HR Vetting & Right to Work Lead

Job summary

Ofgem is Great Britain’s independent energy regulator. Our primary responsibility is to protect energy consumers, especially the most vulnerable, while at the same time working with government, industry and consumer groups to deliver a clean, more affordable and secure net-zero energy system at the lowest cost to consumers and drive economic growth.

Ofgem has a culture of inclusion that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our colleagues. It fuels our innovation and helps ensure we can best represent the consumers and the communities we serve. Everyone is welcome - as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.

Role Purpose

Ofgem is strengthening its workforce assurance and compliance capability as part of its wider organisational transformation, including the modernisation of HR systems and processes. As a regulator operating in a complex and highly scrutinised environment, ensuring that our workforce controls are robust, consistent and aligned to both legal and regulatory expectations is critical to maintaining trust, governance and operational integrity. We are looking for an experienced HR Vetting and Right to Work Lead to play a key role in shaping and embedding these controls across the organisation. This role will lead the development and continuous improvement of our approach to Right to Work checks, vetting processes and employment compliance, ensuring that they are not only legally compliant but also efficient, proportionate and aligned to the needs of a modern, data-led organisation. This is a critical role at the heart of Ofgem’s People and governance agenda, working across HR, hiring managers and wider government partners to ensure that vetting and Right to Work processes are consistently applied and supported by clear standards, guidance and assurance. The role will also play an important part in ensuring that these processes are effectively integrated into broader transformation initiatives, enabling a seamless and compliant candidate and employee experience. You will be responsible for ensuring that processes are transparent, auditable and resilient, supporting internal governance, audit requirements and external scrutiny. At the same time, you will help ensure that candidate and employee experience is not compromised, balancing compliance with accessibility and efficiency.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the delivery of Right to Work checks and visa compliance, ensuring all processes meet UK immigration legislation and Home Office requirements.

• Oversee and administer visa and sponsorship activities, including supporting Skilled Worker visa processes, maintaining compliance records and liaising with relevant internal teams and external stakeholders.

• Manage and coordinate pre-employment vetting and background screening, ensuring checks are completed accurately, consistently and in line with organisational and government standards.

• Provide clear guidance and advice to hiring managers and HR colleagues on visa requirements, sponsorship obligations and vetting processes.

• Maintain accurate, compliant and auditable records in line with Home Office audit requirements and internal governance standards.

• Identify and manage risks relating to immigration compliance, sponsorship and vetting, escalating issues where appropriate.

• Support audits and compliance reviews, ensuring Ofgem meets its obligations as a sponsoring organisation.

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of visa, sponsorship and vetting processes, ensuring they are efficient, consistent and aligned to organisational needs.

• Ensure all handling of employee and candidate information complies with data protection and confidentiality requirements.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Strong working knowledge of UK Right to Work legislation, visa requirements and sponsorship obligations, including Skilled Worker visa processes and Home Office compliance expectations. (Lead Criteria)

• Experience administering or managing pre-employment vetting and background checks, with an understanding of compliance, risk and assurance requirements. (Lead Criteria)

• Demonstrable ability to review documentation and maintain accurate, auditable records in line with legal and organisational standards.

• Ability to identify and manage risks relating to immigration compliance, sponsorship and vetting and take appropriate action or escalate issues.

• Experience handling sensitive personal data in line with data protection requirements, ensuring security, confidentiality and integrity.

• Ability to provide clear, practical advice to hiring managers and HR colleagues on visa, RTW and vetting processes.

• Experience managing end-to-end processes and working within agreed service levels, ensuring consistent and compliant outcomes.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,232, OFGEM contributes £10,206 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes; 30 days annual leave after 2 years; Excellent training and development opportunities; The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits; hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but this is kept under review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies. Plus lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050. This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

When you press the ‘Apply now’ button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.

You will then be asked to provide a 1250 word ‘personal statement’ evidencing how you meet the essential and desirable skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the criteri