Detention Engagement Officer - Colnbrook and Harmondsworth
Job summary
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
As a key member of the Detention Engagement Team based at Colnbrook and Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centres (IRC), you will work directly with individuals being held securely while their case is progressed. Your role involves face-to-face engagement with them about their return, ensuring they understand the process and steps required to bring their case to a conclusion. You will also be responsible for monitoring and supporting their welfare, raising concerns promptly, ensuring access to information and services, and contributing to a safe, professional and respectful environment within the centre.
In this role you’ll be making a genuine difference, supporting vulnerable people at a difficult point in their lives while helping to maintain safe, lawful and effective immigration controls for the UK.
Job description
Serving as a Detention Engagement Officer means that each working brings new and different experiences.
Your role is multifaceted and will involve face-to-face engagement with detained residents, supporting them to understand their case and ensuring they receive clear information at the right time. You will provide steady, practical guidance that helps them move through the immigration process in a safe, lawful and timely way.
As a key point of contact, you’ll help maintain strong links between residents, their caseworking teams, on-site healthcare and other service providers, making sure communication is consistent, accurate and dependable.
Because much of your work is people-facing and often sensitive, you will need to be a calm, confident communicator who can build trust quickly and maintain professionalism and integrity, even in challenging situations.
The role and the environment can be demanding so you’ll need to bring resilience and a confident approach. You’ll operate within a secure facility with residents confined to designated areas. You’ll encounter emotionally charged moments and challenging behaviour, but you won’t face them alone. With comprehensive training and a strong, supportive team around you, you’ll quickly build the confidence and assurance needed to handle complex situations professionally and safely. You also need to be aware that the role can be physically demanding as you’ll spend much of your day on the go.
These roles are based at Colnbrook and Harmondsworth IRCs, both of which are located next to Heathrow Airport. The Centres are purpose-built facilities with capacity between them to house around 900 adult men who are either foreign national criminals, immigration offenders, illegal small boats arrivals or failed asylum seekers. Two of the seven residential units at Harmondsworth IRC are built to Category B (high security) prison specifications. The Centres are located next to each other, and you will be expected to work at both. Whilst both have lifts, usage cannot be guaranteed so you will need to be comfortable using stairs. Both Centres can be reached by bus from nearby train stations. Car parking for staff is limited. The successful candidate must be available to attend the centre for all scheduled shifts.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct face-to-face engagement with residents: Manage interactions with a portfolio of residents, delivering inductions, serving official paperwork and providing clear explanations to help them understand the next steps in their case, which include returning to their country of origin and the consequences of non-compliance.
- Support vulnerable people: Work collaboratively with all stakeholders to support and signpost vulnerable people.
- Be the onsite link: Work collaboratively with caseworking teams, healthcare providers and the IRC supplier to resolve issues relating to case progression quickly and professionally.
- Undertake information gathering and record keeping: You will need to take an unbiased and methodical approach to information gathering. Daily interactions and case updates should be logged promptly and accurately, providing a clear audit trail on Home Office IT systems to support case progression and the smooth running of the team.
- Work safely and professionally: Act professionally and with integrity, following security, safeguarding and confidentiality requirements at all times.
- General administrative duties: This includes inbox management and answering phone calls.
Working Pattern
You will need to undertake your role entirely within the IRC; working from home is not possible.
This role is available on a full-time basis, unfortunately, the option of compressed hours working will not be considered. However, this role is suitable for part-time working hours, with a minimum requirement to work three full shifts (22.2 hours) per week across the full range of shifts. Please note that full shifts will be required even if a part time contract is sought.
This role requires you to be flexible. Successful candidates will need to be able to attend for early and late shifts. On weekdays, the early shifts are 08.00 to 15.24 and late shifts are 13.36 to 21.00. On weekends and public holidays (excluding Christmas Day and New Years Day), the early shifts are 08.36 to 16.24 and late shifts are 12.06 to 19.30.
Candidates are required to be available for all scheduled shifts and will not have the option to select specific shifts.
Training
You will receive full training and support to do the job. 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. Even then you are never alone; you work as part of a team where there is always someone around for advice and support. This includes our strategic partners Mitie who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Centre, including the safety and security of staff and residents. Once confident in the role there will be further opportunities for professional development.
Further information on what the training involves can be found on our website.
Please note that candidates will need to complete Public and Personal Safety Training (PPST) level 2 for this role.
Trauma-exposed roles involve working with sensitive and potentially distressing material and supporting vulnerable people. We provide team members with comprehensive support so you can make a real difference in a safe, compassionate environment. Learn more on our website.
Meet the team
If you want to learn more about these roles you can join one of our free online live events, during which you will hear from current Immigration Enforcement staff about what the job is like, what opportunities and career prospects you will have and why the job matters. We will also talk about the recruitment and security vetting processes, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions from our friendly and experienced team members.
Register by clicking on the date and time you want to attend. There’s no requirement to attend in order to apply.
Tuesday 10 March, 13.00-13.45
Saturday 14 March, 10.00-10.45
Wednesday 18 March, 18.00-18.45
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Effective at building positive and trusting working relationships. This includes the ability to actively listen, show empathy and treat others with respect and dignity.
- Able to de-escalate situations with confidence and patience.
- Solid verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to read and relay out loud complex and often lengthy information both clearly and accurately.
- Able to assess situations, make balanced decisions and escalate concerns appropriately.
Desirable Criteria
The below criteria is desirable only. It will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process but will be used in the event of tied scores at interview between candidates so please ensure you provide evidence.
- Experience of working in a public-facing role.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £35,020, Home Office contributes £10,145 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.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 approx. 19.69% of salary, which equates to an additional £6,895.44 per annum based on salary minimum. Further information can be found on our website.
- See more of our benefits on our careers website.
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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, 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.
As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.
After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete the following Civil Service Judgement Test.
1. Online Test – by 25 March 2026
If you successfully pass the Civil Service Judgement Test, you will be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online test as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). If you fail to complete the online test or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.
Guidance for the Civil Service test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The online tests are accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.
You cannot complete the tests on a mobile phone or tablet.
Following successful completion of your test, you will then be asked to complete the full application form.
Please note: There will be maintenance for online tests on Sunday 1st March between 4pm and midnight and again on Sunday 8th March between 4pm and 7pm. This means you will be unable to access the online tests between these times. Your progress will be saved, and you will be able to continue once the tests are available again. (Additional date: 29 March - midday to 1pm, and 4pm to midnight)
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- Personal Statement (maximum 500 words).
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 (Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.
2. Sift – week commencing 06 April 2026
The sift will be held on the Personal Statement.
3. Interview – week commencing 04 May 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. All behaviours listed in the selection process will be scored at the interview.
The Behaviour and Strengths have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.
For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.
The interview will take place on MS Teams.
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 hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, 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.
Linked Campaigns
This role is being advertised at different locations via multiple linked adverts, the reference numbers are: 449697, 450067, 450070 and 450072. Should you wish to apply for the role but at locations listed on different adverts, the first application you make will be treated as your ‘lead’ application and assessment scores from this will be automatically carried over to any subsequent applications.
Please note, Heathrow (450072) is being advertised separately to enable us to manage candidate volumes in accordance with business need. Candidates who submit applications for multiple locations will only be assessed once however, and may receive a different outcome for Heathrow compared to other locations due to different scoring benchmarks being applied.
Please ensure you apply only for locations that you are prepared to travel to and work at. Should you be made an offer, you are encouraged to accept it as offers for other locations cannot be guaranteed. You should not expect to transfer between Centres after appointment.
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.
Criminal Record Check
The level of Criminal Record Check required for this role is Enhanced. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates.
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.
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 HOcandidates.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
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 : Home Office Resourcing Centre
- Email : horccampaignteamie@homeoffice.gov.uk
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 HOcandidates.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_v16_January_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 429kB)2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)Salary range
- £35,020 - £36,711 per year