Army - Intake Support Officer

The Ministry of Defence employs over 50,000 Civil Servants. Within that, the Army employs around 7,000 MOD Civil Servants located at over 300 locations. Ours is a diverse workforce, with roles ranging from trainers, human resources, teachers, and psychologists to storekeepers, financiers, project and programme managers, and policy secretariat staff. There are many different functions and professions delivering key outputs for the Army. As such using data to aid understanding of our workforce is vital.
The Army Foundation College (Harrogate) trains all Junior Soldiers under the age of 18 and prepares them for their subsequent Phase 2 Training - an exciting and challenging course programme, which includes military skills, education, adventure training and life skills. We employ a large work force comprising military staff, civil servants, and contractors, all working together to create an exciting and diverse work environment. If you would like to work with mutually supportive colleagues who learn from each other.
We are looking for 3x Intake Support Officers to join us. These exiting roles are pivotal to the welfare activities of the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) and we are looking for enthusiastic, efficient, professionals to join our team. The job will require occasional work outside of hours at activities and events in addition to a requirement to be on call.
This position is advertised at 37 hours per week., The successful candidates will be required to provide welfare advice, guidance, and support to Junior Soldiers (JS) in training at the Army Foundation College (Harrogate).
Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, the following:
+ Intake Pre-arrival & arrival engagement and support, including Looked After Children, Care Leavers, and Cared For Junior Soldiers, linking in with their Local Authorities, Social Workers, Foster parents and guardians.
+ Intake welfare support to Junior Soldiers, provide advice, guidance, sign posting and referrals to Internal Support Services, including Medical, Welfare Support Officer, Padres, etc. where required.
+ Assist with providing welfare support to Junior Soldiers identified as vulnerable, registered on the Junior Soldiers Health Committee spreadsheet, with an entry on the Vulnerability Risk Management Information System, with a Care Action Plan, in place, and with a Wounded, Injured & Sick Management Information System record.
+ Assist with recording, tracking, and maintaining welfare and personal sensitive data of Junior Soldiers on Military Information Systems, e.g. Junior Soldier Health Committee spreadsheets.
+ Engagement with the Intake/Company Chain of Command and their Permanent Staff, attending directed meetings and providing advice and guidance on welfare matters, policies, and procedures.
+ Welfare support to Junior Soldiers on long term sick at Home or suspended from Army Foundation College (Harrogate), Conduct Home visits as directed/as required.
+ Assist with Junior Soldier’s Resettlement and discharge transitional support, including external engagement and referrals.
+ Conduct onward referrals to external agencies as per policy.
+ Work occasional after hours/out of hours as directed by the Unit Welfare Officer, for Army Foundation College (Harrogate) activities and events, such as Intake Arrival Days, Open Days etc., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Changing and Improving
+ Making Effective Decisions
+ Communicating and Influencing
+ Working Together
+ Delivering at Pace
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
+ Making Effective Decisions
+ Communicating and Influencing, + Access to the Employee Assistance Programme, a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
+ Enhanced parental and adoption leave
+ 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities.
+ Learning and Development to suit your role
+ Access to a range of retail and recreational facilities including our gym
+ Free on site parking.
+ Discover My Benefits - Civilian (mod.gov.uk)
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. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). DBS cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.
The post does not offer relocation expenses.
External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.
Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.
Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.
MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights., This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Candidates will be required to provide a CV detailing your qualifications and experience against the essential and desirable criteria as listed within the Person Specification.
When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected.
At application, you will be assessed against the following behaviours:
+ Making Effective Decisions
+ Communicating and Influencing
Applications will be sifted on all Behaviours and the CV, but in the event of a significant number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead Behaviour Managing Effective Decisions. In this instance the remaining elements will be tested at interview.
At interview, you will be assessed against the above along with the following behaviours:
+ Changing and Improving
+ Working Together
+ Delivering at Pace
Application sifting is scheduled to take place within one week of the closing date.
Interviews will take place at Uniacke Barracks, Harrogate within two weeks of the sift results. A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavor to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .
As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.
Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a 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 the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

+ Enhanced D&BS check as part of the on-boarding process.
+ NVQ L3 in Advice and Guidance Support, or equivalent qualification.
+ Advanced Care of Trainees – completion required once taken up appointment.
Desirable:
+ Proficiency in IT tools, including Word, Excel and Outlook.
+ Previous social care/welfare experience
+ NVQ L4 Diploma in Advice and Guidance, or equivalent qualification.
+ Awareness of mental health issues., NVQ L3 in Advice and Guidance Support, or equivalent qualification.

Alongside your salary of £28,300, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,198 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance. Other benefits for Army civil servants include:
+ 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service.
+ Highly competitive pension scheme
+ Personal and professional development of skills