Job summary
The Home Office is here to make our country safer. As well as working to protect the most vulnerable, reduce crime and enforce the law, we also work to, and have a proud history of, providing refuge to those who have been displaced or are seeking asylum. Whether it is fighting crime, protecting our borders or combating slavery, the Home Office (HO) is at the cutting edge of public policy in this country and our work is some of the most challenging and rewarding in government.
The role of the Public Safety Group, which sits within the HO, is to keep the public safe by protecting the vulnerable, cutting crime, disrupting the highest harm criminals, and ensuring that our police, fire and rescue services are as trusted, efficient and effective as they can be in delivering front line public services.�
The people in our Group develop and implement policy, provide funding, and deliver legislation. We make the most of innovation, data, and partnerships to protect the vulnerable, prevent crime, and tackle the highest harm crimes. We work with our partners in law enforcement, establishing governance arrangements at a national, regional, and local level.
The Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) is part of the Crime Reduction Directorate in the Public Safety Group of the Home Office. It is responsible for enabling the licit use of controlled drugs, whilst preventing their diversion to the illicit market.
We are recruiting to this exciting and varied post, offering an ideal development opportunity for existing operational managers (or those with experience of people and operational management) looking for a new challenge where you can make a real difference to a great many, and to diversify your skills in this outward-facing regulatory field, of Ministerial interest. This is a post with a significant technical casework element.
Job description
The unit is responsible for issuing licences for controlled drugs (import/export and domestic) and for prohibited firearms possessed by registered firearms dealers, freight companies, maritime armed guards, clubs and museums. The drug and firearms licensing regimes operate under separate legislative frameworks, but there are clear operational synergies.
The unit is also responsible for the operational policy which governs the licensing regimes and engages with a wide range of stakeholders such as pharmaceutical, care, health, research, wholesalers, airlines, the National Crime Agency, the police, shooting organisations, regulatory bodies and other government departments.
This is a reputationally important role, interacting with varied stakeholder groups, some of whom can be challenging. The UK has a strong regulatory reputation for Controlled Drug and Precursor Chemicals; this role is the public face of the �inspection regime�.
This role is available on a Full-Time basis. Job-sharing applications would also be considered but any job offer is conditional upon a viable job-sharing arrangement being available. Due to the nature of the role and business requirements, we are unable to consider a Part-Time working option.
This role requires significant domestic travel throughout the UK. This does include overnight stays in line with Home Office guidance and all costs associated with this travel will be met by the business area.
A typical working week will see you in the Croydon office Monday and Tuesday, an early start to Edinburgh on Wednesday with an overnight stay, Blackpool on Thursday travelling home that afternoon, working from home on Friday.
Public safety and excellent customer service are at the heart of what we do. The post holder will join one other Senior Compliance Officer and will manage a team of� HEO (Higher Executive Officer) Compliance Officers. This role will be reporting to the Head of Domestic Drugs Licensing; it is a challenging and diverse role focusing on the operational delivery of licensing decisions and is responsible for ensuring that the UK meets its international obligations; delivering an operational response to the drug strategy, including a licensing regime that enables the legitimate use of drugs and precursor chemicals, while preventing their diversion to the illicit market; operating a robust and proportionate drug and firearms licensing regime; and playing its part in ensuring unit maximises opportunities for full cost recovery and delivers operational efficiencies.
The post-holder will manage a team of up to seven people and will support the development of operational policy and play a key role in delivering it, manage the casework of others while undertaking complex casework, compliance checking the work of the team, and building and managing performance management.
With a growing customer base it is vital that the unit maintains its staffing capacity to drive through process improvements and show that we are offering value for money to the fee-paying public.
Successful candidates will be expected to complete the Bond Solon Advanced Professional Certificate in Investigatory Practice Qualification within their first 18 months of the role (DFLU will meet the cost of one cycle of assessments for each module).
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, subject to local estates capacity, by Spring 2024.�Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details).�
Person specification
Some of the key responsibilities as a Senior Compliance Officer will be to:
� Manage and develop staff, providing direction and operational management to the compliance team, building capability, resilience and fostering a culture of high-performance ensuring robust efficient workflow and case management.
� Take responsibility for complex casework and development of legally sound operational responses to emerging casework issues.
� Develop flexible tasking and systems of work with the existing Senior Compliance officer.
� Support the development of policy through evidence-based decisions.
� Oversee the case management functions to ensure that: the team is customer-focused, with feedback sought from servicer users and complaints dealt with appropriately; information, training and standards are in place to enable staff to provide an excellent service.
� Oversee the delivery of the domestic licensing operation to ensure all applications are case-worked, approved and licenses issued in accordance with policy, legislation and process, and to quality and service standards.
� Deliver high-quality customer service ensuring correspondence, including that from licensees, Minister�s and trade bodies, via email, post or telephone and dealt with in a timely and professional manner.
� Establish and maintain good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders ensuring the team works collaboratively and flexibly and liaises and shares information, where appropriate, with OGDs, other Competent Authorities or Regulatory Bodies.
� Have a good understanding of all relevant legislation, and develop a good understanding of the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) 1971 and associated Misuse of Drugs Regulations (MDR) 2001, Precursor Chemical Regulations & International Conventions � including gaining an effective knowledge of licensees, their areas of business and working knowledge of licensing processes.
Essential Criteria
� Recent experience of operational delivery and management in a regulatory systems environment.
� Strong leadership skills with the capability and experience to overcome challenges in order to deliver quality business outcomes.
� Strong planning and organisational skills with capability and experience to overcome challenges in order to deliver quality business outcomes.
� Direct experience of working with legislation and policy matters in an operational environment.
� Direct experience of litigation work, in either a HR or casework context and
� On account of the significant travel requirements of the role - hold a Full UK (Car) Driving Licence Manual or Automatic and have no more than three penalty points.
Desirable Criteria
� Experience of working with statistical data.
� Knowledge and understanding of interrogating reports and basic chemistry and/or pharmacology.
� Knowledge of UK Drug Legislation and/or Medicines Legislation.
Licences
Full UK (Car) Driving Licence Manual or Automatic and have no more than three penalty points.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
1. Making Effective Decisions
2. Delivering at Pace
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
3. Making Effective Decisions
Benefits
4. Learning and development tailored to your role
5. An environment with flexible working options
6. A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
7. A with an average employer contribution of 27%