Job description
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Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
Job description
As the successful applicant, you will be leading a 24/7 business across multiple ports over a large geographical area of Central Region. This is a wide-ranging role, requiring you to get to grips with a complex operation, which varies in size, scale, and style by providing visible operational leadership and flexibility in responding to live critical incidents, challenges, and business improvement.
The Aviation and Postal portfolio represents about half of Central region’s workforce (circa 700) and you will have functional responsibility for all airports in Central Region, and direct command of four (including Stansted, the UK’s fourth largest airport). In addition to the airports, you will have the Inland Border Command and fast parcel and freight operations at various sites including Birmingham, East Midlands, and Milton Keynes plus UK wide responsibility for international postal operations. You will also have responsibility for refreshing and delivering the Fast Parcel strategy. You will have a key role in shaping the future of these plans, defining what the next phases look like before going onto deliver them. Although the Assistant Directors (G7s) and their teams are directly responsible for the effective delivery of border security across the region, you will need to have a good oversight and understanding of their operations to identify and mitigate risks and to set the strategic direction for Aviation and Postal ensuring your senior leadership team deliver against it.
Your role is ultimately to put your people in a position to succeed. As a Region, we have implemented plans which have driven up empowerment of our frontline staff and team leaders, and increased engagement. A lot of good work has been done to date; your role is to take this further, embedding the confidence in leaders at all levels to take well informed and considered risks to achieve border security outcomes, and being comfortable being held to account for those risks and learning from them, regardless of the outcome. We have already made great headway but recognise there is still more to do, and it will require strong leadership from you and your senior team to achieve this.
Central Region
Border Force Central Region is responsible for Border Force activity across a wide geographical area of central and eastern England, stretching from the ports of the Thames estuary in Essex and in East Anglia across to the West Midlands. With around 1,450 officers, Central Region handles all modes of transport crossing the border - aviation, maritime, rail freight, all of the UK’s international mail and most of the international ‘fast parcel’ traffic (couriers such as DHL, UPS, Hermes and DPD). There is also a regional mobile command, with teams of mobile officers that can deploy flexibly across the region.
There are three Grade 6 (BF Deputy Director) posts in Central Region, who report directly to the Regional Director. They are the Aviation and Postal Deputy Director, the Maritime and Regional Command Centre Deputy Director, both managing the operational commands and the Deputy Director for Strategy and Change, which leads on Strategy, transformation and people matters.
Central Region has a rich diversity of talented staff, and we are proud to be at the forefront of several initiatives within Border Force to further improve our diversity and to ensure our workforce represents the communities we serve. This includes job-share opportunities and the promotion of alternative attendance patterns. We already have one of the most diverse senior leadership teams in Border Force but are keen to do more.
This role is a normal office hours post with the occasional need to work out of hours, and/or to be on-call. This will be infrequent and is minimised by the presence of a 24/7 Regional Command Centre. This is an operational role that is wide-ranging and varied and you will be part of a visible senior leadership team. We can offer different ways to work flexibly within full time hours: we welcome applications from existing job-share partnerships or part-time workers where we could facilitate a job-sharing arrangement (when 2 or more people share the duties of a post) to provide full-time cover. Any arrangement would need to be matched to business priorities. If you would like further information on the role or to talk about what working flexibly looks like for you please get in touch, please see below, under Further Information, for additional details.
Responsibilities
- Leading high performing teams, delivering across a range of locations, operationally or corporately. Leading at pace in a live 24/7 operational environment responding to emerging pressures and critical incidents. Managing own and team’s workloads, working to tight timescales assessing demands and managing competing priorities, whilst meeting agreed deadlines. Taking well-judged risks and decisions in a timely manner.
- Ensuring the effective development and engagement of the people in your command at all levels, supporting them to become excellent operational leaders who embrace every opportunity to learn.
- Championing diversity and the wellbeing and welfare of your teams.
- Maintaining and developing key stakeholder relationships with the private sector (port operators and carriers), wider law enforcement (regional police forces) partners and Other Government Departments, seeking opportunities for collaborative and more effective ways of working.
- Ensuring effective operational delivery of border security at each of your ports, including being prepared to act as the Gold (or Strategic) commander at key times to ensure an effective and joined-up regional or sub-regional response, which may, on occasion, involve the requirement to be on-call.
- Ensuring your command’s Business Planning and Workforce Plans align with the regional plans and are underpinned by a sound and compelling evidence base. You will also ensure the effective management of your command, including financial management, adherence to HR, performance management and discipline procedures.
- Carrying out other duties as assigned by the Regional Director or Border Force Chief Operating Officer within the scope of the grade and within the limits of your skill, competence, and training, including being prepared to cover the role of Regional Director, if required.
Person specification
The successful post holder will need to demonstrate the following essential criteria:
- Experience of leading the successful delivery of a large-scale operation.
- Experience of being effective and influential during periods of organisational and transformational change.
- Delivery of improvements in leadership and operational delivery.
- Strong, people-centric leadership, engaging and motivating everyone to succeed.
- Ability to set clear strategic direction and manage risk (operational, political, financial, reputational), whilst delivering through others.
- Experience of building and maintaining effective strategic partnerships with key stakeholders.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience of leading large, geographically dispersed teams is an advantage, but not essential.
- Gold Command training or willingness to be trained.
- Relevant experience of operating within and enforcing legislative frameworks, as appropriate.
Please Note:
A full UK Manual Driving Licence is essential as the successful candidate will be required to travel regularly to all the ports within their command, which may involve overnights stays and/or extended day visits.
This is not a shift working role, and does not attract AHA.
To contact us about working patterns, please email: [email protected]
Licences
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Leadership
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- 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 inclusion.
- a CV detailing job history/skills
- a statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 1250 words)
- provide evidence of the behaviour Leadership (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 Leadership and the statement of suitability (personal statement). The CV will not be scored.
However, if a large number of applications are received, the sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability (personal statement) only.
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 (Leadership) 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.
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
You will also be required to prepare and present a short presentation to last 10 minutes, on a topic of your choice at interview (no slides or handouts required), to test the Communicating and Influencing behaviour. Further details around what the presentation will entail will be provided before the interview.
Sift and Interview dates
Sift is expected to take place week commencing 18 September 2023.
Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 2 October 2023.
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change.
Interviews will be face to face (at Enterprise House, Stansted Airport). Further details will be provided ahead of interview.
Open Evening
We will be holding an open evening in the Stansted Airport Complex, which we hope will take place week commencing 28th August 2023. This will give applicants an opportunity to speak to key leaders and team members to find out more about the role. Details will be confirmed nearer the time so please email the Director’s support team at Border Force Central Region Directors Support if you have any questions, at: [email protected]
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.
Candidates who are successful at Interview will be placed in order of merit per location and provisional job offers will be made in strict merit order per location preference. Provisional offers are made, as they are on condition that you successfully pass all pre-employment checks.
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.
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 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.
Working Pattern and Job Share
We can offer different ways to work flexibly within full time hours and we would welcome applications from job sharers (when 2 or more people share the duties of a post) or part time workers, where we could facilitate a job-sharing arrangement that is matched to business priorities.
Candidates wishing to job share in this role should, where possible, identify their job-share partner in advance of submitting an application. You can then agree how the job share will work in practice, e.g., how hours will be split, the communication/handover process etc, so that this can be explained to the vacancy holder at interview stage.
Separate applications will be required but you must make it clear in your application that you wish to apply as part of a job share partnership and provide the name of your job-share partner (but do not identify yourself). When applications are sifted, the panel will consider your evidence separately, against the criteria in the job advert. If your partner doesn’t meet the criteria to be progressed to an interview but you do, you may decide to continue to the interview stage alone or withdraw your application. Part of your interview will be done jointly with your job share partner to assess the strengths and weaknesses you bring as a pair and the remainder will be done separately. You can only be appointed as a job share partnership if you are marked as 1st and 2nd candidates in merit order.
This is an operational role that is wide-ranging and varied, so one post holder working part-time cannot be accommodated. However, it is possible to apply for this role as a part-time worker and potentially be matched with another part-time candidate in order to cover the role on a full-time basis as a job-share partnership. You would though, have to be marked as 1st and 2nd candidates in merit order, as outlined above. Thereafter there would be an opportunity for you to discuss with the other candidate, and also the line manager, how a job share would work in practice before agreeing to accept the role. If you decide not to pursue a job share at this point or the arrangement cannot be matched to business need, you may decide to accept the role on a full-time basis or withdraw your application.
Further information on job sharing in the Civil Service can be found at Civil Service Careers - Guide to Job Sharing. Please note, this does not provide a list of available job share partners.
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.
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.
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
Please read the essential skills for this position carefully. We will only consider those who meet the listed requirement.
If you have previously made an unsuccessful application for a role with the same essential skills and are not able to demonstrate how you have developed these skills since your last application please reconsider applying as your application is unlikely to be successful.
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.
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
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.