Compliance Officer

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, fire, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports. The Customer Services Group brings together Asylum & Human Rights, Asylum Support and Dispersal, Asylum Accommodation Centres, Resettlement Group, Passports, Citizenship & Civil Registration, Customer Operations Support Services and UK Visas & Immigration. As a major operational arm of the Home Office, we play a vital role in supporting the economy and cultural life of the UK. Visa, Status, and Information (VSI) is responsible for making thousands of decisions every year about who has the right to stay in the country, with a firm emphasis on protecting our borders whilst promoting a culture of customer satisfaction. The Sponsor Compliance Network is the operational arm of VSI, and our primary role is to visit businesses who apply for or hold sponsor licences to ensure they are meeting their sponsor commitments. There are currently over 100,000 sponsors in the UK, covering every industry and varying in size from small local enterprises to large multinational conglomerates. Compliance Officers are a national resource conducting audits at the premises of licenced sponsors to assess compliance with their responsibilities. Compliance Officers are also expected to undertake a range of audit and assurance activity outside of the sponsorship work stream on behalf of the wider Home Office and other government departments. Some examples of which include providing oversight of procured services such as Secure English Language test and Life in the UK test centres, as well as assurance of the Seasonal Workers Programme. In addition to the above, Compliance Officers will be required to assist in decision making within teams connected to the network. This will involve taking action against sponsors when it is identified that they are not complying with their duties and responsibilities as a licensed sponsor, receiving referrals from different teams to make decisions at pace when sponsors pose a risk to immigration control. This includes the suspension and revocation of sponsor licences in the Workers and Temporary Workers routes., This is a high performing team, and the role is varied and fast paced with extensive interaction with members of the public. Compliance Officers are required to:

• Undertake sponsor compliance audit work as a lead officer by interviewing sponsors, prospective sponsors, and migrant workers.
• Assist the lead officer as a supporting officer as required which will include interviewing sponsored migrant workers, gathering evidence, reviewing and analysing records.
• Carry out administrative and decision-making functions as necessary to support the wider Compliance and associated commands.
• Plan and carry out frequent site visits, which will involve extensive travel across the UK including overnight stays.
• Assess and review evidence in order to produce objective and factual reports for casework consideration.
• Keep up to date with changes to guidance and be able to apply this to your reports and decision-making.
• Take responsibility for self-development and maintaining and developing your professional skills, knowledge, and capability by undertaking appropriate training and development.
• Contribute to the commands operational excellence by sharing best practices with active participation in continuous improvement.
There is currently no line management requirement in this role. Uniform is provided. For a further understanding on Sponsorship and role responsibilities, please refer to our candidate pack. Personal Safety Training This is a field based operational role that requires candidates to successfully complete Personal Safety Training (PST) Level 2. This is a mandatory requirement and failure to successfully complete the training will preclude an individual from undertaking the role. This training must be successfully re-validated on a yearly basis. For further details please refer to our candidate pack. Travel This role involves extensive travel, using suitable modes of transport throughout the UK. The nature of the work and training inevitably involves overnight stays, travel, plus occasional evening, and weekend working which may attract overtime rates. You should carefully consider whether you are able to fully commit to the travel including overnight stays and physical requirements for this role. Working pattern Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis. These posts are limited to full-time hours only due to being frontline operational roles. Question & Answer Session Please note that we are holding 2 live events regarding these vacancies. The events will be hosted by Compliance Officers and Managers working within the Sponsor Compliance Network who will share their experience of the role. Candidates will be given the opportunity to ask questions about the role.

The events are on