Head of the National Returns Progression Command

The National Returns Progression Command (NRPC) is the pivotal Home Office capability whose mission is to maximise the return of all immigration offenders (illegal entrants, overstayers, failed asylum seekers) through both enforced and voluntary returns whilst ensuring individuals are dealt with in a dignified manner, utilising a strong set of safeguards to identify and manage vulnerabilities.
The head of NRPC will play a vital leadership role in the Government's major transformation plan to overhaul the asylum system, ensuring in particular that various returns components are transformed and fit for purpose., This work includes leadership of 4 strands of work to maximise asylum-related returns.
The on-going and core elements of the role involve the following
+ Leading on detained returns – ensuring that return is progressed for individuals from point of detention through to removal, effectively clearing barriers to removal, and identifying and managing any vulnerabilities.
+ Leading on Non-Detained case progression – ensuring the progression of individuals without permission to stay in the UK to an appropriate conclusion, either by removing barriers to return and tasking for enforcement action, or by signposting to other parts of the Home Office to regularise their status.
+ Leading on the issue of 'third country returns', returning individuals to a country other than their country of origin.
+ Leading on Family Returns - securing safe returns of families with children who have no lawful basis to remain in the UK.
+ Leading on voluntary returns – ensuring support for individuals who wish to leave the UK voluntarily.
+ Leadership of the central support functions – including management of finance, workforce planning, and secretariat functions, performance and assurance teams, and process, guidance and comms and engagement across the command.
Key additional responsibilities include:

+ Managing and building relationships with a wide range of delivery partners including uniformed enforcement teams, the Foreign National Offender Returns Command, International Returns Services Command, Detention Services, Migration and Borders Policy, Asylum and Human Rights Operations and Customer Services.
+ Line management of six Grade 6s and leadership and management of approximately 1,000 staff within the command, over 15 different locations.
+ Providing wider leadership support to Immigration Enforcement and Returns Directorate as a whole and contributing to wider Home Office objectives.
+ Managing a budget of just under £40m., 2. A Statement of Suitability – (limited to 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
3. Diversity Monitoring - as part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say'. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022 to 2025 (HTML) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information.
It is essential that in your written application you give evidence, using examples, of proven experience. These responses will be developed and discussed with candidates invited for interview.
Failure to submit both a CV and Supporting Statement will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
For further information, please review the candidate pack.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security
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).

+ Working with Ministers and other political stakeholders to drive and deliver a transformation of public services; operating in a sharp political spotlight; be comfortable operating at pace in a relentless delivery environment; leading from the front; being comfortable with uncertainty and with the strong communication skills to frame realistic and tangible proposals and options in the highly complex environment of asylum and returns.
+ A strong track record in inspiring, empowering and engaging leadership of large, diverse, geographically dispersed teams with clear uplifts in performance, engagement and able to attract and develop talent at every level of the organisation.
+ Excellent written and oral skills, confident with Ministers and the most senior officials in framing transformation plans in a cogent and concise fashion; persuasive where further rationale or evidence is required and listening and responding to feedback from all levels of the organisation.
+ Leading in a highly complex and sometimes contentious environment; balancing leading a large team; responding to new commissions; securing buy-in from senior colleagues; peers; stakeholders and others; delegating and empowering where appropriate but leading from the front when the circumstances necessitate it.
+ The ability to plan, implement and monitor the delivery of stretching goals, identifying innovative ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources.
+ Possess the ability to deliver results in a highly contentious environment where the need to deliver hard-edged results must be balanced with a wider set of equally important criteria (managing vulnerability, for example, and wider reputational factor) as is the case where individuals are detained for removal.
Desirable criteria
+ Experience of leading work within the migration and borders and international cooperation landscape is desirable but not essential.

Alongside your salary of £76,000, Home Office contributes £22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ Learning and development tailored to your role
+ An environment with flexible working options
+ A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
+ A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%