How to get a job as a Senior Research Officer in the Home Office

Hi, I’m Claire, and I’m a senior recruiter for the Home Office. We’re advertising for 28 Senior Research Officers based in Croydon, London and Sheffield. I want to help you understand what these roles do, what it’s like to work in them and how we recruit to them.

Our current Senior Research Officer vacancies are based across a number of policy areas including policing, countering organised crime and terrorism, border security, fire safety, asylum, protection and migration. As part of the application, you will be asked to state your preferred first choice of location as we may use a location merit list.

In return, we offer a competitive starting salary, a Civil Service Pension with employer contribution rates of at least 26.6%, as well as a range of other brilliant benefits including flexible working and 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service.

What does a Senior Research Officer do???

As a Senior Research Officer, you will be expected to have advanced social research skills and a track record of delivering and applying those skills. You will also have a breadth and depth of practical experience. You will be able to communicate key research messages clearly and concisely to stakeholders.

Our job adverts explain exactly what skills and experience are required for these roles. Essentially, we’re looking for individuals who are able to lead and manage all stages of the research process, including research design, analysis, write-up and dissemination

What does a Senior Research Officer look like?

There’s no one type of person working at the Home Office. We believe different backgrounds, different perspectives and different voices add up to richer, broader thinking that helps us deliver fair and balanced decisions. That’s why we’re committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our colleagues can bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

How do I apply for a job as a Senior Research Officer?

We strive to make our recruitment fair, open and to appoint only on merit, and as a result, elements of our selection processes can sometimes feel unfamiliar to external candidates, so hopefully it’ll help if I explain how they work.

1.???Application

This vacancy is using?Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. The CV is for information only and will not be scored. You will also be asked to complete a Suitability Statement on GSR Technical Skills and a Technical skill example on “Using and Promoting Social Research”.

If you are not a member of Government Social Research (GSR) community you will be required to undertake a Knowledge Test – see the Candidate Pack for more information. Further details and a link to the test will be provided after closing date.

If you pass the Knowledge Test, your form will be reviewed and if you meet the educational/experience requirements your application will be sifted on your responses to both of the GSR Technical Skills. If there is a high volume of applications, an initial sift will be held on the lead Suitability Statement covering the GSR Technical Skills response, with those meeting the criteria progressing to the full sift.

We’ll ask you to remove any information that identifies you, for example your name, age or place of education, so that you’ll be judged on merit alone and not on your background, circumstances, race or gender. This is really important to us.

?2.???Interviews

Candidates successful at the sift stage will be invited to interview. As part of the interview process you will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation. Details of the presentation will be provided at the invitation to interview stage. The interview will cover:

• A presentation and follow up questions to assess the GSR Technical skill “Using and Promoting Social Research”
• A scenario-based question to assess GSR Technical skills
• Questions covering the Civil Service Behaviours

3.???Pre-Employment Checks

Candidates who are successful at interview will be made an offer subject to the successful completion of pre-employment checks. Following this a start date will be agreed. Please note, failure to show the correct documentation during your interview will cause delays to your pre-employment checks and security clearance being completed.

Feedback

We are unfortunately only able to provide feedback if you are invited for an interview or assessment.

Reserve Lists

If we have more successful candidates than available roles, a reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same behaviours and essential skills.

?

I hope this has given you an insight into the work of a Senior Research Officer and how we recruit to those roles. If you’re interested in applying, you can access the full advert here. The closing date is 23:55 on 16 January 2022.

We’ll publish more examples of how to apply for different Home Office jobs, at a range of levels, in future; in the meantime, you can check out all our currently advertised vacancies on the Civil Service Jobs website.