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About the job
Job summary
Job description
Border Force Operations is comprised of over 9,000 staff in 140 ports across the UK overseas and Europe. In the last year Border Force Operations has not only managed the effective international travel post a global pandemic, but also supported some of the most high-profile and unprecedented challenges Government departments have seen in recent years, including multiple overseas evacuations, high profile sporting events, a royal coronation and significant adverse weather events. To successfully prepare for and implement such operations, it is critical that considerable cross-operations and cross-Government engagement takes place, and that Ministers and Senior Civil Servants are briefed and reassured, and that responsible enablers are held to account for successful delivery. Over the next 12 months this will include preparedness for the busiest summer peak since pre-pandemic, support to the Paris 2024 Olympics and the introduction of the EU Entry Exit System.
The role of Operational Engagement Officer sits at the heart of national operations and is critical to the support of the Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this role you will work closely and regularly with the full Operations Senior Leadership Team in a dynamic and faced paced environment that demands sound judgement in challenging and ambiguous situations, and regularly working to short deadlines. Reporting to the SEO Operational Engagement, members of this team will be expected to act on their own initiative, managing and monitoring multiple workstreams, including their own projects, and providing expert advice.
Our work is varied and rewarding, attracting people from all backgrounds and walks of life. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion at the Home Office. We are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.
This role is about supporting the gathering, interpreting and presenting of information about BF’s operations, and managing relationships to that end.
The Home Office operates a flexible working policy which promotes a healthier work/life balance offering a tailored approach to what works for us as individuals, balanced with the needs of our teams and the organisation. Further information about flexible working will be explained to you when you join the business by your line manager.
Normal contractual arrangements within the Home Office require employees to have a work location, Manchester and our policies have been adapted to facilitate flexible and remote working.
Whilst flexible and remote working is accessible to you, your base location is Manchester. The cost of travel to commute to your base and the cost of accommodation if required, sits with you, as the employee.
Do you meet the key eligibility criteria?
In order to be eligible, you MUST meet ALL the following criteria.
- I am at least 18 years old at the time of application.
- I am a UK National.
- I will be able to provide all the ID documents required to complete my pre-employment screening and security clearance.
Person specification
You will be required and expected to:
- Contribute to briefings and advise the Ministers and Senior Officials on high-profile operational issues and challenges, seeking to gain their support and confidence.
- Support with the governance, oversight and management of the organisation’s preparation for the implementation of EU’s new Entry/Exit System, the introduction of biometrics checks at the border. This will include ensuring Ministers and Senior Civil Servants are keenly aware of the potential impacts to Border Force, an understanding of the various ways Border Force is preparing for the implementation and engaging with all relevant stakeholders.
- Support the introduction of the new monthly cross-Border Force planning meetings with the Border Force Director General. This will entail liaising with all areas of the business including strategy, policy, resourcing, learning and development and will include all transport modes, including BF Maritime Command.
- Work to collate and present information that will be used to hold enablers to account for vital work to support Border Force Operations and, in turn, hold Operations to account for connected support.
- You will work closely with Home Office Analysis & Insight and the Border Force Data Cell to support with commissions, collating and interpreting modelling and data to form useful narratives and to present BF’s vital work for both celebration and scrutiny.
- Support with stakeholder engagement, supporting our ambition to maintain positive and collaborative relationships with other Government departments critical to the success of operations at the UK border. This will include – but is not limited to – The Department for Transport (DfT), Ministry of Defence (MoD), Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Department for Levelling Up,Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and Cabinet Office, where our relationships, planning, and information sharing are vital in delivering BF’s priority to ensure the security and prosperity of the UK and its citizens. These relationships are also fundamental in advanced intelligence for any issues that may affect the border so they can be mitigated.
Essential Criteria:
Successful Candidates will need to have/demonstrate.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate and work with others.
- Excellent organisational skills using project management techniques and tools to track work progress and ensure activities are managed and delivered in a timely manner.
- Excellent written skills and a track record of drafting high-level briefings, submissions and other important documents to tight deadlines.
- Firm experience of the expectations of high-level briefings and presentations, including the need for political and operational sensitivity and awareness.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience in a frontline Border Force role is desirable, but not required.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service
- Seeing the Big Picture
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
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 gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.
- Statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 750 words)
- Provide evidence of Behaviours Delivering at Pace and Seeing the Big Picture (250 words maximum)
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
The statement of suitability should be aligned to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description.
For guidance on how to construct your personal statement, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links – Statement
For guidance on how to construct your behaviour examples, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links –Behaviours
However, if a large number of applications are received, the sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability (personal statement).
The statement of suitability will be scored first for all candidates. Those candidates who achieve the minimum pass score for the statement of suitability, will progress to a further sift where the behaviour Delivering at Pace and Seeing the Big Picture will be scored. These candidates will therefore receive a sift score for both elements. Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the statement of suitability will not have their behaviours scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for the statement of suitability.
If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be a blended approach of strength - based questions and behaviour- based questions.
- A blended approach of strength-based questions and behaviour-based questions.
Strengths are the things that you do regularly, do well and that motivate you. To find out more about strength based questions click here
Problems during the application process
If you experience problems with opening any of the attachments on this advert, or, you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application (e.g. you have selected the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we may not be able to reopen your application.
Please note, we cannot make amendments to any part of the application.
Please use the following in the subject line in your email if you need to get in contact with us about your initial application “Please re-open my application – Vacancy Ref 345296 CLOSING DATE 2nd April 2024.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within the Reasonable Adjustments section.
Tie break decisions
The strengths and/or behaviours being assessed will be ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores. Please note that the order in which behaviours are listed in the advert does not necessarily reflect the order of importance.
Sift and Interview dates
is expected to take place week commencing 01/04/2024.
Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 22/04/2024.
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change.
Interviews will be carried out via video. 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 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.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting
Reserve List
Where a competition identifies more appointable candidates than there are available vacancies, a reserve list may be held for up to 12 months.
Whilst on a reserve list we may offer you an alternative similar role in the Home Office. Should you reject an alternative role, you will remain on the reserve list for the role you applied for. If you accept an alternative role, you will be withdrawn from the reserve list.
Candidates Please Note:
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 and generating of examples/answers from internet sources including Artificial Intelligence. If any is detected the application may be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving civil servants. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.
If you are currently an agency member of staff working within the Home Office, a contractor or contingent worker you can only apply for roles that are advertised externally, i.e., outside the civil service. If you are eligible to apply for a role, you are required to select yourself as an external applicant and not internal when submitting your application on Civil Service jobs. This will prevent any delays in pre-employment checks should you become successful in being made an offer of employment after the Interview stage.
Part Time:
Please note that if part time the minimum that the business can accommodate in this role is 3 days a week.
Flexible Working:
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).
Appearance
As part of this role you will be required to wear a uniform (which will be provided). Staff must ensure that their uniform is worn correctly, in line with these uniform standards, is kept clean and is well presented. To support this requirement, adequate uniform supplies will be available and issued. Uniformed staff represent their organisation at all times and should ensure that their dress and personal appearance reflects this responsibility.
Tattoos, including henna
A non-offensive visible tattoo is permissible, as long as it is not on the face or on the front or side of the neck (above the collar line). Tattoos behind the ear lobe on the back of the neck are also acceptable within these policy guidelines. You will be required to cover tattoos, when it is seen as appropriate for certain official events, e.g.: State Funerals, Opening of Parliament, Remembrance Parades, and other Ceremonial events. Under no circumstances should tattoos which could be considered offensive be visible. Examples of these include discriminatory; offensive; undermine political neutrality i.e.: rude, lewd, crude, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic or violent tattoos.
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’s 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
Additional Security Checks: As well as successfully obtaining UKSV clearance and passing the right to work and pre-employment screening, anyone who applies to work for Border Force will also be subject to additional Border Force specific security checks, as part of the pre-employment process, to determine their suitability to work for the organisation.
Please see the Home Office Recruitment Privacy Information Notice (PIN) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recruitment-privacy-information-notice for more information on how your details may be shared for the purpose of additional security checks.
Please see the Border Force Privacy Information Notice (PIN) on Border Force privacy information notice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information on how your details may be shared.
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
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
