Administrative Officers - Single Competent Authority (SCA) - Public Safety Group Birmingham, England
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About the job
Job summary
This is an exciting time to join the Single Competent Authority; you will be playing a pivotal part within teams and will help us deliver critical, high-impact work for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. In doing so you will have the opportunity to feed into how we build a new future, and embed the Home Office values - Respectful, Collaborative, Courageous and Compassionate.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery and ensuring they receive the appropriate support. Modern slavery is a complex crime and may involve multiple forms of exploitation. It encompasses human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour.
Potential victims of modern slavery are identified by First Responders (such as police forces, charities, government departments or local authority areas) and referred into the NRM. The Single Competent Authority (SCA) is then responsible for:
- Deciding whether or not an individual is a victim of modern slavery (a positive decision can open the door to support provision, which is designed to lift the individual from their situation of exploitation and/or assist with their recovery)
- Deciding on the type of support required for each individual, in accordance with their recovery needs.
- Providing that support, through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).
Job description
As a SCA Administrative Officer (AO), you will join a highly driven and productive operational Unit, motivated by a determination to deliver high quality and timely decisions for potential victims of modern slavery.
The SCA is committed to retaining its supportive, expansive and high-performing culture. We are excited to welcome new colleagues, who will benefit from a high level of managerial support and oversight, training, development opportunities and well-being support. We look forward to bringing in more exceptional and talented staff members, to help us deliver more, and faster, high-quality decisions for victims.
Person specification
All roles within the Home Office offer the opportunity to access tailored learning and development, and this is something we actively support within the SCA. This will include on-the-job learning, access to the Operational Delivery Profession’s suite of learning and development materials and events, the opportunity of applying to undertake a formal apprenticeship (if eligibility criteria are met) in line with business needs, and other continued professional development opportunities across the Department and across Government.
Our AOs support a number of critical functions right across the SCA’s business.
After receiving detailed training, and benefiting from continued close support by experienced members of the team, your role will be to join one of our teams within the SCA to support core activity; this ranges from case progression and processing work, through to customer service, safeguarding and cross-Unit governance/management activities.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion. 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.
Responsibilities
You may be expected to perform the following key tasks:
- Support critical assurance functions for the Unit, such as safeguarding activity for cases with particular concerns or vulnerabilities for consideration, information disclosure, supporting system-wide operational governance structures, detailed data analysis and presentation for a variety of audiences, drafting and managing correspondence/PQs/FOIs.
- Support Customer Liaison and Business Support activity, triaging communications from stakeholders across inboxes and duty phone lines, assessing and prioritising next steps, managing referrals to the NRM, ensuring necessary databases and tracking systems are kept up-to-date and complete, providing responses and updates to interested parties in a professional and timely manner, capturing data, analysing trends and driving process improvements.
- Support Case Preparation activity, ensuring that NRM cases are managed and progressed rapidly from referral through to each relevant decision-point, working with key partners involved in modern slavery cases to gather the necessary materials for a decision to be made, keeping relevant parties informed, driving creative and innovative improvements to processes, and ensuring the crucially high-quality management of information across the system.
The above is indicative, not exhaustive: the NRM system is subject to change in order to meet the needs of victims, and staff members are expected to work flexibly across the Unit’s priorities in order to deliver high-quality and timely outcomes. Individuals will be matched with suitable roles upon being offered a position.
Please note that a successful candidate may be reading and considering sensitive information relating to modern slavery crimes suffered by individuals referred into the NRM, and dealing with potentially difficult cases. Candidates must have resilience, and be comfortable moving into a role where they may come across such difficult information on a daily basis; full training and support is offered to all staff undertaking this work.
Essential Criteria:
- The ability to understand, assess and make decisions based on complex pieces of information from different sources.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, and an attention to detail.
- Proactive, self-starting and a highly organised approach to managing own workload, balancing competing priorities to deliver high-quality and timely outputs.
- Flexibility and willingness to take on new and varied areas of work as required according to business needs.
Desirable Criteria:
- Previous experience of working in assurance functions, business support, customer liaison/support or case preparation teams.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Managing a Quality Service
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
After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a (Civil Service Verbal Test and Civil Service Judgement Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.
Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on Monday 27th March 2023. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn.
Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.
Candidates will then be required to submit a CV and Statement of Suitability (of no more than 500 words) that is aligned to the Essential Criteria as set out in the job advertisement.
In addition, candidates will be required to provide evidence of the lead behaviour 'Managing a Quality Service'.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
CVs will not be scored.
In an event where a high volume of applications are received, an initial sift will take place using the lead behaviour 'Managing a Quality Service'. Candidates who pass the initial sift will be either progressed to a full sift or straight to interview.
Successful candidates shortlisted for interview will be tested on all behaviours outlined in the job advertisement, and Strength-based questions.
The sift will take place week commencing 27 March 2023.
Interviews will take place week commencing 17 April 2023.
Interviews will take place remotely. Further details and instructions will be provided closer to the scheduled interview.
Hybrid working enables employees to work partly in their workplace(s) and partly at home. A hybrid working pattern may be available, where business needs allow. Applicants can discuss what this means with the vacancy holder if they have specific questions.
Changes of office locations are possible at the point of job offer and whilst in the role, this can be discussed with the Vacancy Holder and Line Manager respectively.
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 may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need for them to go through a further selection process.
The successful candidates will be required to hold or be willing to secure CTC clearance.
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
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 [email protected] 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 Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
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).
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team :
Further information
principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance
[email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.
