Public Safety Group – Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit – SEO Senior Compliance Officer

The Home Office is here to make our country safer. As well as working to reduce crime and enforce the law, we also work to protect the most vulnerable and have a proud history of providing refuge to those who have been displaced or are seeking asylum. Whether it’s fighting crime, protecting our borders or combating slavery, the Home Office is at the cutting edge of public policy in this country and our work is some of the most challenging and rewarding in government. 

The role of the Public Safety Group is to keep the public safe by cutting crime (including by disrupting the highest harm criminals), tackling its drivers, bringing criminals to justice and protecting the vulnerable. To deliver on our mission we operate locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

We are recruiting to this exciting and varied post, offering an ideal development opportunity for existing operational managers (or those with experience of people and operational management) looking for a new challenge where you can make a real difference to a great many and to diversify their skills in this outward-facing regulatory field, of Ministerial interest. This is a post with a significant technical casework element.

The Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) is part of the Crime Reduction Directorate in the Public Safety Group of the Home Office. It is responsible for enabling the licit use of controlled drugs, whilst preventing their diversion to the illicit market.

The unit is responsible for issuing licences for controlled drugs (import/export and domestic) and for prohibited firearms possessed by registered firearms dealers, freight companies, maritime armed guards, clubs and museums. The drug and firearms licensing regimes operate under separate legislative frameworks, but there are clear operational synergies.

The unit is also responsible for the operational policy which governs the licensing regimes and engages with a wide range of stakeholders such as pharmaceutical, care, health, research, wholesalers, airlines, the National Crime Agency, the police, shooting organisations, regulatory bodies and other government departments.

This is a reputationally important role, interacting with varied stakeholder groups, some of whom can be challenging. The UK has a strong regulatory reputation for Controlled Drug and Precursor Chemicals; this role is the public face of the ‘inspection regime’.

This role requires significant domestic travel throughout the UK and a requirement to in the Croydon office, on a weekly basis.

Public safety and excellent customer service are at the heart of what we do. The post holder will join one other Senior Compliance Officer and will manage a team of HEO compliance officers. This role will be reporting to the Head of Domestic Drugs Licensing; it is a challenging and diverse role focusing on the operational delivery of licensing decisions and is responsible for ensuring that the UK meets its international obligations; delivering an operational response to the drug strategy, including a licensing regime that enables the legitimate use of drugs and precursor chemicals, while preventing their diversion to the illicit market; operating a robust and proportionate drug and firearms licensing regime; and playing its part in ensuring the unit maximises opportunities for full cost recovery and delivers operational efficiencies.

The post-holder will manage a team of 7 people and will support the development of operational policy and play a key role in delivering it, manage the casework of others while undertaking complex casework, compliance checking the work of the team, and building and managing performance management.

With a growing customer base it is vital that the unit maintains its staffing capacity to drive through process improvements and show that we are offering value for money to the fee-paying public.

Successful candidates will be expected to complete the Bond Solon Advanced Professional Certificate in Investigatory Practice Qualification within their first 18 months of the role (DFLU will meet the cost of one cycle of assessments for each module).

Due to the nature of the role, it is not suitable for part time hours.

1)    Manage and develop staff, providing direction and operational management to the compliance team, building capability, resilience and fostering a culture of high-performance ensuring robust efficient workflow and case management;

2)    Taking responsibility for complex casework and development of legally sound operational responses to emerging casework issues;

3)    Develop flexible tasking and systems of work with the existing Senior Compliance officer;

4)    Supporting the development of policy through evidence-based decisions;

5)    Overseeing the case management functions to ensure that: the team is customer-focused, with feedback sought from servicer users and complaints dealt with appropriately; information, training and standards are in place to enable staff to provide an excellent service;

6)    Overseeing the delivery of the domestic licensing operation to ensure all applications are case-worked, approved and licenses issued in accordance with policy, legislation and process, and to quality and service standards;

7)    Deliver high-quality customer service ensuring correspondence, including that from licensees, Minister’s and trade bodies, via email, post or telephone and dealt with in a timely and professional manner;

8)    Establish and maintain good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders ensuring the team works collaboratively and flexibly and liaises and shares information, where appropriate, with OGDs, other Competent Authorities or Regulatory Bodies;

9)    Have a good understanding of all relevant legislation, and develop a good understanding of the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) 1971 and associated Misuse of Drugs Regulations (MDR) 2001, Precursor Chemical Regulations & International Conventions – including gaining an effective knowledge of licensees, their areas of business and working knowledge of licensing processes.

Essential Criteria

1) Recent experience of operational delivery and management in a regulatory systems environment;

2) Strong leadership skills with the capability and experience to overcome challenges in order to deliver quality business outcomes; 

3) Strong planning and organisational skills with capability and experience to overcome challenges in order to deliver quality business outcomes; 

4) Direct experience of working with legislation and policy matters in an operational environment;

5) Direct experience of litigation work, in either a HR or casework context; and

6) On account of the significant travel requirements of the role – hold a Full UK (Car) Driving Licence Manual or Automatic and have no more than 3 penalty points.

Desirable Criteria

1) Experience of working with statistical data; 

2) Knowledge and understanding of interrogating reports and basic chemistry and/or pharmacology 

3) Knowledge of UK Drug Legislation and/or Medicines Legislation

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

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

• Making Effective Decisions

• 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%

Job contact :

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

Recruitment team

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