Deputy Head of Insolvency Profession
Deputy Head of Insolvency Profession
- Closing on: Oct 27 2025
- £71,725 - £87,612
About Insolvency Governance and Professionalism (IGP):
Deputy Head of HMRC's Insolvency Profession is a key delivery role in HMRC's insolvency function. The profession comprises over 650 insolvency professionals based across the UK, in each of HMRC's regional centres.
We're a multi-disciplinary insolvency function with specialisms in counter-fraud, tax, civil recovery, customer service and debt management. We span many different parts of HMRC, providing high-quality insolvency ability to a wide range of internal customers, and also work closely with insolvency practitioners outside the department to deliver the best insolvency outcomes.
IGP's responsibilities are to develop HMRC insolvency capability, and to ensure risk is managed. IGP's key roles include:
• Developing the capability of HMRC insolvency professionals, embracing and developing innovative mechanisms for delivery.
• Delivery of HMRC's new bespoke in house examination for insolvency professionals.
• Influencing and driving insolvency policy, including changes in legislation.
• Single authoritative hub for departmental insolvency guidance.
• Governance responsibility for certain decisions including
o every exercise of HMRC's powers to appoint an external insolvency practitioner;
o managing requests for legal advice or litigation;
o managing risk in robust insolvency procedures such as provisional liquidation;
o improving the service HMRC receives from insolvency practitioners, including through managing reports of poor conduct to regulators.
• Technical specialist on insolvency law matters for the whole department.
• Develop and maintain the framework that supports professional growth, clarifying skills required, career paths, and building with other professions.
IGP also builds a strong, supportive community of informed insolvency professionals, for example through the communications channels it facilitates.
This role offers a rare opportunity to make a lasting impact in a function that's vital to HMRC and the UK economy. Backed by a skilled and motivated team of insolvency experts, you'll shape the direction and capability of the UK's largest creditor in insolvency proceedings. Your leadership will help reduce billions in tax debt write-offs, tackle abuse of corporate structures to evade tax, and enhance the experience for insolvency practitioners engaging with HMRC.
As the Deputy Head of Insolvency Profession you will play a pivotal leadership role in shaping the future of HMRC's insolvency capability. Reporting to the Head of Profession, you will have direct or indirect line management of the entire team and be responsible for driving delivery against an ambitious business plan. You'll foster a culture of innovation, professionalism, and customer focus, enabling your team to deliver meaningful impact across HMRC's entire enterprise.
More specifically you will:
• Provide strategic oversight of all team activity, ensuring alignment with HMRC's insolvency strategy.
• Lead and inspire a team of five Grade 7 technical leads and managers and eight Senior Officers, supporting their development and performance.
• Drive planning and strategy, using learning metrics to identify efficiencies and continuously improve the team's products and services.
• Support the onboarding of around 100 new insolvency professionals as part of an increased investment in compliance and debt management officers.
• Translate HMRC and Legal Group strategies into meaningful action through collaboration across Legal Group and the wider department.
• Deputise for the Head of Profession, building influential internal and external relationships to promote and grow HMRC's insolvency profession.
You'll be joining a team of 15 insolvency experts, based across HMRC's key regional centres. You may be located separately from your IGP colleagues or line manager. While a sound understanding of UK insolvency is important, you won't be the deep technical expert because that expertise already exists within your team.
Your role is to lead, organise, and make best use of those specialists, applying your strengths as outlined in the person specification to ensure the profession operates effectively and continues to grow.
Person specification
The vacancy is for an insolvency profession specialist post. You must demonstrate an expert knowledge of insolvency regimes, including creditor powers and how HMRC can work effectively with insolvency practitioners. In your personal statement you should reference any qualification you have gained which you consider relevant.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
Alongside your salary of £71,725, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £20,778 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.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
How to Apply
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:
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.
Sift
A preliminary sift will be held on your essential criteria statement, with successful candidates progressing to the full sift.
At full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed against the job description and person specification, 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, your behaviour, experience and technical skills will be assessed, to determine your suitability for the role.
You will also give a 10 minute presentation, with the details being given to candidates prior to interview.
Interviews will take place via video link. 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 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, 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.
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.
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 (opens in a new window) .
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.
For more Information for people applying for, or thinking of applying for, roles at HM Revenue and Customs, please see link: Working for HMRC: information for applicants - 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:
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 :
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 . Please note that we do not accept complaints or appeals regarding scoring of outcomes of campaigns unless candidates can provide clear evidence that the campaign did not follow the Recruitment Principles.
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.
Deputy Head of HMRC's Insolvency Profession is a key delivery role in HMRC's insolvency function. The profession comprises over 650 insolvency professionals based across the UK, in each of HMRC's regional centres.
We're a multi-disciplinary insolvency function with specialisms in counter-fraud, tax, civil recovery, customer service and debt management. We span many different parts of HMRC, providing high-quality insolvency ability to a wide range of internal customers, and also work closely with insolvency practitioners outside the department to deliver the best insolvency outcomes.
IGP's responsibilities are to develop HMRC insolvency capability, and to ensure risk is managed. IGP's key roles include:
• Developing the capability of HMRC insolvency professionals, embracing and developing innovative mechanisms for delivery.
• Delivery of HMRC's new bespoke in house examination for insolvency professionals.
• Influencing and driving insolvency policy, including changes in legislation.
• Single authoritative hub for departmental insolvency guidance.
• Governance responsibility for certain decisions including
o every exercise of HMRC's powers to appoint an external insolvency practitioner;
o managing requests for legal advice or litigation;
o managing risk in robust insolvency procedures such as provisional liquidation;
o improving the service HMRC receives from insolvency practitioners, including through managing reports of poor conduct to regulators.
• Technical specialist on insolvency law matters for the whole department.
• Develop and maintain the framework that supports professional growth, clarifying skills required, career paths, and building with other professions.
IGP also builds a strong, supportive community of informed insolvency professionals, for example through the communications channels it facilitates.
This role offers a rare opportunity to make a lasting impact in a function that's vital to HMRC and the UK economy. Backed by a skilled and motivated team of insolvency experts, you'll shape the direction and capability of the UK's largest creditor in insolvency proceedings. Your leadership will help reduce billions in tax debt write-offs, tackle abuse of corporate structures to evade tax, and enhance the experience for insolvency practitioners engaging with HMRC.
As the Deputy Head of Insolvency Profession you will play a pivotal leadership role in shaping the future of HMRC's insolvency capability. Reporting to the Head of Profession, you will have direct or indirect line management of the entire team and be responsible for driving delivery against an ambitious business plan. You'll foster a culture of innovation, professionalism, and customer focus, enabling your team to deliver meaningful impact across HMRC's entire enterprise.
More specifically you will:
• Provide strategic oversight of all team activity, ensuring alignment with HMRC's insolvency strategy.
• Lead and inspire a team of five Grade 7 technical leads and managers and eight Senior Officers, supporting their development and performance.
• Drive planning and strategy, using learning metrics to identify efficiencies and continuously improve the team's products and services.
• Support the onboarding of around 100 new insolvency professionals as part of an increased investment in compliance and debt management officers.
• Translate HMRC and Legal Group strategies into meaningful action through collaboration across Legal Group and the wider department.
• Deputise for the Head of Profession, building influential internal and external relationships to promote and grow HMRC's insolvency profession.
You'll be joining a team of 15 insolvency experts, based across HMRC's key regional centres. You may be located separately from your IGP colleagues or line manager. While a sound understanding of UK insolvency is important, you won't be the deep technical expert because that expertise already exists within your team.
Your role is to lead, organise, and make best use of those specialists, applying your strengths as outlined in the person specification to ensure the profession operates effectively and continues to grow.
Person specification
- Proven ability to lead or manage staff, delivering results through influence and collaboration, including with those outside your direct line management.
- Experience in planning and implementing strategies to build professional capability, ensuring teams have the skills, tools, and support needed to succeed.
- Ability to translate strategy into practical, actionable plans, working effectively across complex organisations or departments.
- Skilled at navigating multiple priorities in a high-pressure environment, maintaining focus on outcomes and continuous improvement.
The vacancy is for an insolvency profession specialist post. You must demonstrate an expert knowledge of insolvency regimes, including creditor powers and how HMRC can work effectively with insolvency practitioners. In your personal statement you should reference any qualification you have gained which you consider relevant.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- You will give a 10 minute presentation, with the details being given to candidates prior to interview.
Alongside your salary of £71,725, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £20,778 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.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
How to Apply
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:
- A name-blind CV including your job history and previous experiences. Your CV should cover up to your last 5 roles, detailing your responsibilities and key achievements (Max 100 words per role).
- A 1,000-word Personal Statement. Your personal statement should clearly demonstrate how your skills and experience meet the person specification.
- A 500 word statement as to how you meet the essential criteria. This statement can be in bullet point form.
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.
Sift
A preliminary sift will be held on your essential criteria statement, with successful candidates progressing to the full sift.
At full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed against the job description and person specification, 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, your behaviour, experience and technical skills will be assessed, to determine your suitability for the role.
You will also give a 10 minute presentation, with the details being given to candidates prior to interview.
Interviews will take place via video link. 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 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, 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.
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.
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 (opens in a new window) .
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.
For more Information for people applying for, or thinking of applying for, roles at HM Revenue and Customs, please see link: Working for HMRC: information for applicants - 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
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 : Richard Hopwood
- Email : richard.hopwood@hmrc.gov.uk
- Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk
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 . Please note that we do not accept complaints or appeals regarding scoring of outcomes of campaigns unless candidates can provide clear evidence that the campaign did not follow the Recruitment Principles.
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.
Apply now
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