Job title: Committee Specialist (Immigration policy)
Organisation: House of Commons
Location: London
Salary: £41,340 – £47,975 per annum (Band B1)
Hours: Full time (36hr/week) or Part Time
Deadline for receipt of applications: 11th February 2024 at 23:55
About the role and how to apply:
Team Information
You will be working in the Select Committee Team (SCT) supporting the work of House of Commons Select Committees. Select Committees are cross-party committees of MPs who examine government policy and spending. You can find out what Select Committees are on this website.
Most of your work will be working with a friendly team of around eight who support the Home Affairs Select Committee. The Committee examines the policy, work and spending of the Home Office and its associated public bodies. Its recent and current work includes inquiries into drugs policy, migration, asylum, people trafficking, policing, violence against women and girls, and fraud. You can find out more about the Committee’s work on its website.
Most specialist roles support a specific committee. Some specialists work as part of a policy-based ‘unit’ supporting committees working on related topics, or in the Scrutiny Unit, which supports the work of all committees. In this role, most of your work will be with the Home Affairs Committee, but you may be asked to support other Select Committees working on immigration policy if you have capacity to do so.
Like the House of Commons as a whole, SCT is committed to equality and diversity. We actively encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds. Our aim is to build a diverse, dedicated and high-performing workforce to keep the House of Commons running smoothly and to support a thriving parliamentary democracy.
Job Information
As a Committee Specialist, you will work collaboratively with colleagues to provide policy advice and analysis for the Home Affairs Committee. You may also be asked to support other Select Committees working on immigration policy. You will be asked to develop expertise in the relevant committees’ areas of work. You will advise on, arrange, and lead committee inquiries. You will provide written and oral briefing to support committee hearings and produce reports to communicate committee findings. You will also support committee media and public engagement work and work closely with the MPs who chair and sit on the committee(s), as well as engaging with high-profile individuals and organisations in the public, private and third sectors within committee areas of interest.
It is crucial for this role that you can act, and be seen to act, in a politically impartial way. You are not likely to have line management responsibilities, but there may be opportunities to develop line management skills by mentoring and supervising other team members.
We operate a reserve list system. If you meet the required standard at interview but are not the top placed candidate, you may be considered for other committee specialist or similar posts that emerge within the following six months. These may be generalist roles, rather than in a specific policy area.
Responsibilities
You will be supported and overseen by a Team Leader and work collaboratively with other members of the team, including other committee specialists, operational colleagues and colleagues working on media, social media and public engagement.
Structured training programmes and on-the-job training will be offered to help you develop the knowledge and skills you need to be successful in the role. There is a mentoring scheme for new Committee Specialists, and Senior Specialists can also provide advice and support in some policy areas.
Early on, you are likely to be asked to:
identify suitable people to speak to the Committee, prepare briefing material and questions for witnesses;
attend Committee events and meetings, and events relevant to its area of work;
conduct analysis of evidence, produce drafts of committee outputs, including correspondence, media and social media materials and, in particular, committee reports.
As you develop your skills and experience, you will take on more responsibilities. These are likely to include:
advising on possible subjects for the committee or committees to examine, including terms of reference and calls for evidence for inquiries;
providing advice during committee meetings;
proposing, designing and organising committee events, public engagement and visits (possibly including overseas);
maintaining up-to-date knowledge about the committee subject areas through research and by building on relevant external contacts and networks.
You will work collaboratively with colleagues working in research and analysis on other committees and the House of Commons Library. You will also work with the media and outreach teams and other parts of the House Service. You may have the opportunity to be involved in work on the House’s other activities, including contributing to working groups, being involved in recruitment campaigns, working with other select committees and supporting some of the wider activities of Parliament.
Security
Successful candidates will be required to complete pre-employment checks. This includes security vetting to Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) level or higher, as described in the job description.
All successful candidates are required to pass these checks before an offer can be confirmed.
You should be aware that if you have resided outside of the UK for a total of more than
two of the last five years, you are not eligible to receive security clearance to work on the Parliamentary Estate.
Hours
We welcome applications from candidates who wish to work part-time, as part of a job share or through another form of flexible working arrangement. If you are selected for interview please inform the panel of the days/hours you are available to work, alternatively you can inform the recruitment team at any stage of the process.
Net condition full-time working hours for staff of the House are 36 hours per week. This
excludes daily meal breaks of half an hour and one hour. The exact daily times of attendance will be agreed with line management.
Hybrid Working
Our mission is to support a thriving parliamentary democracy – and today more than ever, this means being ready to carry out our essential functions in Westminster and elsewhere. Since 2020 our workforce is involved in developing new, business resilient capabilities for hybrid working. We support colleagues to deliver excellent services on the Parliamentary Estate and remotely, while the balance of location varies according to the requirements of each job role.
If you are selected for an interview, please discuss the working arrangements for this role with the interview panel.
Workplace Adjustments
As an inclusive employer, the House of Commons supports individuals in need of workplace
adjustments. The workplace adjustment process can help remove barriers or difficulty at work that prevents you from carrying out your role to the best of your ability. Adjustments can be requested to help with obstacles relating to mental health, and physical or non-physical requirements. You can request a workplace adjustment if you have a disability or suffer from a difficulty or disadvantage in your workplace.
Application and Selection Process
We will assess your application form against the criteria listed below. If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to interview. The interview will be on the criteria as set out below. We may also ask you to complete a presentation exercise or other assessment as part of the interview process. We will let you know any assessment in good time before your interview.
As a Disability Confident Leader, it is important that we are able to make appropriate arrangements or adjustments where necessary in order to create a full and equal participation in the selection process. If you require any reasonable adjustments, please contact the recruitment team to see how we can meet your needs.
Our Values
The House Service is proud of our organisational values, which will deliver our strategy.
We are looking for people who can bring these values to life:
Inclusive: We value everyone equally; We respect each other; We all have a voice.
Courageous: We try new things; We own our actions and decisions; We learn from
our mistakes.
Trusted: We trust each other to do a good job; We are impartial; We build confidence
in Parliament with our integrity.
Collaborative: We share our knowledge and experience; We work towards a shared
vision; We know we work better in a partnership.
Skills and Experience
When completing your application form, you should give specific examples of how you have demonstrated all aspects of each criterion. There is no right or wrong number of examples, but between one and three is usual. One example may be enough if it convincingly demonstrates all aspects of the criterion. Examples may come from your working career, your education or life and responsibilities outside work. You may find it helpful to have in mind the STAR method when describing your examples:
Situation: describe the situation you were faced with;
Task: describe the task you had to complete;
Action: describe the actions that you took to complete the task and why you approached it in the way you did; and
Results: describe the outcome.
Remember, we are most interested in hearing about what you did, how you did it and why in order to demonstrate all aspects of the criterion and ensure a positive outcome. For example, if you say you “communicated effectively” we want to know how you went about doing that and why you did it in that way.
Criterion 1: Research and analysis – assessed at interview and on application form
Researches unfamiliar topics and rapidly acquires specialist knowledge using a range of sources, analyses this information and uses it to develop evidence-based conclusions or take evidence-based decisions.
Criterion 2: Communication – assessed at interview and on application form
Explains complex information clearly, impartially, and succinctly to non-specialist audiences, orally and in writing.
Criterion 3: Immigration policy knowledge – assessed at interview and on application form
Has a detailed knowledge and understanding of immigration policy, with recent relevant policy, research, practical or scrutiny experience, and knowledge of the roles of the key individuals and organisations in policy development and implementation.
Criterion 4: Building and maintaining relationships – assessed at interview only
Builds and maintains a broad range of effective working relationships using strong interpersonal, teamwork and negotiating skills. Promotes equality, diversity and inclusion.
Criterion 5: Planning and organisation – assessed at interview only
Plans and prioritises their own work or activities in a flexible way to meet strict deadlines and achieve high standards of quality.
- Document Date
- Thursday January 25, 2024