

If you are successful at the sift stage, you will be invited to attend a blended interview which will be carried out virtually via MS Teams. Interviews will take place mid-April.

The blended interview will test the behaviours and experience listed in the attached Candidate Pack, as well as the strengths associated with the role. We want to hear your first, unrehearsed, natural response to strength questions, and so we don’t advertise which strengths are being tested. 

Candidates may refer to notes within their video interview, but they should be used as a prompt only.

The role is anticipated to start on Monday 8th July 2024. If you are successful in securing a position, there will be a significant amount of training required (approx. 16 weeks) and we would require you to be in full attendance in the office during this time. Due to the extensive training programme for this role, annual leave cannot be taken during the first 12 weeks of your employment.

Following training you will be able to undertake hybrid working. HMLR believe that a blended approach to where you work may give you an improved experience and has clear business benefits. We expect everyone to spend at least 60% of their working time in the office. 

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

HMLR is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.  If you require the panel to consider a reasonable adjustment or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you are asked to notify us of this at application stage where possible or during the process as soon as it becomes a requirement.

If you would like further information about the use of your personal data, please click on the link below:

Job Applicant Personal Information 

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.