Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their stories about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

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About Us

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their stories about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

Job description

• We need 17 Debt Collection Officers who can work independently and be part of a wider geographical Collection team. • We will be appointing on Merit order based on your geographical location.  • Working within local areas near you and potentially working further afield to cover different geographical locations and operational requirements. (for example, for candidates applying for Birmingham, Nottingham, or Leicester posts, there will be an expectation to cover the Midlands depending on operational demands).

We will work with you on this and below are the locations we want you to help us bolster: -

Bexley, Blackpool, Bolton, Brighton, Central London, Chelmsford, Cheshire, Crewe, Cumbria, Dartford, Doncaster, East London, Gloucester, Harrow, Ilford, Kingston Upon Thames, Lake District, Lancaster, Leicester, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Luton, Mansfield, North London, North West London, Northern Ireland, Norwich, Nottingham, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Reading, Romford, Salisbury, Slough, South Croydon, South West London, Southampton, Southwark, Sunderland, Swindon, Teesside, Uxbridge, Walsall, Watford, Wigan, Wolverhampton, Woolwich and Worcester If applying for posts attached to Stratford/Croydon Regional Centres, due to the nature of the role, you may not qualify for London Pay, as successful candidates may be attached to Teams that do not cover London Pay areas.

Please contact the vacancy holder with any questions about London Pay.

You will have a full mobile kit, including a laptop, card payment machine, mobile phone, and thermal printer, to enable you to carry out your role on the road.

You will also be provided with a lone worker Health & Safety device.

Want to speak to other debt collectors in our team and learn about the role and how to apply?

Register for a Teams Webinar running for 1 hour at 3 pm on Wednesday, 8th January 2025.

Interest does not guarantee an invite.

Capacity is limited.

Register interest here for the sessions by putting “Recruitment" in the subject line and emailing SM4983252@hmrc.gov.uk to register.

Registration closes Tuesday, 7th January 2025, 11:55 pm.

• This is an exciting time to join a modern digital Field Collections Team, which is part of HMRC Debt Management, whose core purpose is to collect money to fund UK public services. Field Collections are responsible for the pursuit and collection of overdue Taxes. • You will interact with people from all walks of life, including Company Directors, Sole Proprietors and Partnerships, to secure HMRC debts. Recording their assets under the Taking Control of Goods legislation in England and Wales, Levy Distraint in Northern Ireland or warning of legal proceedings under Summary Warrant in Scotland. • Travelling solo to various external customer premises, gathering information to make well-balanced decisions. We will support your development in this role with a full, in-depth 6-week training course, which provides ongoing 121 peer support.

As a Debt Collections Officer, you will demonstrate a specific skill set that enables you to:

• Methodically plan and manage your diary for weekly visit activity. • Question to obtain and analyse information. • Assess the financial position and the value of assets and make considered decisions • Decide effective progression if full payment cannot be secured – Enforcement / Time To Pay.

So, if you like challenges and travelling, Have strong interpersonal skills, and are driven and adaptable. You are hardworking and would enjoy working for a team that constantly evolves and innovates; this is the job for you.

Read on!

As the Field Collections Team is a national team covering all of the UK, Regional Centres do not determine where we need to recruit, but geographical locations do, and therefore, we will have various Reserve Lists based on location.

Person specification

As an influential officer of the Debt Collections Team, we need an organisational, communication and negotiations aficionado. Being an empathic Civil Servant when needed and an authoritative, assured, and confident debt collection officer and challenger when needed to be. Operating a fair approach in your dealings with members of the public and external customers.

•  Be part of a large and extremely engaged nationwide team that is inclusive, flexible, adaptable, and creative in solving problems and dealing with change. Promoting each other's development. •  You take customer service, etiquette, and fairness seriously and demonstrate it professionally. On the road, in your car and out in public, you are an ambassador to HMRC and proud to be so. A self-motivated person who is always looking to develop their craft. • Use your new or updated learned library of knowledge to remind customers of the laws, acts and legislations such as the Taking Control of Goods in England and Wales, Levy Distraint in Northern Ireland, Summary Warrant Actions in Scotland, Time to Pay requests being flexible, confident and interpersonal at all times. •  Fully using available digital platforms, thinking in an objective and analytical manner with an inquisitive and open mind. Using good judgement to make decisions enables you to progress each case and deal with associated queries. •  Field Collections operates flexibly to improve contact with the customer, and 90% of the working day is spent “on the road” calling unannounced on the premises. Sometimes, after an overnight stay nearby in a hotel.

Essential Criteria:

Strong planning and organisational skills to deliver consistently high outputs in a fast-paced environment.

•  Showing flexibility and delivering a great customer experience with internal and external exposure across many levels of seniority. •  Adapting to change at the last minute with experience in delivering at pace and within tight timescales and pressurised situations and environments. •   How do you influence others through your work and the information and data you capture to prove and provide evidence? •  Hold a Full UK Driving Licence

Licences

Hold a Full UK Driving Licence

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,475, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £8,538 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

· Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.

· Family-friendly policies.

· Personal support.

· Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A 1000-word Personal Statement

Your Personal Statement should explain in no more than 1000 words why you are suitable for this role and how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the advert.

Further details about what this will entail are listed on the application form.

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Sift

A sift will be carried out on your Personal Statement, with successful candidates invited to interview.

Interview

During the panel interview, your experience will be assessed, and you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of. You will be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role. 

This is an example of a strengths-based question: 

“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?” 

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. 

Interviews will take place via video call.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

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. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.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]’

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, after which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles. If this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Merit List

After the interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact the UBS Recruitment Excellence Team via ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at the interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to its nature and/or requirements.

Terms and Conditions

Customer-facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurately spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process. 

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless an explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed, as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at the interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against the government.

New entrants will join at the minimum pay band.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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 attracting, retaining and investing in talent wherever it is found. To learn more, please see the Civil 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: Ketan Tanna
• Email: ketan.tanna@hmrc.gov.uk
• Telephone: 07825 546852

Recruitment team

• Email: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. 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 website.

Attachments

Combined TC and OGD Pay - English - July 2024Opens in new window(docx, 129kB)