Operational Security Supervisor

Job description

About the job

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.

The Corporate Services Group works closely with the Home Office's policy and operational commands to enable us together to deliver the department's priorities. The group is comprised of different teams and professional functions, including Commercial, Communications, Finance, People, Portfolio and Project Delivery, Private Office, Security, Estates and Information.

Home Office Security is within Security, Estates, & Information Directorate. Our mission is to raise standards and protect our people, assets, and information. We provide a range of services, advice and assurance to the department and seek to mitigate malicious or inadvertent risk, investigate alleged wrong-doing and identify vulnerabilities, and prepare for disruptive challenges.

Home Office Security is responsible for ensuring robust physical security solutions are in place to protect Home Office buildings, staff and assets. We provide security guarding at Home Office building receptions across the country, HO Public Caller Units, including Reporting Centres, Asylum Intake Units and Service Support Centres, we are also responsible for monitoring the electronic security systems, alarms, CCTV and access control via our 24/7 Home Office Security National Control Room. The Fire Control Centre (FCC) room 24/7 monitoring all Fire Panel systems, PAVA and alarm systems.

The successful candidates will report to EO, HEO, SEO, or Grade 7 Security Managers.

Job description

This is a 24/7 Supervisor position on a rotation of days and nights. Main duties include providing effective 24/7 operational supervision to the Security Guarding team: Public facing, Control room, Staff reception Loading Bay and FCC room to ensure the Physical Security of Home Office buildings, staff and assets are maintained at all times. Maintain access control ensuring passes are worn and displayed ensuring Visitors/ contractors attending the building have approved access prior to obtaining temporary passes. To ensure the National Control Rooms 24/7 effective operational monitoring of Intruder Detection Alarms, Closed Circuit TV and Automated Access Control Systems covering Home Office buildings across the UK and Europe. Ensure all Fire panels and alarm systems are fully operational and attended to during all emergency activations. To ensure Public attending the building have confirmed appointments and are searched following the departments procedures.

• Punctuality, Performance & Professional Image/service
• All Fire Control Centre (FCC), staff reception, Public, Control Room and Loading Bay Duties
• Supervision and support to the security Guarding team.
• Control of Entry
• Dealing with incidents
• Accurate keeping of all Record Books and Relevant Paperwork
• Other Responsibilities Include -Keeping Children Safe
• Radio operations

Key Responsibilities

• Supervision and management of HO Security Officers and overseeing the work of Contractor Security Officers.
• Supervision of HO buildings on the estate, ensuring the protection of Home Office property, staff and assets.
• Maintain and implement site specific operational guidance.
• Create and maintain rosters/Break sheets.
• Support the Regional manager in the management and improvement of performance, delivery of service and support change.
• Any other duties within the scope of the grade and within the limits of skill, competence and training.

Working pattern

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis. The post holder will be required to attend the office/other work location as specified in the advert at all times to carry out this role.

The role requires the individual to complete shift working Earlies, Lates and all shifts in-between, all-day shifts are 9hrs with ad hoc O/T when required. All Night shifts are 12 hrs between 1830-0630 and staff are expected to be flexible.

Successful candidates will need to be able to attend for all shifts including early starts, late night finishes, and overnight shifts. These shifts may be outside of public transport operating hours.

Travel

The post holder may be required to visit HO buildings or when directed to assist in the managing of the Hounslow estate due to our National Control room back up location outside of Croydon.

Training

Due to nature of the role, applicants must be physically fit. On appointment, the post holder must attend and pass Conflict Management Training Theory classroom-based practice in De-escalation and Dojo Training in physical intervention (4 days, in person). Support will be provided. It will then be undertaken as an annual refresher.

Uniform - All Security Officers are required to wear Uniform and PPE. This will be provided by the department and must be worn at all times.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Due to the nature of the work, you must be proactive, and able to work in a fast-paced and at times highly pressured environment.
• Ability to manage own time and priorities effectively.
• Strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to build effective relationships with colleagues at every level within an organisation.
• Good organisational skills, and the ability to develop and implement effective administrative processes.
• Good written and verbal communication skills with good attention to detail.
• Physical Readiness: Able to conduct full foot patrols of internal and external areas while wearing the supplied uniform and PPE (Toe protected boots/shoes, Ballistic body armour) throughout the shift (excluding breaks).

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of supervising a diverse team, Assisting management or Oversight of rosters.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

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.
• See more of our benefits on our careers website.
• Sign-up on our website to receive emails with information about careers at the Home Office

This role currently attracts Annualised Hours Allowance (AHA) of 47.12% Modernised T&Cs (42 hours) of salary which equates to an additional £16452.69 per annum on top of salary minimum of £34920.00

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, Strengths and Experience.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.

After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete the following Civil Service Judgement Test and Civil Service Work Strengths tests.

1. Online Test - by 3rd September 2026.

If you successfully pass thetests, you will be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). If you fail to complete the online tests or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.

Guidance for the Civil Service tests will be available when you are invited to take the tests. The online tests are accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.

You cannot complete the tests on a mobile phone or tablet.

You will be directed to the Talogy - True Talent - Scheduled Maintenance Window Webpage for online tests during an outage.

Our online test supplier will be performing scheduled maintenance between 4pm and 7pm on 23rd August and 4pm and Midnight on 30th August 2026. You will be unable to access tests during this period.

If you are in the middle of a test when the maintenance begins, your progress will be paused. You will be able to resume your test from where you left off via your application centre once the downtime has ended. Please note that you will not be able to launch any new tests while the system is offline.

Following successful completion of your tests, you will then be asked to complete the full application form.

2. Application - by 3rd September 2026.

• C.V.
• Personal Statement (maximum 500 words).
• Evidence of the Behaviour Leadership (maximum of 250 words)

Your CV should consist of your career history and skills/experience, including any key achievements in each role. Your CV will be scored against the experience required for the role noted within the essential criteria.

You must attach an anonymised CV (please keep the length to 2 sides of A4). All information in the CV, including the title of the document, must be anonymised. Do not include any personal information in your CV and Personal Statement which may identify you. Failure to comply with this request will result in your application being withdrawn.

The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV and Personal Statement), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

3. Sift - from 7th September 2026.

The sift will be held on the CV, Personal Statement and Lead Behaviour as listed in the advert.

Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the CV. Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift that will consist of all the remaining elements submitted Personal Statement / Lead Behaviour.Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the initial sift will not have their remaining submitted elements scored and will only receive a sift score for that assessed at the initial sift.

4. Interview - from 28th September 2026.

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours and Strength based questions. All Behaviours listed in the selection process will be scored at the interview.

The interview will take place via video, using Microsoft Teams.

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Problems during the application process

If you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you've made a mistake on an initial application, please contact [email protected], including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.

Do not create or attempt to submit another application, online test or use a different Civil Service Jobs account to proceed as this would be in violation of the candidate declaration.

Location Preferences

You will only be able to select a single location preference so please ensure this is a location that you are prepared to travel to. If you are offered a role at your preferred location and you decline, your application will be withdrawn.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be foundon our website.

Breaking Tied Scores

The behaviours and strengths have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.

Standards

All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Additional Security Checks

As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, candidates will be subject to a range of additional checks. The range of checks carried out will depend on whether you are a current Home Office employee, existing civil servant or an external new entrant as well as the role require. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates.

Further Information

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct.

If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing [email protected] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs

• Complete the "Assistance Required" section in the "Additional Requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

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).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Home Office Resourcing Centre - Corporate Enablers
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.