National Security Vetting Team Assistant Bristol, England
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Job summary
Since 1st April 2022, HMRC has assumed responsibility for coordinating all vetting requirements across both HMRC and VOA, which extends to staff, contractors and agreed third parties. This will include arrangements for initial sponsor applications, internal and external vetting enquiries, transfer of clearances, complex case management in-conjunction with UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the national vetting provider and through life assurance for all clearances held by the department.
This post provides an exciting opportunity to become involved in this important work. The successful applicant will join HMRC vetting which will sit within the wider personnel security function of the department. The team works closely with UKSV, the national service which carries out vetting checks and enquiries. The post-holder will be expected to have, or develop, the knowledge to carry out vetting case work across the broad range of residual vetting activities that remain within the responsibility of HMRC. It will also require the successful applicant to provide advice and guidance to colleagues and stakeholders.
The role of the National Security Vetting Team Assistant will be to process security clearance applications and to carry out other relevant security related work. As part of the vetting team the role holder will implement vetting services to customers and will be expected to work effectively across teams and provide advice and guidance to colleagues and stakeholders.
At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues; an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us, and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.
Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.
See what it’s like to work at HMRC: "https://hmrc-jobs.career-inspiration.com/app/home", find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question.
Job description
Providing a security vetting service to cover a range of vetting responsibilities for HMRC and VOA, undertaking activities required for maintenance of an effective vetting function. The job holder will be responsible for:
- Providing a security vetting clearance service for staff and contractors, processing vetting applications by setting up on-line National Security Vetting Solution (NSVS) accounts
- Responding promptly and accurately to enquiries from customers, providing advice and guidance via email and telephone
- Assisting in the aftercare process, issuing and processing aftercare forms, ensuring the systems are updated
- Preparing and issuing clearance letters to customers
- Ensure that HMRCs Vetting Information Database (VID) is kept up to date by adding timely information and recording of clearances, supporting the VID administrator as required
- Managing work allocation and prioritising workloads to achieve team performance objectives
- Accurately recording vetting related information into databases and spreadsheets
- Keeping accurate records of cases processed against performance indicators
- Contributing to team administrative tasks
Person specification
This is an interesting and busy post, and the role holder will need good communication and customer service skills, being able to work independently and as part of a team, whilst being able to respond to tight deadlines.
The role holder will need to have good IT skills with an understanding of Office 365 and an awareness of working with SharePoint.
No specific qualifications are required although the successful applicant will be expected to undertake training and learning relevant to the Security Profession
Essential Criteria
Successful candidates will be expected to undertake and successfully achieve SC clearance.
Desirable Criteria
As the role sits within the security profession, experience of working in a vetting and/or security environment or an understanding of the need for risk-based security rules would be beneficial.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
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%
Annual Leave: From 1 September 2021, full-time employees have a starting paid annual leave allowance of 25 days per year, pro rata, which will increase by one day for each year’s qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.
Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
To apply for this role, please submit your CV stating your Qualifications and Career history including key responsibilities and achievements; and a Personal Statement outlining in no more than 500 words, what skills and experience you can bring to the role based on the criteria and person specification above.
You will also need to submit 250 word statements for each of the following Behaviours: Working Together, Communicating & Influencing, and Delivering at Pace.
Please note that your application may be rejected if you exceed the word count as specified.
We are not expecting any of the examples demonstrated in the above behaviours to be covered within your personal statement, as they will be covered separately within your application.
Your application will be sifted based on your CV, Personal Statement, and the above Behaviours.
If a high volume of applications is received, an initial sift will be held using the lead behaviour Working Together. Those who do not meet the acceptable scoring criteria will not be sifted further.
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
A sift is planned be carried out within 10 working days of the closing date, and we plan to interview within 10 working days of the sift result.
At interview, you will be assessed on the Behaviours listed above, your experience, and Strengths based questions.
Travel and overnight stays are rare, but generally are connected to training courses or visiting our other site.
A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Eligibility
To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please review the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact [email protected] as soon as possible.
Equality and Diversity
We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued, supported and comfortable being their true self at work.
We’re proud to be a diverse and inclusive employer, supporting social mobility by giving opportunities to people from all walks of life. We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and offer a range of flexible working patterns and support. Our aim is to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.
For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values.
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Locations
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
Security Update
For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks
Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.
Further Information
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process.
Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.
Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk
Problems during the application process
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If you think you’ve made a mistake on a submitted application (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact [email protected] at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.
Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 289886 & vacancy closing date 07/06/2023.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.
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
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Recruitment team
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