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.
Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the government’s immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. It also aims to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on our careers pages.
Role overview
The successful candidate will lead and manage the Criminal and Financial Investigation team based in Glasgow, driving efforts to combat Organised Immigration Crime.
The team’s primary focus is tackling all aspects of Organised Immigration Crime, working to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks involved in the exploitation of immigration routes and vulnerabilities.
The successful candidate will also work closely with a wide range of strategic law enforcement partners located within the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh. This includes building strong operational relationships, sharing intelligence, and contributing to joint investigations with agencies such as Police Scotland, the National Crime Agency, and HMRC.
By operating within this collaborative environment, the candidate will play a key role in enhancing collective capability to combat serious and organised immigration crime across Scotland and the wider UK.
Key responsibilities
The successful candidate will be responsible for (but not limited to)
- Set the direction and allocate resource in line with organisation priorities through a robust performance framework while being flexible and working under pressure to tight timescales
- Be responsible for the accountability of performance and output of CFI Glasgow and provide timely and accurate advice to senior officers on performance.
- Develop and enhance investigative capability in CFI Glasgow in line with new Immigration legislation You will assess the needs of the business, internal and external stakeholders, and set appropriate strategic direction and priorities
- You will enhance and develop productive working relationships with key external stakeholders, horizon scan for upcoming operational/policy/legal changes that need to be clearly communicated to stakeholders
- You will be expected to be a highly visible and experienced manager, capable of leading a dynamic workforce in a fast paced and challenging environment
- Providing supportive and engaging line management to staff with clear, inspiring leadership to the team
- You will need to be a confident self-starter capable of working with a minimum of supervision and able to manage the expectations of multiple stakeholders communicating objectives and plans.
Working Pattern
Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis.
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.
Training
Training takes place initially in the classroom and then continues on the job with a mentor who supports you until you are fully confident in the role. Further information on what the training involves can be found on our website.
Person specification
Essential criteria
- Minimum PIP2 qualified, or Scottish equivalent in leading serious and complex investigations in a senior investigative role
- Managing resources and using analytical skills to make informed decisions
- Knowledge of law enforcement, criminal investigation and the Scottish criminal justice system
- Experience of leading and managing teams
- Excellent written and oral communication skills as well as strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to positively influence stakeholders at senior and junior levels
- A high level of personal organisation and the ability to effectively delegate tasks and prioritise own and others’ activities.
Licences
Due to the nature of the work and the geographical area, driving is a key requirement for this role. Applicants must have a full valid UK manual driving licence.
Qualifications
Must hold a Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP) level 2 qualification or PIP2 equivalent or Scottish equivalent leading serious and complex investigations in a senior investigative role.
- PIP is a four-level accreditation programme under the auspices of the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing.
- PIP is an accreditation programme for Detectives and Criminal Investigators.
Please note that all candidates will be required to undertake a mandatory PIP 2 accreditation check pre-interview. Candidates who do not hold this PIP 2 accreditation requirement will have their application rejected.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
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.
- This role currently attracts Annualised Hours Allowance (AHA) of 31% of salary, which equates to an additional £14,632 per annum based on salary minimum. Further information can be found on our website.
See more of our benefits on our careers website.
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.
1. Application – by 17th July 2026
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- CV
- Personal Statement (maximum 1,000 words).
- Evidence of the Behaviour - Leadership (maximum of 250 words per Behaviour).
Your CV should consist of your career history, qualifications and skills/experience, including any key achievements in each role. Your CV will be scored against the experience required for the role as noted within the essential criteria.
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, Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.
2. Sift – from 21st July 2026
The sift will be held on the Personal Statement, CV, and Behaviour - Leadership, as listed in the advert.
Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the CV and Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift that will consist of all the remaining elements submitted (Behaviour - Leadership).
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.
3. Interview – from 11th August 2026
If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours (as listed in the job advert) and Strength based questions.
The interview will take place on MS 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.
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 found on our website.
Standards
All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.
Integrity Check
As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, you will also be subject to an additional Integrity Check, as part of the pre-employment process, to determine your suitability to work for Border Force or Immigration Enforcement. For further information on what this involves, please visit our website.
Further information
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure Scotland 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.
For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email [email protected].
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 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
Open to UK nationals only.
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).
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
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
Recruitment team
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.
Attachments
Candidate_Information_v17_April_2026 - Opens in new window (pdf, 207kB)
2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) - Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)
