Assistant Portfolio Director - Vetting and recruitment

Job summary

Summary

HMICFRS independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire and rescue services – in the public interest. We promote improvements in policing and fire and rescue services to make everyone safer.

We are independent of the Government, police and fire and rescue services. We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered and produce major reports that shine a light on issues at the very heart of policing and fire and rescue services.

Our reports are widely covered by the media and help inform the public of the performance of their local police forces and fire and rescue services. You can find out more about HMICFRS on our website and see some of our recent reports.

Working at HMICFRS gives you an opportunity to make a real difference to the quality of local police and fire and rescue services and the lives of the public.

HMICFRS is a unique organisation with staff seconded or loaned from across the Civil Service, police forces and fire and rescue services. We set ourselves high standards, taking great pride in the quality of work we achieve and the opportunities we create for our staff.

Find out more

If you would like to talk to someone about this role and what it’s like working for HMICFRS we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact recruitment@hmicfrs.gov.uk and we can arrange for someone to contact you.

Job description

Assistant Portfolio Directors are essential to the conduct of HMICFRS’ inspection programmes. They are responsible for leading and supporting inspections thorough preparation and detailed fieldwork.

The Joint and National Police Inspections Portfolio (JNPIP) team is responsible for carrying out national thematic inspections, the inspection of national law enforcement agencies and non-Home Office police forces. The JNPIP team is comprised of police officers and civil servants with subject matter expertise. Inspection teams are responsible for carrying out fieldwork, assessing evidence and preparing reports to the highest standards.

This vacancy is for an individual with extensive knowledge and expertise of police vetting and selection/recruitment. The post will require engagement with national stakeholders at a senior level including the Home Office, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing.

Although described as home working, this role will involve extensive travel often at short notice.

Responsibilities

• Ownership and implementation of HMICFRS’ integrity methodology in respect of vetting and selection/recruitment
• Working effectively across the organisation, with other portfolios, regional teams, and HM Inspectors (HMIs) to successfully deliver the work of the integrity portfolio;
• Line managing a small team of dedicated integrity staff and supervising wider inspection teams;
• Engaging with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure the inspection approach is relevant and evidence based;
• Management and oversight of inspection planning and timetables;
• Leading vetting and selection/recruitment inspection activity including data requests, document reviews, focus groups and interviews;
• Providing feedback to forces during inspections to support continuous improvement;
• Ensuring effective analysis of inspection findings and contributing to the assessment process;
• Formulation of force graded judgments from the inspection evidence base;
• Drafting well-evidenced reports with sound recommendations and managing these to publication;
• Responsibility for handling any bespoke thematic vetting and selection/recruitment related commissions;
• Providing specialist advice on police vetting and selection/recruitment to key stakeholders, including HMIs and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary;
• Preparing material such as briefing notes, speaker notes, correspondence and presentations;
• Ensuring that HMICFRS’s existing evidence base, including previous inspections, lessons learned and HMICFRS specialist knowledge is used for wider organisational development;
• Acting as an ambassador for HMICFRS, ensuring the highest standards of professional conduct are always demonstrated.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Extensive knowledge and experience of police vetting and selection/recruitment including authorised professional practice and vetting regulations;
• Experience of working within a police-related field as a force vetting manager or equivalent;
• Strong leadership and management experience and a proven track record of leading and working collaboratively across teams or government departments;
• Ability to meet deadlines and maintain standards whilst working independently with minimal supervision;
• Confidence and experience in liaising, negotiating and influencing with senior stakeholders and partners;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret evidence and present clear conclusions;
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal).

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of HMICFRS inspection design, delivery and reporting processes;
• Experience of leading change programmes;
• Experience of partnership working to deliver against shared goals.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £62,109, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services contributes £17,992 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

A Civil Service pension

• With an employer contribution of 28.97%

Learning and development tailored to your role

• We are committed to investing in our staff and providing all staff with opportunities to maximise their skills and achieve their potential. We offer a range of work-based training, learning and development opportunities including access to coaching and mentoring, and five days volunteering per year. HMICFRS has an Inspection Development Programme and linked accreditation process that all inspection staff undertake in our organisation. The scheme is approved by Skills for Justice and is based on you demonstrating competencies against a framework of role-specific tasks. The expectation is that all new inspection staff will complete a portfolio of evidence within agreed timescales (normally 12 months) and once this is complete it will be assessed by a trained assessor.

An environment with flexible working options

• We promote flexible working that balances professional and personal commitments. We support virtual and smart working, making best use of our technology and building collaborative working models to help all staff to work from home and/or in the office in a ‘hybrid’ way.

A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• The diversity of our people is a real asset to HMICFRS. We are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best. We particularly welcome applications from candidates from ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities, as they are currently under-represented within this grade level.

Things you need to know

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 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.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV detailing job history/qualifications/skills.(The CV is for information purposes only and will not be marked).
• Personal Statement (maximum 1250 words).
• Evidence of the Behaviours
  • Communicating and influencing (Lead Behaviour)
  • Seeing the big picture,
  • Making effective decisions,
  • Delivering at pace and;
  • Working together.

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.

An initial sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement, assessed against the essential criteria listed above. Where we receive a high number of applications, a further sift will be carried out using the lead behaviour, Communicating and influencing, with a word limit of 250 words set as part of the written application process.

Please note that evidence of the other four behaviours listed in the advert is not required as part of your written application. If you are successful at the paper sift stage all behaviours listed in the advert will be tested at interview.

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Sift & Interview Dates

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.

Sift – week commencing 15th June 2026

Interviews by Video link – week commencing 13th July 2026

Further Information

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.

Candidates judged to be a near miss at interview may be offered a post at the grade below the one advertised without the need to go through a further selection process, providing the role has the same Success Profiles elements and essential skills.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas.

If you are successful in this position and choose to accept the provisional offer for this role, you will be removed from all other Home Office reserve lists at the same grade.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of acceptable ID documents. You will need to meet the nationality requirements for this role and obtain the necessary security clearance to take it up. For meaningful security checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. Learn more on our website. Security Checks - Home Office Careers

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Criminal Record Check

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service 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 Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Starting salary

New entrants into the Civil Service are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Plagiarism

The ideas and experience provided by candidates during the recruitment process must be their own. Where plagiarism has been identified (which could include content generated by Artificial Intelligence), candidate applications may be rejected. Existing Civil Servants found to have plagiarised may be subject to disciplinary action.

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 HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

• 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 counter-terrorist 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 theCivil 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 :

• Name : Richard Williamson
• Email : recruitment@hmicfrs.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : HMICFRSRecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance
HORecruitment.GRS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. 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)