International Passenger Survey Interviewer - Harwich

Job summary

Do you like working with people? Do you like engaging with the public? If so, this is the role for you!

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime and migration.

This International Passenger Survey Interviewer role will see you being part of a continuous survey that started in 1961 and is based at all major sea, air and international rail terminals within the United Kingdom.

This post sits within Social Surveys Telephone and Ports Collection (SSTPC) division which encompasses the International Passenger Survey community, who are based at airports, seaports, and international train stations across the UK, and the Telephone Operations community, which is based within our HQ offices.

The division also incorporates the Survey Enquiry Line, who support field interviewers and the public who call in requesting assistance, and the Survey Validation team who undertake critical coding and editing work.

The Operational Delivery Profession Hub team, which provides profession-specific support and development across Social Surveys Directorate and the wider ONS, also sits within this division.

Social Surveys Directorate (SSD) is the largest Directorate in ONS, comprising 2000 colleagues, including the field communities, split across six divisions:

Social Surveys Field Collection (SSFC)
Social Surveys Telephone and Ports Collection (SSTPC)
Social Surveys Research and Production (SSRP)
Social Surveys Strategy, Research and Innovation (SSRI)
Social Surveys Transformation (SST)
Social Surveys Central Division (SSCD)

Job description

You will be based at Harwich and this will be considered your normal place of work.

• Working independently or in small team sizes of approx 2- 3 (dependent on base site) interviewers will cover work on a shift basis over 7 days.
• In a pre-determined area, using an agreed methodological approach, interviewers will speak to departing members of the public, asking a suite of questions around their trip and capturing their responses on a handheld tablet.

There is a requirement for day and evening shifts.

IPS shifts are allocated on a monthly basis, 6 weeks in advance with a mixture of AM & PM weekday and weekend shifts. AM shift hours are generally 06.30am - 10.30am and PM shift hours are between 07.00pm - 11.00pm.

Flexibility in when you can work is a requirement of our business. Therefore, if you have any regular set commitments on any day of the week, this will preclude you from applying.

IPS shifts are allocated on Rota basis with a mixture of AM & PM weekday and weekend shifts. Depending on your site, shift lengths vary from 4 hours.

As an IPS Interviewer, you will work independently or as part of a small team honing your interpersonal skills to persuade international departing passengers to participate in the survey. Some people take more persuading than others to take part, therefore you will need an adaptable interviewing style. The information you gather is entered into a tablet during the interview.

You will be employed on a permanent contract for 416 hours per annum. More information on annualised contracts and how they work can be found in the candidate pack.

Flexibility in when you can work is a requirement of our business. Therefore, if you have any regular set commitments on any day of the week, this will preclude you from applying.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work independently or as a part of a small team to undertake interviews with the travelling public, demonstrating high standards of data collection and meeting your KPIs.

• Gathering data at the beginning of the passenger journey, follow guidelines and instruction dependent upon how passengers are processed at the data collection point.

• Be responsible for self, ensuring site operating procedures and health and safety procedures are adhered to at all times.

• Be punctual, ensuring shift start times are met.

• Build effective relationships with airport/port staff to enable co-operation necessary for effective data collection.

• Collect and transmit high quality data within agreed time-frame and following agreed protocols.

• Be proficient in the digital technology and corporate systems required for your role.

• Take responsibility for your breaks, ensuring data collection is not compromised.

• Complete the administrative tasks required for your role as detailed.

• Buddy new interviewers as required, helping them settle into the environment and reach required standards.

• Working in partnership with your Site Manager, identify areas for your continued learning, self-development and progression.

• Provide constructive feedback to your managers to help the operation and structure perform more efficiently.

Person specification

Essential Skills Criteria:

• Good interpersonal skills and enjoy working with people

• Be able to follow instructions recording accurate information.

• To be self-disciplined, self-motivated.

• Proficient in the use of tablets and smartphones as these will be used within your work.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £5,514, Office for National Statistics contributes £1,597 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.

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.

Application

Number of Stages: 2 stage process

Stage 1: Application

Stage 2: Interview

Stage 1 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

A personal statement is required at application stage, it states the maximum wordcount allowed (500 words), which should not be exceeded. Where it is a requirement to make a personal statement, you should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

In instances where a high number of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted, and candidates will be invited to interview based on merit order, i.e., those with the highest scores.

Stage 2 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert and any required technical skills.

Interviews may be in person or via Microsoft Teams.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

The Sift will be conducted from: 19/1/2026

Interviews will be conducted from: w/c 2/2/2026

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

Training requirements for this role -

Your first week of employment will be based at your designated base site or an associated residual site if required. You will then be required to complete an IPS Interviewer Training course in your second week. This is usually a five day residential course, held at the ONS office in Titchfield Hampshire, depending on the business requirement. Travel and accommodation costs for the residential training course are covered by ONS.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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 : Alice Prichardoak
• Email : recruitmentoperations@ons.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitmentoperations@ons.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

Attachments

2721 Advert 1B Permanent - ONS National v1-00 Opens in new window (pdf, 83kB)IPS_Candidate_Information_Pack_Harwich_Permanent_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 775kB)