In this role, you will be an investigator delivering high quality, impartial decisions on cases, working closely with the Adjudicator. You'll gain an insight into how two of the largest operational departments at the heart of Government operate and will interact with their customers and users. You will be required to demonstrate and develop core Civil Service capabilities such as the ability to analyse and evaluate information, make effective decisions, work with a variety of stakeholders and communicate clearly.

To support your decision-making process, you'll need to consider the perspectives of both the customers and the relevant department who are party to your case. You will obtain information from a variety of different sources and build understanding of relevant rules and processes in order to inform your decision.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure cases are investigated and progressed efficiently and in a customer focussed manner, working within our performance expectations and quality frameworks

• Collate and analyse evidence and information from customers and the departments to make fair and impartial decisions

• Identify and share insight and learning from your cases to maximise the value of complaints, driving improvements in customer services and supporting cultural change

• Communicate with customers and stakeholders, discuss cases and be part of the team taking calls on our external phone service

Person specification

Ideally, we are looking for someone who understands the importance of values and culture to the delivery of an organisation's vision and purpose. You will be a strong communicator, with analytical and decision making skills.

Essential Criteria

• Ability to use judgement, critical thinking and analytical skills to reach evidence based decisions

• Able to clearly communicate complex issues both verbally and in writing

• Hold excellent time management skills and the ability to exercise judgement in how you carry out your work, manage your workload to meet deadlines and work collaboratively with colleagues.

Desirable Criteria

• Capability to identify wider themes from the work you do and produce insight in order to provide wider feedback to colleagues and stakeholders

• Passionate about playing an active part in the wider development of the Adjudicator's Office, providing support on office-wide initiatives and projects

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

• Drafting Skills

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,320, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £10,521 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, Ability, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply

Stage 1: Short Application form

You will be asked to complete:

A basic application form, detailing your personal details and confirming whether you meet the eligibility criteria.

Stage 2 - Online tests

After submission of the first stage of your application, you will be invited to complete the Civil Service Verbal Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.

Please complete the test as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). The closing date for the campaign, including the completion of the full application form is 04/07/2025 at 23:55

If you fail to complete the online test and full application form before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the tests will be available when you are invited to take them. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

We reserve the right to increase the scores for all tests. You will be informed if you have passed or failed the raised standard.

Successful candidates will be invited to the next stage of the selection process.

Stage 3 - Full Application Form

If you are successful at the previous stage you will be asked to complete the following:

• A name-blind CV including your job history and previous experiences.
• A 500-word personal statement evidencing your suitability for the role and how you meet the Essential Criteria.

Please complete a separate statement (Max 250 words) for the Desirable Criteria where applicable. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy-holder where candidates have the same scores at sift or interview.

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

We acknowledge that AI can assist you in your application. Find our guidelines at Link: Artificial Intelligence in recruitment

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on the Making Effective Decisions behaviour.

At full sift your CV and Personal Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, you will be assessed on the following:
• how you meet the key behaviour of Making Effective Decisions,
• how your experience matches the requirements of the role, and
• strength-based questions to explore what you enjoy, your motivations and how they are 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.

A written exercise will take place shortly after the panel interview. Candidates can expect the interview and written technical skills assessment to take approximately 2 hours in total.

Interviews and written tests will take place via video link. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Online Tests - Banked Scores

When an applicant has a banked score they are not asked to retake the same test, providing it is:

• set at the same job level, and
• within the same system.

Scores will be banked for six months, or until a new score benchmark is applied, whichever is sooner. This means that if a candidate applies for another vacancy at this grade they may not have to retake the test within that time, and their previous score will be used for the new vacancy.

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 for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@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 .

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from 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 interview, merit lists will be created for each location advertised within the vacancy. If you are successful at interview, you will be placed on the merit list for any locations you have expressed an interest for. Appointments from each merit list will be made in strict merit order.

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.

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 team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@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 on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the 'location preferences' section that you can travel to.

Additional Information

We are looking into ways to enhance the applicant experience.

As part of our legitimate interests, we are testing the use of new technologies such as automation and/or Artificial Intelligence in the assessment for CV, personal statement and behaviour statement.

Please note that for this specific vacancy, this testing may run in parallel with our standard assessment process and will not influence or determine the outcome of your application in any way. You can read the Civil Service Jobs and HMRC Privacy Notices for more information about our lawful basis for processing your personal data and HMRC's use of AI.

If you don't want your data to be used as part of the trial, please send your Application ID and the Vacancy Reference to talentacquisitionaiteam@hmrc.gov.uk

Terms and Conditions

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate 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 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 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 government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

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 attract, retain and invest 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 : Glen Stuart
• Email : glen.stuart@adjudicatorsoffice.gov.uk
• Telephone : 03000563620

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 Opens in new window (docx, 129kB)