Apply Now
Details
Reference number
Salary
Job grade
Contract type
Business area
Type of role
Finance
Information Technology
Intelligence
Investigation
Operational Delivery
Working pattern
Number of jobs available
Contents
Location
About the job
Job summary
Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the governments immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. It also aims to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on the Immigration Enforcement careers page.
Job description
Our Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) teams are committed to disrupting and dismantling the organised crime groups facilitating immigration abuse; utilising its financial investigations capability to remove the proceeds of crime and strip criminals of their assets.
Immigration Enforcement has a fundamental role to play in tackling immigration crime, as part of a multi-layered UK law enforcement approach. Through working closely with partners in the National Crime Agency, territorial policing and many other agencies and departments, our Criminal and Financial Investigation Teams take vigorous action against those criminals that seek to benefit from illegal migration.
If you are looking for your next challenge and the opportunity to shape the future of Criminal and Financial Investigation within the Home Office this role is for you – we are looking to build on our core financial investigative teams with people who are driven and have the capability and skills to work at the heart of immigration crime.
The successful candidate will play a vital role in enabling an effective response in the fight against the gangs behind immigration abuse. You will have strong technical credibility with a proven ability to work under pressure with good interpersonal skills. You will deliver to consistently high standards of financial investigation, risk mitigation and value for money within your area and enhance decision-making through your ability to influence and explain complex financial information in a clear and understandable way.
This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidates to develop and embed a range of people and engagement skills within a high performing team, delivering what is required to continue to make the team a great place to work and to support colleagues and Senior Managers to deliver.
Working for Immigration Enforcement is challenging and fast paced, requiring sound decision making in demanding and often time-sensitive situations and environments and can require working to tight deadlines dictated by the court and the Crown Prosecution Service. Financial Investigators operate nationally, hence there will be a requirement to deploy at short notice, which may involve overnight stays away from home. In addition, training courses may be anywhere in the UK and residential.
Financial investigation asset recovery work falls under civil legislation and the search for assets requires innovative and meticulous thinking.
To work in Immigration Enforcement, you must be able to meet these challenges while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and teamwork with adherence to our vision statement:
Tackling immigration crime by empowering our people, inspiring confidence and protecting communities.
The Financial Investigation Units work closely with their Crime Team colleagues, CPS and Home Office lawyers to:
Investigate the extent and whereabouts of criminal benefit, confiscate criminal assets after conviction and deny criminals of any further financial gain.
Restrain criminal assets via CPS to prevent dissipation and protect assets for confiscation.
Seize, detain and investigate cash, listed assets, and freeze bank accounts.
Financial Investigators are first and foremost operational Immigration Officers who cover operations nationally. This is a mobile grade and as such liable to be deployed to critical incidents and other operational duties which may often be outside of their normal business area and role, and often at short notice.
The post requires a commitment to working flexibly and will involve some travel throughout the UK as well as working away from home, including overnight stays.
Person specification
Tasks will include (but are not limited to): –
Drafting and applying for financial orders at Magistrates and Crown Court.
In depth analysis of financial material predominantly bank accounts.
Drafting comprehensive summaries / statements in criminal and civil proceedings for submission to crime team colleagues, CPS lawyers, counsel and the courts.
Interviewing witnesses and suspects.
Conducting premises searches to identify the extent and whereabouts of criminal benefit, including financial investigation support to the crime teams in support of prosecutions.
Giving evidence during court hearings (all CFI staff are required to disclose any adverse judicial decisions or internal disciplinary matters under CPIA. Applicants need to bear this in mind when considering their eligibility for this post).
Participation in a national FI on-call roster.
Undertaking / progressing cash seizures, listed asset, and frozen funds investigations.
Undertaking / progressing confiscation investigations.
Accurately reporting FI activity on departmental / local databases and on the Joint Assets Recovery Database. (JARD)
Reporting to the Chief Immigration Officer and Her Majestys Inspector with case updates / progress.
Actively managing a case load of investigations. You will be accountable for expedient and thorough investigations.
Crime Induction / Immigration Officer training:
These vacancies are only open to applicants who are willing to be trained as Financial Investigators. This accreditation can only be obtained through the National Crime Agency Proceeds of Crime Centre and its training pathway. This involves studying, taking exams which are pass or fail, submission of work portfolios and mentoring.
You will be required to obtain and maintain your FI accreditation (Continuing Professional Development) with The Proceeds of Crime Centre (NCA) which includes regular assessed learning.
The FI learning pathway is detailed below. All officers will be trained up to and including confiscation. The FI structure consists of four workstreams.
These workstreams are:
Financial Intelligence Officer Gathering financial intelligence.
Financial Investigator – (Including Civil Recovery in Summary Proceedings (CRiSP) training).
Confiscator – focussed on identifying criminal benefit, assets and restraints.
Financial Investigator providing support to crime team colleagues (PIP1).
Business needs at the current time dictate that you will be expected to be competent in all four workstreams once suitably qualified.
Essential Criteria:
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:
Strong verbal and written communication skills, particularly the ability to produce written work to a high standard and convey complex financial detail to less knowledgeable parties.
Competent in using IT (particularly MS Excel and Word), including creating and being able to understand spreadsheets.
Focused, flexible and able to apply attention to detail to all aspects of the role.
Knowledge / experience of the Criminal Justice system and / or Immigration legislation.
Desirable Criteria:
Experience of conducting investigations.
Arrest trained.
A practical working knowledge of immigration processes both at port and in country.
Licences
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Making Effective Decisions
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.
As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.
After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete a Civil Service work strengths Test. If you successfully pass this test, you will then be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online test as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the test and full application form is 23:55 on 30 October 2023. If you fail to complete the online test or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.
Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The test is administered online and accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.
You CANNOT complete the Test on a mobile phone or tablet.
Following successful completion of the test, you will then be asked to complete:
- A CV detailing job history/qualifications/skills
- A statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 500 words)
- Provide evidence of the behaviour Making Effective Decisions (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
The sift will be held on the behaviour Making Effective Decisions and the statement of suitability (personal statement). The CV will not be scored.
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 lead behaviour (Making Effective Decisions) 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 lead behaviour scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for the statement of suitability.
However, if a large number of applications are received, the sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability (personal statement) only.
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.
Strengths are the things that you do regularly, do well and that motivate you. To find out more about strength based questions click here
Sift and Interview dates:
Sift is expected to take place week commencing 1 November 2023.
Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 20 November 2023.
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change.
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.
Interviews will be face to face at Drumkeen House office in Belfast. Further details will be provided ahead of interview.
Note for Candidates:
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.
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.
Are these Reserved Posts for UK Nationals only?
UK nationals who hold dual nationality are able to apply for this reserved post. If a UK passport is not being presented, then candidates will need to provide alternative evidence of UK nationality in line with the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
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 birthright 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.
Annual Hours Working Allowance
Annualised Hours Working (AHW) is an attendance system where staff work an agreed number of hours for the year rather than weekly conditioned hours.
You will be required to work flexibly on any day of the week, including weekends, nights, Public Holidays and the Privilege Day, and the hours may vary each week. Attendance may also be subject to change at short notice.
The rate payable under the AHW scheme is driven by business requirements and may vary depending on location. Your initial rate will be confirmed when you have started in post and will be paid as a percentage of your basic salary. If a member of staff has agreed an annualised hours arrangement, this does not become a permanent or guaranteed right. Annualised hours working is subject to changes in operational needs and managers can adjust, cease or suspend it, for operational or performance reasons. Annualised hours agreements are reviewed at least annually.
The annualised hours year runs from 1 April to 31 March. If an individual begins working on an annualised hours basis part way through the year, they will receive a part-year agreement and the Annualised Hours Allowance will be pro-rated for the remainder of the year to reflect that agreement.
If you transfer to a non-AHW post the requirement to work in accordance with the terms of the AHW policy will also end, and you will move to standard Home Office Terms and Conditions.
The initial rate payable is 29%.
Due to the nature of the role this position is open to full-time employees only.
These are shift working roles and so you must be 18 years or over.
Hybrid working is not an option:
The flexible working arrangement of Hybrid working (working partly in their workplace(s) and partly at home) is not available for this role due to the requirements of the role. Successful candidates will be required to attend the office/other work location as specified in the advert at all times to carry out this role.
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.
Personal Safety Training (PST)
These roles can be physically demanding and if successful you will be required to complete and pass specialist training including Personal Safety Training (PST) which develops skills in personal safety, arrest and restraint techniques. This demands physical activity and physical contact with delegates on the course. You will be required to complete a PST health declaration and, if necessary, attend a medical examination. A formal offer will be conditional upon you being physically fit to undertake and pass the training.
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.
A reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role or similar role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
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 candidates 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 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
Medical
Nationality requirements
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
You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Home Office Resourcing Centre
- Email : HORCCampaignTeamIE@homeoffice.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
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.
