Qualified Surveyor - Technical Adviser

About the job

Job summary

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 story about what it's really like to work at HMRC.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

This role is part of HMRC Valuation Office, formerly known as the Valuation Office Agency. We have recently integrated into HMRC.

HMRC Valuation Office are the public sector's property valuation experts and advisers with a vision to be a world-leading provider of public sector valuations. Our work is vital to the collection of over £60 billion of revenue which goes back into communities, touching every citizen and every business across England and Wales.

Job description

Role Overview

The Valuation Office (VO) is recruiting for a Qualified Surveyor to join the Technical Guidance Team as a Technical Adviser.

The highly skilled and experienced Technical Adviser will provide technical leadership and support in local taxation across the Valuation Office. You will work as part of a team of technical advisers who are passionate about the work they do and how they work together as an efficient, effective and collaborative unit.

You will have the opportunity to work on unique, challenging and extremely technical cases. This will include collaborating with solicitors and barristers, as well as providing advice on technical and legal issues across the VO.

Your remit will include managing litigation cases, such as complex case hearings before the Valuation Tribunal, appeals to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) and proceedings in the High Court. This may also entail appearing as an advocate on behalf of the Valuation Officer or Listing Officer. In addition, you will provide technical, legal and valuation advice across the VO.

This is a technical and leadership role providing an excellent opportunity to lead on high profile and complex casework. You'll have the autonomy to manage your time and workload independently and be entrusted to manage and resolve complex and sensitive cases.

Key responsibilities

• To provide case management of litigation, for example complex case hearings at Valuation Tribunal and appeals to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) and High Court. This may also entail appearing as advocate on behalf of the VO/LO.
• Completion and managing litigation using sound analytical skills to resolve the most complex or sensitive cases.
• Contribute to the development of technical and procedural guidance, including creating a collective and consistent understanding of procedure and approach.
• Carry out research, analysis and evaluation of issues, identifying options and determining the associated risks.
• To identify, escalate and mitigate/manage risks and issues appropriately. Linking information and data from different sources and contacts to surface underlying trends and evolving risks and issues and ensuring that these are raised at the right level.
• To develop and deliver technical updates/presentations, to assist with building capability in the wider VO.
• Occasional travel to London and across the UK with some overnight stays will be necessary to liaise with colleagues, HMRC solicitors and Counsel, to attend tribunal hearings and deliver presentations to internal customers and external stakeholders.
• Support development and change by providing relevant technical advice, working with colleagues in transformation and change teams to deliver NDR reforms, Council Tax Wales reform, High Value Council Tax Surcharge, Next Generation Rating and other developments requiring technical input as required.

Person specification

We are seeking a candidate with strong technical expertise to include case law, legislation, codes of practice and professional standards. The successful candidate will have strong leadership skills, with the ability to build credible relationships with external and internal stakeholders. As a Technical Adviser you will have exceptional interpersonal and communication skills to be able to give advice and explain complex information clearly. This role requires a high level of autonomy in managing your time and workload effectively.

Essential Requirements

• Full RICS or IRRV qualified.
• Ability to interpret and apply general legislation and case law for both Rating and Council Tax, as well as understand and comply with statutory and non-statutory requirements arising from legislation, case law, codes of practice and professional standards.
• Demonstrate ability to apply professional expertise to analyse, evaluate and interpret wide sources of evidence to reach sound conclusions.
• To proactively keep technical knowledge up-to-date and use it to provide advice and guidance as well as sharing with the team.
• Strong leadership skills, championing change, encouraging new ways of working and sharing of best practice.
• The ability to build trusted and credible relationships with peers and colleagues across different teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills - experience of negotiating, consulting and interpersonal skills to achieve mutually acceptable solutions.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify risks for the future and propose solutions ahead of risks becoming issues.
• Willingness for occasional travel to London and across the UK with some overnight stays will be necessary to liaise with key stakeholders and support business needs.

Qualifications
Full RICS or IRRV qualified.

Memberships
Full RICS or IRRV qualified.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

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

• As part of the interview, you will be asked technical questions to assess your knowledge on legislation and case law for both Rating and Council Tax.
• You will be required to conduct a 10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A. Information on the presentation topic will be provided to you if you are shortlisted for interview.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,342, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £17,191 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

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 that starts at 25 days, increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days and a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.

• 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

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

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

How to Apply

If you can meet our person requirements above, we are keen to hear from you.

To apply for this post, you must complete an online application with the following:

A CV setting out your Job History, Qualifications and Previous skills and experiences .

A Personal Statement (maximum 1,000 words), please outline your suitability for the role. Please pay particular attention to the 'Essential Requirements' and 'Person Specification' outlined in the advert and use specific examples on how you illustrate them when providing your answer.

Sift - 14/08/2026

Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change.

We will assess you on your CV, Personal Statement, Memberships and Qualifications.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift will be made on Personal Statement against the lead essential criteria:

• Ability to interpret and apply general legislation and case law for both Rating and Council Tax, as well as understand and comply with statutory and non-statutory requirements arising from legislation, case law, codes of practice and professional standards.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Interviews - 02/09/2026 and 03/09/2026

Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change. These will be confirmed should you be invited to interview.

Interviews are currently taking place using Microsoft Teams Video. We will provide more detail if you are shortlisted for interview.

We will assess you on the Behaviours listed in the job description, Strengths, Technical Questions and a Technical Presentation

At the interview, the panel can then probe further and ask applicants to provide further specific examples that show how they best demonstrate their skills.

Technical Presentation

You will be required to conduct a 10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A. Information on the presentation topic will be provided to you if you are shortlisted for interview.

Technical Questions

As part of the interview, you will be asked technical questions to assess your knowledge on legislation and case law for both Rating and Council Tax.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. Mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we may not be able to reopen your application for you.

If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, or have withdrawn yourself in error and need your application reinstated whilst the campaign is still live, please contact us via: resourcingteamvo@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 .

Application Hints and Tips

For more information on Success Profiles, tips on how to write a successful application and find out more about what's involved in the application process please visit About the application process , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk) .

Further Information

Hybrid working at HMRC

HMRC is an office-based organisation, and colleagues are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office. Our offices provide opportunity for interaction, collaboration which aids learning and development and a sense of community. Where the role allows it, and where the home environment is suitable, colleagues can work from home for up to 2 days a week, averaged over a calendar month (or a proportionate amount of time for colleagues who work less than full time).

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 resourcingteamvo@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.

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.

Locations

As part of the application process, you will be asked to tell us which of the locations available you can work in. You will be able to specify 1 option. Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences.

Successful candidates must select one of the locations noted in this advert as their base office and will be expected to undertake regular travel to this location under HMRC hybrid working policy.

Transitional Sites Information

If your location preference is for the following sites, it's important to note that this is not long-term site for HMRC and we will require you to move to a new building in the future, subject to our location strategy and the applicable employee policies at that time.

Newcastle & Swansea

These sites are:

• Benton Park View, Newcastle - moving to Pilgrims Quarter, Newcastle

• Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea - moving to Sandringham Park, Swansea

You will be given more information about what this means at the job offer stage.

Terms & Conditions

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.

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.

Reserve Lists

If we have more successful candidates than available vacancies, we will hold a 6-month reserve list. During that time, we may use the list to fill the same, or similar roles with closely matching essential criteria, without further testing of merit. Any appointments from the Reserve list will be made in strict merit order.

Concerns/Complaints

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner's Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting the Central Recruitment Team at the following address: resourcingteamvo@hmrc.gov.uk

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.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window) .

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 : Mark Thomas
• Email : mark.a.thomas@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : voarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.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 a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned. 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: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/