Senior Operational Manager

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the government’s immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. We also aim to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on our careers pages.

The Detention Progression and Returns Command (DPRC) serve all detained casework commands including the Immigration Enforcement (IE) National Returns and Progression Command, IE Foreign National Offenders (FNO) Returns command, Detained Asylum Casework, as well as Border Force and Special Cases unit.

The DPRC provides

• Entry to detention, through the Detention Gatekeeper (DGK).
• Consideration of raised medical practitioner concerns, through the (Detention Centre) Detained Medical Report Team (DMRT).
• Interaction with those in immigration detention, through Detention Engagement Teams (DETs).
• Consideration of last minute representations, through the Operational Support Certification Unit (OSCU).
• Changes to detained casework processes, through the Detained Casework Oversight and Improvement Team (DCOIT).

We are offering the opportunity to play a key role in redefining Home Office interactions with our detained population, providing a humane, safe and secure environment for those in detention, whilst the Home Office progresses their case. Detention Engagement Teams are in place in all eight Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) across the UK.

As a Senior Operational Manager, you will work alongside the Detention Engagement Team (DET) G7s and counterpart SEOs who have operational responsibility of Heathrow, Gatwick, Dungavel, Derwentside, Haslar, Campfield and Yarls Wood.

Part of your role will be to take ownership for agreed action points following any internal reviews – for example from the IE Risk and Assurance Team and External Review, HMIP (His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons), ICIB (Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration). You will also implement any recommendations that have been taken forward as well as Action agreed third party recommendations across the DETs.

Please note

this role is a non-uniform role.

You may be required to undertake the same or a similar role within a different team or teams (where possible, at your base location or within reasonable travel distance), depending on business priorities. With appropriate training and support, this will provide opportunities to broaden both your experience and skill set.

Key Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for (but not limited to)

• Ensuring that engagement with those in detention is robust and meaningful. Monitoring contact across multiple disciplines (face to face, email, telephone and post) ensuring that all contact opportunities enable business critical objectives to be met.
• Identifying risks and seeking continuous improvement opportunities to further shape and develop DETs, ensuring that best practice is shared with colleagues across the network.
• Undertaking a proactive approach to workforce management, ensuring optimal deployment of resources across business hours and raising associated issues, exercising effective financial control in managing resources, ensuring propriety, compliance and value for money.
• Providing guidance and support to managers relating to sophisticated Immigration Enforcement policy and procedural issues involving those in detention.
• Acting as the lead on-site contact point between DETs and a wide range of internal/external stakeholders, in particular across Immigration Enforcement and Detention Services.
• Leading, managing and reporting on staff performance for those in the assigned management line, address any staff development needs, handle attendance and sickness related absence in line with current policies and procedures.
• Acting on Call oversight for DETs during out of hours and weekends on a Rota basis alongside the wider DET SEO team.
• Ensuring that all relevant Management Information relating to engagement activity is available, accurate and supplied to the DPRC management in a timely fashion.

Working Pattern

Due to business requirements, this role is 100% office based and is only available on a full-time basis.

Shift Working

Successful candidates will need to be able to attend for all shifts including early starts and late night finishes. These shifts may be outside of public transport operating hours.

Training

You will receive full training and support to do the job. Training will take place on the job. Even then you are never alone; you work as part of a team where there is always someone around for advice and support.

This role can be physically demanding and if successful you will be required to complete and pass Personal Safety Training (PST) Level 2 which develops skills in personal safety techniques. Further information on what the training involves can be found on our website.

Travel

You will occasionally be required to travel to other DET office locations as part of the role.

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A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.