Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details, experience segment and the behaviour-based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Main purpose of job:

Home Office International Operations (HOIO) has a vacancy for one International Liaison Officer, to be based at the British High Commission, New Delhi, commencing in June 2024.

The HOIO Team has responsibility for identifying and disrupting threats to the UK Border by people and from the smuggling of illicit commodities, identifying abuses in visa and passport applications and developing criminal investigations. We work with UK and international law enforcement agencies to tackle immigration crime, primarily through preventing the travel of inadequately documented passengers to the UK; enhancing visa and passport decision quality; identifying and tackling underlying criminality and providing intelligence on threats to the UK border.

The team in New Delhi has responsibility for India and Nepal and is part of a wider South Asia Regional Team which comprises of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Some collaborative work and assistance (both virtually and in-person) will be necessary with other teams in the region.

This role also requires close working with HMPO Counter Fraud teams in the UK.

Key responsibilities include (but are not limited to)

Investigation: Individual case working investigations to a high quality standard as tasked by HMPO and the International Liaison Managers.  Investigations covering abuse of UK passport and visa applications, along with abuse by inadequately documented passengers on direct and indirect air routes to the UK.

Crime: Using collaborative working with overseas and UK law enforcement partners to develop intelligence and investigations to disrupt organised crime groups targeting the UK.  Using Home Office databases to prioritise and action allegations from the public and wider internal and external partners.

Intelligence gathering and analysis: Develop operational intelligence products through the collection, interpretation and evaluation of relevant information sources. Strong problem solving skills are required to identify and investigate suspected organised immigration crime and to gather evidence-based intelligence. Ensure that all relevant intelligence is gathered, handled, assessed and disseminated in line with legislation and guidance.  Being able to interpret large amounts of data and provide accurate analysis is essential. 

Partner Engagement: Working closely with HMPO and UK Visas and Immigration to understand areas of concern and assist in enriching their decision making. Build effective working relationships with host authorities, international partners, e.g. other country missions, local law enforcement and UK partners to support the delivery of organisational objectives. Lead on the processes to exchange actionable intelligence with local law enforcement partners and counterparts in other Diplomatic missions to identify and mitigate threats to the UK border through abuse of UK passport  and visa applications and the UK’s immigration laws. Represent the Home Office and the UK professionally, developing effective relationships with the wider High Commission, regional colleagues and key external partners.

Training Delivery: Supporting airline carriers with the delivery of robust training packages to aid identification and disruption of passengers, and organised crime groups who seek to abuse travel routes to the UK

Project Management: Support capacity building projects with host nation through ongoing projects from Network Funding (NF) and from the MMP (Migration & Mobility Partnership), a bilateral agreement signed in 2021.

Supporting project bidding; identifying suppliers; communicating requirements with partners; overseeing projects and ensuring expenditure remains within budget and completing required project documentation and returns.

Budget management: Managing HMPO spend and ensuring these are fully accounted for by corporate card holders within organisational timelines. Assuring financial processes and retention of receipts is per organisational priorities. Ensuring spend is kept within budget, monthly reporting completed accurately and on time. 

Line Management: Line management of International Liaison Assistant(s) to ensure they deliver the performance objectives of HOIO, the wider Home Office and the British High Commission. Providing oversight,

guidance and support to aid their development. 

We reserve the right to review, revise or amend the roles and responsibilities from time to time reflecting the changing needs of business.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

What we do:

Home Office International Operations (HOIO) operates to prevent illegal immigration, identify and disrupt the organised crime groups behind such activity to support HOIO key objectives and the Home Office purpose. We have staff deployed to approximately 33 locations across the world.  In addition we provide support to UKVI, HMPO and Returns Logistics colleagues.   

We deliver this by:

Providing intelligence, research and investigative support to HMPO teams to aid with the assessment of UK passport applications and to counteract fraud within the application process.  Although current HMPO tasking is light, this takes priority as HMPO fund this post. 

Providing intelligence support to the UK visa operation, supporting UKVI to take an increasingly global approach to risk assessment built on the analysis of objective data and enhanced with local risk indicators.

Working closely with UK teams to develop intelligence.

Working with airline carriers around the world to reduce the threat of inadequately documented arrivals (IDAs) reaching the UK by providing guidance and delivering training on UK immigration rules and procedures.  

Developing intelligence packages related to the visa, passport applications or air threat for subsequent investigations and prosecutions

Collaborative partner engagement with a range of agencies including host authorities, UK law enforcement partners, airlines and other friendly missions. 

What do we want from you?

We need candidates to have excellent interpersonal skills that they can use to build relationships with key partners to assist HOIO in delivering our objectives. Face-to-face work is a fundamental part of the job, as is the delivery of training, so the successful candidate should be prepared to undertake and display confidence in public speaking.

The ILO role is extremely varied. The challenge with all HOIO work is to deliver both the reactive elements such as air calls and requests for support from HMPO and UKVI teams, and the pro-active elements such as research and liaison with stakeholders. ILOs need to be able to manage very challenging workloads, deliver at pace to tight deadlines and be flexible in support of business aims. Once trained, the successful candidate should be able to work towards objectives with minimal supervision. Prioritisation skills will be key, in order to deliver at pace to tight deadlines  as well as being flexible in support of business aims and be able to provide full, accurate and concise updates to ILMs.

The role requires analytical thinking and analysis therefore a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel to an advanced level is desirable, although training can be provided.

Although the priority for this role is to support HMPO Counter fraud teams, the successful applicant will be expected to support all HOIO operations and work streams.

HOIO offers staff the opportunity to work towards and achieve the Intelligence Professionalisation Programme (IPP) to demonstrate a range of skills required for the role, and to renew this in line with guidance to ensure operational effectiveness is maintained.

Language requirements:

Language: English, Hindi

Level of language required: Fluent in both written and spoken

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

• In house training and mentoring will be provided
• Use of Home Office databases and the opportunity to achieve Intelligence Professionalism Programme (IPP) accreditation with the UK College of Policing
• A wealth of professional and personal development opportunities are available from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Diplomatic Academy, local L&D Committee and e-learning programmes

Working patterns:

• The role requires the job-holder to work flexibly, often starting early or working late. It offers the candidate some flexible-working to suit their needs, subject to agreement with the line manager and business needs.
• Roles and responsibilities include the provision of a duty phone function from 0900 to 1700 daily, and the successful candidate will be expected to provide coverage on rotation with existing team members. During rostered periods, the jobholder will not be able to work flexibly and must ensure this duty is covered.
• This role necessitates travel within India for partner engagement, training, field visits and meetings, for which some overnight stays for up to a week and weekend duties will be required.
• Travel to any location within the wider HOIO South Asia Region in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka may also be required.

Any other information (or specific local Post requirements):

• Interviews will be held in person in line with business need and applicant availability
• No relocation, housing or any other related costs or assistance can be provided
• The role will involve access to and handling of classified or sensitive commercial information. Therefore, applicant must already hold a minimum of the UK’s SC level of clearance or be able to achieve it. Because of the security clearance requirement mentioned above, only nationals of the following countries are eligible to apply: UK or other EU country, Canada, Australia, USA, New Zealand

Essential skills/qualifications:

• Excellent communications and presentations skills both oral and written; proven ability to clearly and concisely prepare, draft, present and discuss findings, briefings and recommendations at senior levels and to produce complex and compelling written reports.
• Ability to deliver training.
• Have highly developed networking, interpersonal and intercultural skills, be team-oriented, proactive and reliable
• Strong organisational and time management skills with a flexible approach to allocation of tasks
• Ability to plan work and manage conflicting priorities within tight deadlines.
• An ability to work under pressure with minimal supervisions.
• Able to work flexibly in response to dynamic situations, sometimes outside of usual office hours or at weekends.
• Highest personal integrity and sound judgment with demonstrated ability to handle confidential matters in a discreet and respectful manner.
• Able to travel within India for Field Visits or capacity building purposes.