Background The Northern Ireland Office supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in promoting the best interests of Northern Ireland. We make sure that Northern Ireland interests are represented within the UK Government and that UK Government responsibilities are fully and effectively represented in Northern Ireland. We are the centre of expertise on Northern Ireland issues across Government. The Northern Ireland Office employs around 170 staff, with offices in Belfast and London. As a small Department, we adopt a flexible project-based approach to ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place to support the delivery of our key objectives. Due to our structure and size, we are able to offer extensive exposure to Ministers and the opportunity to work on a far wider portfolio of policy and responsibilities than might be the case in a larger department. This creates an interesting and stimulating work environment. Our key priorities are set out in our Operational Delivery plan and include: Supporting greater inclusion, tolerance and openness in Northern Ireland Contributing to a safer Northern Ireland, where terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities Ensuring that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public service. Addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland For more information about what we do: Visit: About the Role This is a fantastic opportunity for a proactive HR professional to take on a rewarding role at the heart of the NIO. Reporting to the Head of Capability and Culture, you will play a pivotal role in building departmental capability and delivering an exceptional HR service that supports our business and people objectives. This is a multi-disciplinary role covering a wide range of HR responsibilities, including day-to-day support for recruitment (managing campaigns end-to-end), delivering our talent schemes, supporting the line manager capability agenda, the diversity, inclusion and wellbeing agenda, and HR communications. At the same time, you will provide advice and support across the full employee lifecycle, including performance management, onboarding, offboarding, induction, and flexible working. Duties and Responsibilities The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to Build and maintain collaborative and productive relationships with business managers, senior management and wider stakeholders Lead on end-to-end recruitment, onboarding and offboarding activities for departmental campaigns Lead on intranet updates and guidance packs Supports the development of policy and guidance Support work on data for workforce planning and recruitment activities Compile Management Information and central HR Returns Support budgets and transacting of HR and Finance activities Support Performance Management policy and processes Ensure accurate and up-to-date record keeping and efficient HR data management, in line with governance and assurance requirements Respond to queries relating to recruitment plans and HR processes Essential Criteria The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview: Experience of working effectively and collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders to resolve complex issues Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage a range of tasks effectively under pressure Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate information clearly and to different audiences Existing National Security Vetting to at least CTC level. Desirable Criteria: CIPD Level 5 qualification or have experience in a HR Generalist role Behaviours We will assess you against the following Success Profiles Behaviours for HEO level during the application sift and at interview: Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Working Together Seeing the Big Picture How to Apply This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Strengths for HEO level. You will be asked to submit: A 250 word statement on each of the following behaviours: Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Working Together Seeing the Big Picture A statement of suitability no longer than 500 words to assess the essential and desirable criteria. Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You dont have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role. Your work history. This will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Work history will be used to add context to your personal statement. Strengths It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this. If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in. More information on behaviours and success profiles can be found here Please note that in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift on the lead Behaviour Communicating and Influencing. Interview Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview via Google Meets Conferencing. Candidates will be assessed against Behaviours and Strengths at the interview stage and will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated these. It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain: WHO: What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or STAR: What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions? All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit. 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. The successful candidate will be notified of a start date following successful security checks. Additional information received after the closing date will not be considered. Failure to provide sufficient information in support of an application prior to the closing date will not be considered as grounds for an appeal if an applicant is not shortlisted for interview. Security Clearance This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role. You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links: United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK ( The vetting charter - GOV.UK ( The successful candidate is required to hold existing Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance. In addition, there is a minimum UK residency requirement set by the Cabinet Office which is dependent on the security level required for the role. Neither Detached Duty terms nor relocation costs will apply to this post. 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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Further Information: Further information about the post may be obtained from Daneeta Chubbah via email to Complaints The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. Please contact SSCL () in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Reserve List In the event that the advertised post following interview, identifies more appointable applicants than available posts, we may hold applicant details on a merit/reserve list for a period of 12 months from which further future appointments can be made. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact to be removed from the reserve list. Interview dates Date(s) w/c 22th and 29th June 2026 Contact information If you require any assistance please call (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or email
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