Compliance Officer

Home Office

Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 2nd December 2024

 

Details

Reference number

377008

Salary

£30,000 - £35,700
National Pay Locations: Bedford, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, £30,000-£31,500
London Pay Locations: Croydon, London, £34,000-£35,700
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade

Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HO - Visas and Immigration

Type of role

Operational Delivery

Working pattern

Full-time

Number of jobs available

9

Contents

Bedford, Croydon, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Job summary

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, fire, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

The Customer Services Group brings together Asylum & Human Rights, Asylum Support and Dispersal, Asylum Accommodation Centres, Resettlement Group, Passports, Citizenship & Civil Registration, Customer Operations Support Services and UK Visas & Immigration. As a major operational arm of the Home Office, we play a vital role in supporting the economy and cultural life of the UK.

Visa, Status, and Information (VSI) is responsible for making thousands of decisions every year about who has the right to stay in the country, with a firm emphasis on protecting our borders whilst promoting a culture of customer satisfaction. 

The Sponsor Compliance Network is the operational arm of VSI, and our primary role is to visit businesses who apply for or hold sponsor licences to ensure they are meeting their sponsor commitments. 

There are currently over 100,000 sponsors in the UK, covering every industry and varying in size from small local enterprises to large multinational conglomerates.

Job description

Compliance Officers are a national resource conducting audits at the premises of licenced sponsors to assess compliance with their responsibilities.

Compliance Officers are also expected to undertake a range of audit and assurance activity outside of the sponsorship work stream on behalf of the wider Home Office and other government departments. Some examples of which include providing oversight of procured services such as Secure English Language test and Life in the UK test centres, as well as assurance of the Seasonal Workers Programme.   

In addition to the above, Compliance Officers will be required to assist in decision making within teams connected to the network. This will involve taking action against sponsors when it is identified that they are not complying with their duties and responsibilities as a licensed sponsor, receiving referrals from different teams to make decisions at pace when sponsors pose a risk to immigration control. This includes the suspension and revocation of sponsor licences in the Workers and Temporary Workers routes. 

Key responsibilities

This is a high performing team, and the role is varied and fast paced with extensive interaction with members of the public. Compliance Officers are required to:

  • Undertake sponsor compliance audit work as a lead officer by interviewing sponsors, prospective sponsors, and migrant workers.
  • Assist the lead officer as a supporting officer as required which will include interviewing sponsored migrant workers, gathering evidence, reviewing and analysing records.
  • Carry out administrative and decision-making functions as necessary to support the wider Compliance and associated commands.
  • Plan and carry out frequent site visits, which will involve extensive travel across the UK including overnight stays.
  • Assess and review evidence in order to produce objective and factual reports for casework consideration.
  • Keep up to date with changes to guidance and be able to apply this to your reports and decision-making.
  • Take responsibility for self-development and maintaining and developing your professional skills, knowledge, and capability by undertaking appropriate training and development.
  • Contribute to the commands operational excellence by sharing best practices with active participation in continuous improvement.

There is currently no line management requirement in this role.

Uniform is provided.

For a further understanding on Sponsorship and role responsibilities, please refer to our candidate pack.

Personal Safety Training 

This is a field based operational role that requires candidates to successfully complete Personal Safety Training (PST) Level 2. This is a mandatory requirement and failure to successfully complete the training will preclude an individual from undertaking the role. This training must be successfully re-validated on a yearly basis. For further details please refer to our candidate pack.

Travel

This role involves extensive travel, using suitable modes of transport throughout the UK. The nature of the work and training inevitably involves overnight stays, travel, plus occasional evening, and weekend working which may attract overtime rates.

You should carefully consider whether you are able to fully commit to the travel including overnight stays and physical requirements for this role.

Working pattern

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis. These posts are limited to full-time hours only due to being frontline operational roles.

Question & Answer Session

Please note that we are holding 2 live events regarding these vacancies.
 
The events will be hosted by Compliance Officers and Managers working within the Sponsor Compliance Network who will share their experience of the role. Candidates will be given the opportunity to ask questions about the role.

The content is the same for each event, so you only need to join one.

The events are on:

  • Slot 1 – 19th November 2024 13:00 – 14:00 - to register your interest, please email SCNRecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk no later than 12:00 on Friday 15th November with the subject ‘SCN CO Recruitment Event 19/11/24 - Slot 1'.
  • Slot 2 - 19th November 2024 at 18:00 – 19:00 - to register your interest, please email SCNRecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk no later than 12:00 on Friday 15th November with the subject ‘SCN CO Recruitment Event 19/11/24 - Slot 2’.

Person specification

Essential criteria

  • The ability to effectively manage your own workload, using initiative to prioritise multiple work strands, meeting deadlines and business priorities. 
  • Ability to confidently navigate challenging and complex situations. 
  • Be adaptable to change in a fast-paced environment ensuring the work adheres to expected quality standards. 
  • Effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact confidently, building professional relationships with a wide range of people. 
  • Efficient in using Microsoft Office 365 tools daily (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint etc). 
  • Experience of delivering a high-quality service to external customers and working collaboratively within a team environment.
  • The ability to successfully complete Personal Safety Training (PST) Level 2 and re-validate it on an annual basis.

Desirable criteria

  • Relevant skills and experience gained from regulatory and/or investigatory work.
  • Experience of working within a frontline operational environment.

For a further understanding on Sponsorship and role responsibilities, please refer to our candidate pack.

Licences

Due to the nature of the work and/or the geographical area, driving is a key requirement for this role. Applicants must have a full valid UK manual/automatic driving licence. You must have held a full driving licence for a minimum of 12 months.

Behaviours

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

  • Delivering at Pace
  • Changing and Improving
  • Communicating and Influencing
  • Making Effective Decisions

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

  • Delivering at Pace
Alongside your salary of £30,000, Home Office contributes £8,691 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
  • A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
  • In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
  • 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
  • Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
  • See more of our benefits on our careers website.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours 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.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised. 

Application - by 2nd December 2024

  • Personal Statement (maximum 750 words).
  • Provide evidence of the behaviour Delivering at Pace (250 words maximum).

The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

Sift - week commencing 2nd December 2024

The Personal Statement will be scored for all candidates. Those candidates who achieve the minimum pass score for the Personal Statement will progress to a further sift where the Behaviour Delivering at Pace will be scored. These candidates will receive a sift score for both elements. Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the Personal Statement will not have their Behaviour scored and will only receive a sift score for the Personal Statement.

Should a high volume of applications be received, the sift will be conducted only on the Personal Statement.

Interview - week commencing 6th January 2025

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be:

  • Behaviour (as listed in the job advert) based questions.

The interview will take place on Microsoft Teams. 

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Further information

Problems during the application process 

If you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application, please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.

Location preferences 

You can select up to two locations in order of preference. Please ensure that these are locations you are prepared to travel to. If you are offered a role at one of your preferred location(s) and you decline, your application will be withdrawn.

Reserve list 

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be found on our website.

Reserve lists will be held for each location. Candidates will be appointed in merit order by location.

All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. 

Additional Security Checks  

As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, candidates will be subject to a range of additional checks. The range of checks carried out will depend on whether you are a current Home Office employee, existing civil servant or an external new entrant as well as the role requirements. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates. 

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

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

If you are invited to an interview, you will be required to bring documentation for the purposes of establishing your identity.

You will need to meet the nationality requirements for this role and obtain the necessary security clearance to take it up. For meaningful security checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. Learn more on our website. Security Checks - Home Office Careers

Visa sponsorship

We do not sponsor individuals via Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visas.

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 undergo a criminal record check.
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

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
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 : HORCCampaignTeamHMPOandUKVI@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

  • Email : HOrecruitment.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.

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