Operational Officer

Job summary

Pleasenote: Applicants should review all aspects of this advert to ensure a thorough understanding. If reviewing via a screen reader, please note that the Job summary, Job description, Person specification and Things you need to know sections have been emphasised

About Companies House

Companies House is more than a registry — we’re a modern, ambitious organisation at the heart of the UK’s business landscape. Our purpose is clear: to be the best registry of companies in the world.

We’re entering an exciting period of transformation, with enhanced powers to help tackle economic crime and protect the integrity of the UK company register. This means the work we do has real impact — supporting businesses, safeguarding the public, and contributing to wider government priorities.

Our people are central to that mission. At Companies House, you’ll find a supportive, inclusive workplace where learning, development, and collaboration are actively encouraged.

Find out more about what a great place Companies House is to work

About the role

We believe Companies House, Edinburgh is a great place to work and we’d love you to come and join us! At Companies House our aim is to be the best registry of companies in the world, achieved through brilliant people, working on brilliant systems, delivering brilliant services. Through our new powers we’re excited to be working across government to fight economic crime. We’re going through an exciting change at Companies House as our new powers are being introduced. As part of this we’re looking for some great Operational Officers. We need committed, confident and adaptable individuals, who can work independently but are also great as part of a team; working together to deliver more for our customers.

• Are you quick to learn new skills?
• Do you love working as part of a team of friendly colleagues?
• Are you looking for a flexible way of working, with a great work-life balance?

If so, then this could be your next job and we’d love you to come and join us at Companies House, Edinburgh as an Operational Officer!

Job description

As an Operational Officer, you may be placed in a variety of teams. However, the core responsibilities of the role include:

• Acting as the first point of contact for customers, primarily via phone and email, providing clear, accurate, and friendly support
• Managing a high volume of customer enquiries confidently and professionally, ensuring each interaction is handled with care and respect
• Resolving queries and problems at first contact wherever possible, using sound judgement to deliver positive outcomes
• Working collaboratively as part of a supportive team, sharing knowledge and contributing to team targets and service standards
• Processing and checking information and documentation, ensuring data is accurate, complete, and recorded correctly
• Meeting deadlines and targets, while maintaining a strong focus on quality and attention to detail
• Maintaining strong customer relationships by consistently adopting a customer-first approach
• Completing essential administrative tasks to ensure systems and records are kept up to date and compliant

Your duties may include, but are not limited to the examples above, giving you a varied and rewarding experience as you develop your skills.

Please note: Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.

Where will you be working?

You will be aligned to our Edinburgh office, where you will be expected to attend on a regular basis. We use a hybrid working model to support a healthy work-life balance, with attendance at the office required weekly. Attendance patterns will be agreed with your manager. You may need to attend the office more often when business needs require.

Be part of the Operational Delivery Profession (ODP)
This role is part of the Operational Delivery Profession – the largest profession in the Civil Service, with over 290,000 members. ODP professionals are the public face of government, delivering essential services to millions of people every day. As a member of this profession, you’ll have access to a wide range of development opportunities, a supportive community, and a clear framework to grow your career.

To learn more about the Operational Delivery Profession, visit ODP Civil Service Careers Page

Person specification

What we’re looking for

No experience is necessary as you will be fully trained, but we would like you to be comfortable talking on the phone. We’re seeking individuals who can demonstrate:

• Strong communication skills – confident speaking to customers on the phone and clear, professional, and accurate in written responses
• A genuine customer-focused mindset – committed to delivering a positive experience in every interaction
• Adaptability and resilience – comfortable working in a changing environment and able to respond positively to new challenges
• Good organisation skills – able to manage your workload, prioritise effectively, and work to agreed targets
• Attention to detail – takes pride in producing accurate work and following processes carefully
• Sound judgement and decision-making – able to make decisions within guidance and explain them clearly and professionally
• Comfortable with IT – you don’t need to be an expert, just confident using a computer

This role is available on a full-time basis or on reduced hours of no less than 32 hours per week, worked across a minimum of four days.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,452, Companies House contributes £7,663 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We believe that our success is driven by the well-being and satisfaction of our team members at all levels of the organisation. At Companies House we’re committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary, ensuring your career journey with us is not only fulfilling, but also rewarding. We pride ourselves on offering a quality work-life balance with our employee wellbeing being central to our working practices.

Head to Our benefits - Working for us - Recruitment (companieshouse.gov.uk) to find out more about the fantastic benefits package we have at Companies House.

We celebrate diversity...

As an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity, being committed to ensuring we’re representative of the citizens we serve and creating an inclusive environment. Everyone in Companies House brings something different, and so will you. To fulfil our commitment to recruiting and attracting diverse talent we welcome applications from underrepresented groups.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader. Our recruitment process is fully inclusive and we can make adjustments as needed through our process. These could include having an interview buddy, extra time at interviews/assessments.

If you require any reasonable adjustments at application stage, or if you'd like to discuss any person-centred adjustments, please contact us by emailing recruitmentCH@companieshouse.gov.uk.

Read our 'Applying under the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS)' guide to find out how to successfully complete an application under the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS).

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.

What will the process look like?

Communications will be electronic via email therefore it is important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder.

Applications sent direct to Companies House Recruitment Team will not be accepted.

Key Dates:(dates are indicative only and could be subject to change)

• Closing date: Monday 11th May 2026 a 23:55pm.
• Sift/shortlist: 12th May – 15th May 2026.
• Interview dates: Week commencing 26th May 2026.

Stage 1– Pre Sift testing

The following pre sift test will need to be completed and passed before your application will be seen by the panel:

• Customer Service Skills

Applicants to note:

• All listed behaviours will be assessed during the Customer Service Skills test.
• Please ensure you complete the test with enough time to fully complete and submit your application before the closing date.
• Please visit Customer Service Skills Practice Test for practice test and Preparing for the Customer Service Skills Test - GOV.UK for further guidance on what to expect.

The deadline for completing the tests is the same as the application deadline: Monday 11 May 2026 at 23:55. Please ensure you leave yourself enough time to fill out the application after completing the tests.

Stage 2– Sift

An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist. This will be based on the evidence provided for the below Success Profile elements.

We’re committed to being diverse and inclusive, so please make your application anonymous by removing all identifying personal information (such as your name and age) from your personal statement.

Personal statement

Tell us why you’re a great fit for this role by writing a 500-word personal statement that highlights your relevant experience, skills, and motivations.

As part of the assessment process, we’ll be reviewing your statement for clear evidence of how you meet the criteria outlined below:

• Sound judgement and decision-making (Lead Criteria) – able to make decisions within guidance and explain them clearly and professionally
• Strong communication skills – confident speaking to customers on the phone and clear, professional, and accurate in written responses

For guidance on how to structure your application please visit:About the application process , Civil Service Careers.

You can use examples from school, work, volunteering, or other experiences. It is advisable to give clear examples for each criteria listed above, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result) with most detail on what you did and the outcome. Please use this link as guidance How to write your PS , Civil Service Careers.

Please note:

• Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criteria. If so, we will sift on: Sound judgement and decision-making (Lead Criteria).
• If you pass the initial sift (lead criteria), you may either move on to a full sift (full personal statement) or go straight to interview, depending on number of applications received.
• We may raise the score required at sift stage to progress to interview if we receive a high number of applications.

Stage3- Interviews

If invited to interview Behaviour and Strength based questioning will be used.

Specific information regarding the Success Profile elements that will be assessed at interview will be contained within the interview invitation.

Interviews for this role will be carried virtually using Microsoft Teams.

Stage 4- offer

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.

Reserve list
This recruitment campaign will keep a reserve list for 12 months. If you meet the requirements for this role but aren't offered after passing the interview, you'll be placed on the reserve list. Subject to business need, if a suitable position opens up during this time, we will reach out to individuals in merit order. Successful applicants will be required to start on the date offered to align with the training schedule. Those who are unable to start on that date or are unavailable for certain parts of the training period will be placed on the reserve list for consideration in a future intake.

This post is being advertised to External, Across Government and Internal candidates.

Incomplete and/or late submissions will not be accepted or considered. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, or if you'd like to discuss any person-centred adjustments then please let the recruitment team know viarecruitmentch@companieshouse.gov.uk

Pre-Employment Checking

In line with Government guidance, successfully appointed candidates will need to provide documents for our Right to Work checks.

From June 2026, applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). Your personal details (name, National Insurance number, and date of birth) will be checked against the Civil Service Resourcing Extract 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.

If your details appear on this database, you will not be offered employment unless you can demonstrate exceptional circumstances. Companies House, acting on behalf of the vacancy holder, will inform you if your application is refused for this reason.

Please note: You are not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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

Security

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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Luke Andrews
• Email : landrews@companieshouse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitmentch@companieshouse.gov.uk

Further information

Commissioners statement

The Civil Service recruits by merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/document/02a-recruitm….

Complaints Procedure:

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact infopoint@companieshouse.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, contact the Civil Service Commission at:

Email: info@csc.gov.uk

Address:
Civil Service Commission,
Room G/8,
1 Horse Guards Road
SW1A 2HQ

Please use the following link to visit the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Complaints page for further information.

https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact/

Apply now

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