Resourcing Officer

Job summary

From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.

At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law. This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.

Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 4000 people, including nearly 3000 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross-functional professionals to provide our corporate services. There are nearly 1000 colleagues playing an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.

This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.

To find out more about what we do you can view our introductory film. On our website you can hear from team members, find out how to apply and learn about the benefits of working for GLD. You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 – 2027.

Job description

Our Resourcing Team has four core functions:

SCS Resourcing – a dedicated offer to cater to senior stakeholders on high-profile roles and instilling best practice throughout our team. This team is responsible for end-to-end recruitment for all SCS roles in GLD.

Attraction and Recruitment – focussing on innovative solutions to deliver the attraction strategy for GLD, using latest models, professional networks and outreach to recruit the best people. This team sets the direction and pace for GLD's presence and attractiveness in the legal professional market across the UK.

Resourcing Operations– managing the candidate experience through application and interview to arrival and onboarding. This team is our engine room, welcoming and supporting all those involved in the internal and external aspects of filling vacancies.

Resourcing Performance – driving continuous improvement for the performance of team along with management of supplier contracts and ensuring we are compliant with GLD and Civil Service recruiting principles. This team keeps us at the forefront of our aims of delivering excellence and value for money and is also our Data and MI hub gathering, analysing and presenting powerful people data on which the business can make key resourcing decisions.

“I’m James Wood, the Head of Resourcing and I joined GLD in June 2023.

I joined the Civil Service in 2017 after a career in recruitment and executive

search within professional services. Since joining the Civil Service I have worked in a centralised recruitment shared service, GRS, an Executive Agency, PHE, and a Ministerial Department, where it was my privilege to lead on recruitment and resourcing during the pandemic.

I have also worked extensively with suppliers, and as a People & Capability

lead for UKHSA’s Chief Medical Advisor before taking up post here.Over the past two years, we have transformed and grown the team, mixing

experienced GLDers, experienced resourcing, HR professionals and

civil servants with new entrants from outside of government and the private

sector.

Our resilient team now stands at 29 spread between London, Leeds, Manchester, Croydon and Bristol, and our reputation within the business is enhanced as we have moved to new ways of working, putting the customer at the heart of everything we do.

I love working here because our HR team and wider corporate services team work collaboratively and maintain a small business feel, whilst professionalising, what is one of the largest and fastest growing legal practices in the UK, who’s role is to help the government of the day to govern well within the rule of law.

If you have a mix of senior stakeholder engagement, HR and recruitment management experience, continuous improvement and project management skills, we’d love to hear from you.”

The Role

We are looking for an organised, customer-focused and adaptable individual to join our busy Resourcing Operations team. You will contribute to delivering a high-quality recruitment service that sits at the heart of Government and will have a direct impact on the ability of GLD to attract and retain the talent we need.

As a Resourcing Officer, you will play a key role in delivering an effective recruitment and onboarding service. You will manage a varied workload, support candidates and stakeholders throughout the recruitment journey and ensure recruitment and onboarding activity is completed accurately, efficiently and in line with relevant policies and processes, including the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.

To succeed in this role, you will have a passion for recruitment and have a customer centric focus. The role requires excellent attention to detail, strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Key responsibilities:

• Support candidates through the onboarding journey, providing clear and timely information and responding to queries professionally.
• Manage competing priorities in a fast-paced operational environment, taking ownership of workload while ensuring recruitment activity progresses accurately and within agreed timescales.
• Initiate and monitor enhanced security checks (CTC, SC, DV etc.) for new starters.

Key responsibilities continued:

• Coordinate pre-employment checks, including BPSS, right-to-work and in-person identity checks (when required), identifying outstanding information and ensuring appropriate action is taken.
• Responsible for preparing, maintaining, and updating recruitment, onboarding and employee records, ensuring GDPR compliance.
• Prepare and process employment documentation, including offer and appointment documentation, and support the timely completion of employment contracts.
• Use recruitment, HR and case-management systems to manage activity, maintain accurate records and monitor outstanding actions.
• Manage recruitment and onboarding queries through shared mailboxes and case-management channels (ServiceNow), resolving issues or escalating them where appropriate.
• Build effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, providing clear information, managing expectations and supporting the resolution of recruitment and onboarding issues.
• Apply recruitment policies, processes and guidance consistently, using judgement to identify appropriate solutions, escalating more complex or higher-risk matters.
• Contribute to continuous improvement within the Resourcing team, identifying opportunities to improve processes, guidance and the candidate and stakeholder experience.
• Work flexibly across the Resourcing team, supporting colleagues and wider team priorities to maintain a consistent and high-quality service.
  

Please note this list is not exhaustive.

Person specification

Behaviours

Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role. Demonstrating all the behaviours listed below is essential at either application or interview. You can read more about Success Profiles and how they are used as an assessment method before completing your application.

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Key Skills & Experience

Essential – must be demonstrated at application and interview

• Experience of delivering a high-quality, customer-focused service within a busy recruitment team.
• Experience using a range of systems and applications, such as HR platforms, applicant tracking systems (ATS), and MS Office applications.
• A collaborative and adaptable approach, with the ability to share information and build effective working relationships with colleagues.
• Strong organisational skills, with experience of managing competing priorities and delivering accurately to deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to work with a range of stakeholders.
• Experience of applying policies, processes and guidance to resolve operational issues, using judgement to identify appropriate solutions and escalating where required.
• Strong attention to detail, including maintaining accurate records and checking information.

Qualifications

Desirable criteria will be used when there is a need to distinguish between candidates who are closely tied or the same after the initial consideration of essential criteria, at sift and / or interview

Security Clearance Level

All GLD employees must hold BPSS. In addition to this, those based in our London offices must hold or be willing to obtain CTC level clearance for this role. If London based, you can start your position pending this clearance level, however your appointment will be conditional upon obtaining CTC clearance. More information can be found about the vetting and clearance levelsbefore completing your application.

Sponsorship and Visas

Visa sponsorship will not be given to candidates except where they are existing civil servants employed by GLD who meet the Home Office/UKVI requirements for sponsorship. If you are an existing civil servant employed by GLD who requires sponsorship, you should confirm your eligibility for sponsorship for this role before applying. Individuals should seek Home Office guidance on how a new position within the organisation may affect their sponsorship eligibility.

Candidates with Limited Leave to Remain may apply but must have at least 12 months remaining on an existing visa which permits them to work for GLD when employment begins. Candidates must ensure that their current visa covers the full period of employment or that they are eligible under a non-sponsored immigration route that allows them to remain employed by GLD for the duration of the role.

The expectation is that applicants have an existing visa, which at the point they start work with GLD has at least 12 months remaining on it.

The share code provided as part of pre-employment checks must relate to a visa that gives you the right to work in the role for a minimum of 12 months. The 12-month requirement must be met by your existing visa and cannot be met by relying on a visa application that is still awaiting a decision.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the right to work in the UK and hold an appropriate visa or use an alternative immigration route covering the full period of your employment. GLD will not be able to sponsor this role when your current visa arrangements expire, and you will not be able to continue your employment with GLD through sponsorship. Please allow three months for the onboarding process from the point of offer.

Candidates with Indefinite Leave to Remain may apply.

You will be asked to confirm your immigration status and visa type as part of the application process. If you do not meet these requirements, your application will be fail the eligibility pre-sift for this vacancy and your application for this role will rejected.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,127, Government Legal Department contributes £9,307 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Benefits of working for the Civil Service

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

Learning and Development at GLD

GLD has a comprehensive learning and development offer for all employees.

We offer a programme of in-person/hybrid and virtual sessions providing learning on profession-specific, soft skills, technical skills, and different topics. We also support colleagues through a range of different professional qualifications.

Cross-Functional Professional

We support all Professions with building their careers and capability aligning with the wider Civil Service offerings for each Profession.

There are also talent and development opportunities offered throughout the year these include:

Senior Leaders and Future Leaders Schemes – cross Civil Service accelerated development schemes.

Beyond Boundaries – cross government development programme designed to help participants develop the knowledge, skills and networks required to build a satisfying and effective career in the Civil Service.

Mentoring and Coaching – we encourage all colleagues to share their knowledge, capability, and experience.

Apprenticeships - We have a range of apprenticeships on offer across all professions with the opportunity for all employees to explore a profession specific apprenticeship to support their development in role.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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, Ability and Experience.

Application

To apply for this post you will need to complete the online application on Civil Service Jobs The deadline for this application is Monday 2nd November 2026 at 12:00 Midday.

In your application you will be assessed on the following:

• A CV setting out you career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. Your CV will be used to assess and score the Key skills and Experience criteria.
• Please provide a personal statement of no more than 750 words explaining how your skills and experience make you suitable for the EO Resourcing Officer role.
  Within your statement, please answer the following three questions:
  1. Tell us about your experience of delivering a high-quality service within a busy recruitment environment. What were you responsible for and how did you ensure candidates and stakeholders received an effective and timely service?
  2. Give an example of when you have managed multiple competing priorities and deadlines. How did you organise your workload and ensure it was completed accurately and on time?
  3. Tell us about your experience working collaboratively with colleagues to resolve an issue or improve service delivery. What did you do and what was the outcome?
  Your statement should focus on your personal contribution, the approach you took and the outcomes achieved, rather than simply describing your responsibilities.

  Civil Service Tests Online

  As part of the application process you will be asked to complete 2 Civil Service Online tests: a Civil Service Verbal Test and a Civil Service Judgement Test. You can find out more information and guidance on the tests, including options to take practice tests.

  If you are unsuccessful in passing these tests you will be unable to continue any further in the application process. If you successfully pass both tests, you will then automatically progress to the next stage of completing the full application.

  We suggest you allow enough time to complete the full application online, prior to the closing date and time, Monday 2nd November 2026 at 12:00 Midday as once the application is closed you will no longer have access to the ability tests and the application.

  Application Errors

  Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: activecampaigns@governmentlegal.gov.uk . Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’.

Selection Process

After the closing date, the appointing panel shall assess candidates’ suitability for the role based on evidence provided in their application against the behaviours and experience outlined in the person specification.

STAGED SIFT- If there are a large number of applications the panel will conduct a staged sift. The initial sift will be on CV alone. If you meet the minimum criteria for the CV you will then go to the full sift on Personal Statement.

AI Usage

Civil Service Jobs states that 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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

In addition to this please note the use of AI is strictly prohibited during tests, written exercises and interviews.
In the eventuality that there are a high number of applicants successful at sift, GLD may operate a longlist, whereby applicants who have been shortlisted and met the minimum pass mark but are not selected for interview will have their application placed on hold. After the initial interview round candidates on the longlist may be offered an interview, should there still be posts available.

Interview

If you are invited to interview, you will be assessed on your performance in the criteria listed in the Person Specification on slide 6 and strength-based questions. These criteria are:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Key Skills and Experience

Your interview will take place online.

Offer

The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

All communications regarding your application will be made through Civil Service Jobs.

All candidates will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible after the interview. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

We appoint in strict order of merit. If you meet the minimum criteria for this position but are not successful for a post, you will be placed on the reserve list. We may contact you to see if you are interested in a post at the same, or a lower grade, in GLD should one arise.

Eligibility Pre-Sift

There are essential eligibility requirements for this role. As part of the application process you will be asked to confirm you meet the full criteria. To be eligible for this role, you must confirm the following:

• If you are a UK national or if you have been granted indefinite leave to remain
• If you have limited leave to remain in the UK and are currently a visa holder.
• If you currently hold a visa you will be asked to confirm the visa type, expiry date and the current sponsor for a skilled worker visa, if applicable.

If you do not meet the above requirements your application will not progress and you will be rejected during the pre-sift, as your application will not have passed the eligibility requirements.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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 : Jessica Godden
• Email : jessica.godden@governmentlegal.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : activecampaigns@governmentlegal.gov.uk

Further information

You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application hasn’t been treated in accordance with these Principles and wish to make a complaint, please contact recruitment_feedback@governmentlegal.gov.uk in the first instance. Please title your email as follows: Job Reference Number – Job Title – Recruitment Complaint. Complaints must be submitted in writing within 30 days of the incident or the decision which has caused the complaint. To fully engage with the issues raised GLD require that you submit evidence of your complaint.

Attachments

487233 Recuitment Officer Opens in new window (pdf, 521kB)