Job Description

Details

Reference number

328667

Salary

\xc2\xa324,800

Job grade

Administrative Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HO - Public Safety Group

Type of role

Operational Delivery

Working pattern

Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Compressed Hours

Number of jobs available

14


Contents

• Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information

Location

Belfast - Drumkeen House, Birmingham - 23 Stephenson Street, Cardiff - General Buildings, Glasgow - Festival Court, Leeds - Waterside Court, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne - Link House
About the job

Job summary

The Public Safety Group\xe2\x80\x99s role is to keep the public safe by protecting the vulnerable, cutting crime, disrupting the highest harm criminals and ensuring that our police, fire and rescue services are as trusted, efficient and effective as they can be in delivering front line public services. This is an exciting time to join the Single Competent Authority (SCA); you will be playing a pivotal part within teams and will help us deliver critical, high-impact work for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. In doing so you will have the opportunity to feed into how we build a new future, and embed the Home Office values which is to be - Respectful, Collaborative, Courageous and Compassionate. The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery and ensuring they receive the appropriate support. Modern slavery is a complex crime and may involve multiple forms of exploitation. It encompasses human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour. Potential victims of modern slavery are identified by First Responders (such as police forces, charities, government departments or local authority areas) and referred into the NRM.

Job description

The Single Competent Authority (SCA) is responsible for:

• Deciding whether or not an individual is a victim of modern slavery (a positive decision can open the door to support provision, which is designed to lift the individual from their situation of exploitation and/or assist with their recovery).
• Deciding on the type of support required for each individual, in accordance with their recovery needs.
• Providing that support, through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).

As a SCA Administrative Officer (AO), you will join a highly driven and productive operational unit, motivated by a determination to deliver high quality and timely decisions for potential victims of modern slavery. All roles within the Home Office offer the opportunity to access tailored learning and development, and this is something we actively support within the SCA. This will include on-the-job learning, access to the Operational Delivery Profession\xe2\x80\x99s suite of learning and development materials and events, the opportunity of applying to undertake a formal apprenticeship (if eligibility criteria are met) in line with business needs, and other continued professional development opportunities across the Department and across Government. We are committed to retaining our supportive, expansive and high-performing culture and are excited to welcome new colleagues to help us deliver more, and faster, high-quality decisions for victims. This role is available on a full time basis with compressed hours. Applications for part-time working would be considered however due to the nature of the role the minimum hours would be 30 hours over 4 days per week. Job-sharing applications would also be considered. 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).

Person specification

Our AOs support a number of critical functions right across the SCA\xe2\x80\x99s business. After receiving detailed training and benefiting from continued close support by experienced members of the team, your role will be to join one of our teams within the SCA to support core activity; this ranges from case progression and processing work, through to customer service, safeguarding and cross-unit governance/management activities. You may be expected to perform the following key tasks:

• Support critical assurance functions for the unit, such as safeguarding activity for cases with particular concerns or vulnerabilities for consideration, information disclosure, supporting system-wide operational governance structures, detailed data analysis and presentation for a variety of audiences, drafting and managing correspondence/ parliamentary questions/ Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
• Support Customer Liaison and Business Support activity, triaging communications from stakeholders across inboxes and duty phone lines, assessing and prioritising next steps, managing referrals to the NRM, ensuring necessary databases and tracking systems are kept up-to-date and complete, providing responses and updates to interested parties in a professional and timely manner, capturing data, analysing trends and driving process improvements.
• Support Case Preparation activity, ensuring that NRM cases are managed and progressed rapidly from referral through to each relevant decision-point, working with key partners involved in modern slavery cases to gather the necessary materials for a decision to be made, keeping relevant parties informed, driving creative and innovative improvements to processes, and ensuring the crucially high-quality management of information across the system.

The above is indicative, not exhaustive: the NRM system is subject to change in order to meet the needs of victims, and staff members are expected to work flexibly across the Unit\xe2\x80\x99s priorities in order to deliver high-quality and timely outcomes. Individuals will be matched with suitable roles upon being offered a position. Please note that a successful candidate may be reading and considering sensitive information relating to modern slavery crimes suffered by individuals referred into the NRM, and dealing with potentially difficult cases. Candidates must have resilience, and be comfortable moving into a role where they may come across such difficult information on a daily basis; full training and support is offered to all staff undertaking this work. Essential Criteria:

• The ability to understand, assess and make high quality decisions based on complex pieces of information from different sources.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, and an attention to detail.
• Proactive, self-starting and a highly organised approach to managing own workload, balancing competing priorities to deliver high-quality and timely outputs.
• Flexibility and willingness to take on new and varied areas of work as required according to business needs.

Desirable Criteria:

• Previous experience of working in assurance functions, business support, customer liaison/support or case preparation teams.

Behaviours

We\'ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service

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, Ability 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, you will be asked to complete:

• Online Test - Civil Service Verbal Test
• A CV (job history / qualifications)
• Statement of Suitability (Personal statement) (500 words maximum)
• Evidence of the lead behaviour \'Managing a Quality Service\' (250 words maximum).

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete the \'Civil Service Verbal Test\'. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 11th January 2024. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website. Candidates who pass the test will then have until 23:55 on 11th January 2024 to submit their full application where the sift will take place on the Statement of Suitability and the lead behaviour Managing a Quality Service. CV\'s will not be scored. If your full application has not been submitted by 23:55 on 11th January 2024, it will not be considered. Please note the Statement of Suitability must be aligned to the essential criteria as detailed in the job description. In an event where a high volume of applications are received, an initial sift will take place using the lead behaviour \'Managing a Quality Service\' candidates who pass the initial sift will be either progressed to a full sift or straight to interview. Successful candidates shortlisted for interview will be tested on a blended approach of Strength based questions (no preparation necessary) and all behaviours listed in the job advert. 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 Sift and Interview Dates: This is a rolling campaign, which means that candidates will be sifted and interviewed in tranches while the advertisement is live. You may be asked to sit an interview at short notice (5 working days) and offers may be made on a rolling basis. Indicative Timescale Tranche 1
Sift will take place week commencing 18th December 2023.
Interview links are likely to be provided from 17th January 2024.

Tranche 2
Sift will take place week commencing 2nd January 2024.
interview links are likely to be provided from 24th January 2024. Tranche 3
Sift will take place week commencing 15th January 2024.
Interview links are likely to be provided from 31st January 2024. Please note, the above dates are provisional and may change due to business need. Interviews will be carried out remotely. Candidates will be required to have access to:

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good internet connection
• Microsoft Teams

PLEASE NOTE: Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given Further details and instructions will be provided closer to the scheduled interview. 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 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. 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 Please note: The successful candidates will be required to hold or be willing to secure Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance. A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made. We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need for them to go through a further selection process. 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\xe2\x80\x99s 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 \xe2\x80\x9cAssistance Required\xe2\x80\x9d section in the \xe2\x80\x9cAdditional Requirements\xe2\x80\x9d 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 \xe2\x80\x98Contact point for applicants\xe2\x80\x99 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 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.
Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• 
  Name :
  Home Office Resourcing Centre
  Email :
  HORCCampaignTeamHSGPSGandMBG@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• 
  Email :
  hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment
principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance
HORecruitment.GRS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.