Home Office – Customer Service Group – Asylum Decision Maker Belfast, Northern Ireland
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Job summary
We have one of the most challenging and important jobs in government; safeguarding the vulnerable and their host communities and keeping our border secure. Every colleague within the Home Office plays a part in making that happen.
In Asylum and Human Rights Operations (A&HRO) we conduct thousands of interviews and make thousands of decisions each year about who can stay in the country. Our decision makers conduct face to face interviews with vulnerable customers to ensure we have all the information necessary to make an appropriate decision on their future. Asylum decision makers develop specialist knowledge of legislation and policy, keeping up-to-date with guidance and caselaw and seeking advice from colleagues within the team.
Asylum decision makers work directly with people seeking asylum. They play an important role in offering protection to the most vulnerable and refusing those who do not qualify, ensuring effective immigration control and keeping the UK safe and secure. Our colleagues work closely with non-government organisations, local authorities, legal representatives and the wider public sector to achieve this.
Asylum decision making is a hugely rewarding and very satisfying role. There are few other roles in the Civil Service where you will be responsible for making a life-changing decision on an individual's future.
Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of Asylum Operations. We are a diverse organisation serving diverse communities, so respect is one of our key values. If you are motivated, hard-working, committed and looking for a varied and stimulating role, we have much to offer you.
Job description
Is the role of an asylum operations decision maker the right one for you?
There are key personal attributes that we are looking for in our decision makers. If you answer yes to the below questions, then this role could be perfect for you:
- Are you inquisitive? The role requires getting to grips with policy and guidance including a lot of reading. Do you enjoy individual learning and formulating arguments/decisions based on extensive research? Do you like getting into the detail, often drawing on information from a wide range of resources?
- Are you emotionally resilient? You will be interviewing some of the most vulnerable people in society, hearing their stories and then formulating a decision.
- Can you remain empathetic and professional whilst dealing with potentially traumatised individuals on a daily basis?
- Can you process information and work at pace? Do you enjoy a fast-paced environment whilst maintaining a high-quality customer service?
- Are you IT literate and able to multi-task? You will be undertaking lengthy (2-3 hour) interviews with individuals seeking asylum and be required to type a verbatim record of the discussion as the interview takes place. You will set the pace of the interview as you are the person asking questions.
The work that you undertake is life-changing and in order to achieve your best you will be supported, coached and mentored by an experienced team and given full training enabling you to make considered, timely and fair decisions made in line with Home Office policy, guidance and with reference to relevant country information and case law.
Person specification
Some of the key responsibilities in these roles include (but not limited):
- Conducting Asylum interviews to the required Home Office standard ensuring all information necessary to make an appropriate decision is obtained.
- Following the required processes in order to make decisions on asylum cases within the decision-making framework.
- Considering large amounts of information, legislation and case law to produce individually written, clear, structured letters on behalf of the Home Secretary outlining reasons for the decision.
- Demonstrating sensitivity, emotional resilience and understanding of the needs of vulnerable adults and children throughout the process.
- Providing accurate information in a professional and helpful manner by collecting and assessing relevant data and information from various sources.
- Working positively with internal and corporate partners and stakeholders.
- Updating systems accurately, within agreed time frames with support from Technical Specialists. You will use feedback from the Assurance and Compliance Team, Technical Specialist and appeal hearings to assist in identifying any learning and development to be fully efficient in the role.
- Participating in regular one to one coaching meetings with your line manager and Technical Specialist support.
- Developing specialist knowledge of legislation and policy, keeping up-to-date with guidance and case law, seeking advice and escalating to senior colleagues or specialist caseworkers.
Essential Criteria
- IT literate with ability to quickly learn how to use different IT platforms/packages.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to build customer relations.
- Able to analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions.
Further Information
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
Hybrid working is available for this role and is currently set at 40% in the office and 60% working from home. This may change in the future subject to business needs.
Please note, for part time working the minimum hours are 25 per week, due to the intense training and mentoring required within the first 6-12 months. However, all candidates need to be able to work full time during the formal training, which usually takes place in weeks 2-4 and 8-9.
Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA)
An additional retention rate allowance has been agreed for the Asylum Decision Maker role. If you are successful and accept an offer of employment, you can expect an additional annual pay allowance of £1500 after successfully completing 12 months in this role, and this will rise to £2500 after the completion of 24 months in this role.
If you previously worked in this role and are re-applying, the duration of your previous service in this role will be taken into account when determining the activation of this allowance.
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
We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for.
Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please visit Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for further guidance.
Behaviour Based Assessment
The online test assesses your natural strengths based on how you respond to each task. There are no right or wrong answers in this test so there isn't anything you need to do in order to prepare. You must complete and submit the test by the deadline stated in your invitation. If you do not complete and submit the test before the deadline, your application will not progress.
Video Sift
You will be asked questions to understand whether you have the Civil Service Strengths relevant to the job role. It is important to remember that there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Do not rehearse your answers because we are looking for your initial response. The qualities required for the role will be described in the job description. The best way to prepare is to reflect on what you feel your personal strengths are and your preferred ways of working.
Please note: You will have 7 days to complete the video sift. If you experience technical issue or cannot complete the video sift within the timeframe for any other reason, you must get in touch as soon as possible and within 3 days of the deadline passing, otherwise your application will be withdrawn.
Online Assessment Centre
The Online Assessment Centre will include the following assessment areas:
- Roleplay
- Written Exercise
The Civil Service Behaviours assessed at Online Assessment Centre are:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
Applying for more than one Asylum Decision Maker vacancy
We are running Asylum Decision Maker adverts to cover different locations and you can apply for any of these vacancies if they are in a location you are happy to travel to. If you apply for more than one vacancy your first online test, video sift and online assessment centre score will be used across all of your applications within a six month period and you will not have to do these again. Once six months has elapsed for each stage you will be required to complete the assessments again for future applications.
For further information about the role and how to apply, please visit the Home Office Campaign microsite: https://homeofficejobs-sscl.co.uk
Please note: Near miss offers may be made at Administrative Officer (AO) grade to candidates who do not meet the required standard for Executive Officer (EO). These roles may be permanent or Fixed Term appointments dependent on business requirements.
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.
Please note: 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.
Owing to the size of the campaign it will not be possible to provide candidates with feedback at either the sift or interview stage.
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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