Deployable and Reactive Team - Officer

House of Commons

The House of Commons is a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK's thriving democratic system.

Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

Staff Benefits

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:

• 30 days' annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year). Roles working a rostered shift pattern this equates to - 30 days annual leave for first full leave year (rising to 35 on second full leave year) plus bank holidays. Annual leave will be taken in hours and one day's leave will be converted into 7.2 hours
• Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%.
• Access to training and development.
• Flexible working.
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.

Introduction

The Parliamentary Security Department (PSD) is responsible for physical and personnel security across both Houses of Parliament and provides support to Members and staff when away from the Estate. Its purpose is to keep Parliament safe and open for business.

PSD sets security strategy provides expert advice and delivers an operational service. It does this in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and by working closely with the Parliamentary Maintenance Services Team (PMST), Strategic Estates, Serjeant at Arms and Black Rod's office, Restoration & Renewal teams, the Parliamentary Digital Service, and other key stakeholders.

The Role

There are 18 positions available.

The Deployable and Reactive Team's (DaRT) primary functions are to provide an effective mitigation to (risk identified by the PSDs Security Hub, to afford PSDs Security Control Room a deployable resource of highly skilled officers to deal with short notice and spontaneous threats, and to increase the overall security of the estate through intelligence-driven and customer focussed security enhancements.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Respond to and manage security incidents, exercising common law powers including use of reasonable force across the Parliamentary Estate.
• Supervise security searches of buildings, construction sites, survey sites and boreholes, when called upon acting as team leader for other DaRT Officers. Be trained to use and maintain mobile trace detection and other specialist search equipment and keep accurate logs of all search processes.
• Conduct Close Protection duties for high profile persons to external events and venues. Acting as team leader ensuring the welfare of team members and conducting reconnaissance prior to a movement which involves consulting with external venue points of contact (POCs) and government agencies.
• Ensure the security of parliamentary committees in line with the weekly 'Committee Risk Assessment,' consulting with Committee Clerks and Chairs, Doorkeepers, Visitor Services and the MPS where a specific risk has been identified.

DaRT Officers are contracted to 24/7, 365-day presence. You will be expected to work to a 12-hour pattern that includes Saturdays. Due to constant reviews of our business needs this may also include Sundays and Bank Holidays in the future.

The DaRT currently runs two shifts which cover the core business hours of Parliament.

There will be an expectation to be flexible with shifts due to the nature of the role. This could include changes to start and finish times and/or changes to rest days at short notice.

All rosters are subject to change to support the evolving business needs of Parliament.

Skills and Experience

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Candidates must have a security background with demonstrable experience in areas relevant to the role such as behaviour detection, specialist search, close protection, and surveillance, with an ability to follow relevant security policies and directives.
• Experience of working with diverse groups of people, upholding the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion, ensuring that everyone is, at all times, treated with dignity, courtesy, and respect.
• Experience of working in a fast-moving, unpredictable environment showing the ability to be flexible and hands-on when needed to meet operational demand.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to relay information clearly and concisely to different audiences
• A team player with an ability to work with minimum supervision and capable of leading a team.

Next Steps and Additional Information

The salary is inclusive of a 30% Shift Disturbance Allowance.

You will receive an entry level basic salary of £29,150 plus a 30% Shift Disturbance Allowance of £8,745 per annum. The allowance may change dependent on business needs.

Please note for roles working a rostered shift pattern this equates to - 30 days annual leave for first full leave year (rising to 35 on second full leave year) plus bank holidays. Annual leave will be taken in hours and one day's leave will be converted into 7.2 hours

Application Form - If you would like to apply for this role, please submit an application providing evidence against criteria 1 - 5 in the Job Description.

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description.

The interview process will include a timed written exercise and an interview.

Further details will be provided if you are successful at the initial application stage. If you are invited to the assessment part of the process, you should expect the following:

• Fitness assessment.
• Communication and teamwork assessment.
• An observation and report writing exercise.
• A formal interview.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.