Administrative Officers

Job summary

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) manages the UK’s immigration and identity systems. It oversees visa applications for visitors, workers, students, and those seeking to settle in the UK, as well as citizenship processes and resettlement services.
ICS also issues British passports and maintains vital civil records, including births, marriages, and deaths. Through secure and efficient services, it protects the UK’s borders, supports lawful migration, provides safe and legal routes for refugees, and ensures trusted identity and travel documentation for citizens and applicants.

The Asylum Group (AG) is driving the government’s commitment to operate a fair, efficient and transparent asylum system. The key priorities include, operational excellence, ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers and reducing the number of people supported by the asylum system. The group brings together analytical, data science, policy and operational teams responsible for transforming the asylum system, efficient decision making, operating new and existing accommodation models, asylum support, and excellent Management Information and data modelling.

Please note: We are looking to establish a reserve list for future opportunities. If you're interested in joining our team but the timing isn’t quite right, we still encourage you to apply. Candidates who meet the required criteria will be placed on a reserve list for up to 12 months.

We will actively draw from this list throughout the year as vacancies arise. Reserve lists will be maintained by location, and appointments will be made in merit order within each location.

The reserve list will allow the rapid backfill of those posts as they become vacant throughout the year.

We’re committed to attracting a broad and diverse pool of candidates and want to ensure everyone feels welcome to express interest.

Job description

Due to the scale of the campaign, we are unable to ask your preference regarding the type of role we offer you. However, as this is a generic campaign, the majority of roles on offer are similar.
The roles which you will be posted to will depend on the business needs at the time of onboarding. Candidates will not be given the option to choose between roles.

This role requires you to be flexible, adaptive, and creative in solving problems and dealing with change. Individuals must have an ability to effectively organise and plan, whilst being professional and customer-focused. You must be able to demonstrate a strong sense of personal ethics and honesty and enjoy dealing with members of the public and external and internal stakeholders. You will demonstrate sound interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills and thrive working as part of a team.

You must be committed to meeting the high standards of conduct and behaviour that is expected of a civil servant.

Key Responsibilities will include but not limited to the following:

• Making well informed decisions for our customers.
• Providing support by undertaking a range of administrative tasks such as: file movement and tracking, logging correspondence, monitoring electronic inboxes, issuing letters and dealing with customer queries.
• Scanning and digitising of customer supporting evidence and updating relevant databases/files.
• Ensuring case files are decision ready for casework, appeals or removal processes.
• Telephone call handling / booking appointments.
• Escorting customers, conducting face to face identity interviews and facilitating language analysis interviews.
• Able to demonstrate sound interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills and thrive working as part of a team.

Working Pattern:

This role is available on a full-time basis.

We encourage applications from candidates who wish to work part-time; however, part-time opportunities cannot be guaranteed and are subject to the requirements of the role and business. Candidates wishing to work part-time should notify the vacancy holder as soon as a provisional offer of employment is made, to explore whether this can be accommodated at your selected location.

Where part‑time opportunities cannot be accommodated, the offer will be withdrawn, and candidates will be placed back on the
reserve list.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.

Different roles will require varying levels of office attendance, some roles offer a minimum of 60% office attendance whilst others require 100% office attendance.

Training:

You will receive full training and support to do the job.

Please note: Should part time hours be agreed, you may be expected to attend the office full time when completing training.

Information Session

To learn more about this role and how to apply, register for one of our free, optional live events. Click the date and time that suits you below.

28th October – 18:00: Administrative Officer (AO) Live Event Tickets, Wednesday, October 28 • 6 PM - 7 PM GMT , Eventbrite

5th November – 13:00: Administrative Officer (AO) Live Event (2) Tickets, Thursday, November 5 • 1 PM - 2 PM GMT , Eventbrite

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Excellent written communication skills
• Confident verbal communication skills
• Evidence of using IT and digital systems

Desirable Criteria:

The below criteria is desirable only and separate to the essential criteria in the Personal Statement. It will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process but will only be used in the event of tied interview scores, as such, you will not receive a score for this. Please use the skills and experience section to provide evidence/examples of how you meet the desirable criteria:

• Ability to prioritise tasks to meet deadlines
• Flexible and adaptable to changing ways of working

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

In addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including:

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
• Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
• Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.