Home Office Intelligence Borders

Why this role matters

Home Office Intelligence (HOI) provides intelligence support across a wide range of operational threats. Its core focus is illegal migration and organised immigration crime, illicit commodities, serious and organised crime and support to the wider National Security mission. Our core customers are the Border Security Command (BSC), Border Force (BF), Immigration Enforcement (IE) and Immigration and Citizenship Services (ICS) inside HO and our core external operational partners are the NCA, HMRC, Counter Terrorist Police (CTP) and Territorial Police

The HOI Borders team is focused on the highest harm and highest threat commodities and people in line with the Border Force Control Strategy. We seek to ensure our intelligence generates the highest impact possible by enabling interventions where they matter most, whether at the UK border, inland or upstream.

The HOI Borders Deputy Director provides strategic leadership of our Border Focused business and leads our relationship with Border Force on both people and goods. More widely you will lead engagement with Home Office Public Safety Group (PSG) and Homeland Security Group (HSG) on Serious Organised Crime (SOC) and National Security threats. You will set the direction of the business and engage with partners to deliver on shared outcomes. You will also lead our relationship with wider HMG on Border Threats including HMRC, Dept for Transport (DfT) and Dept for Business and Trade (DBT). You will lead our operational partnership with NCA and Territorial Police on SOC threats such as Drugs and Lethal Firearms.

Key accountabilities

You will:

• Leading HO Intelligence and working as part of a leadership team that delivers across a wide range of Border and Immigration threats. You are responsible for leading a command of c.800 people
• Management and oversight responsibilities of a budget of over 55 million. Delivering within this budget and seeking to exploit and promote efficiency savings and increased automation in a challenging SR period.
• Providing leadership to the Directorate, with the ability to take well-judged risks and to make decisions in a timely manner.
• Contributing to wider Departmental delivery, policy making, technological and business change programmes at the strategic and operational level
• Delivering key intelligence requirements to support Border Security Command and Border Force Operations.
• Leading engagement with key partners across the SOC, Immigration and National Security systems to build, maintain and enhance partnerships and intelligence and operational collaboration. Improving performance against key threats. Working with the HOI Immigration lead to support wider Border Security priorities and the Border Security Command
• Managing corporate support: risk, assurance and governance oversight of all Directorate activities as well as own budget and performance metrics.
• Leading the HO Intelligence Profession and leading the improvement of HOI as a professional intelligence agency with a focus on building a more agile and interoperable workforce and supporting it through better capabilities and tools.
• To actively demonstrate through their actions at work, inclusivity based on race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, different abilities or disability, and diversity of thought.

Key stakeholder relationships

Will include:

• HOI Leadership team
• Border Force Board members and the Border Force Senior Leadership Team
• Border Security Command senior leadership and BSC Maritime and Small Boats Operations
• Wider HO Policy Missions including HSG and PSG
• Partner organisations in Intelligence and Policing including National Crime Agency (NCA), HMRC, Counter Terrorist Policing (CTP), NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council), and UK Intelligence Community (UKIC)
• Ministers and Senior Civil Servants across Whitehall and overseas
• System owners across the Home Office and beyond including but not limited to Homeland Security, HMRC, DBT, DFT and Defra.
• Home Office Capabilities & Resources - including Finance, HR, and HO Digital

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate:

Senior Intelligence Experience Experience of working at senior level in an intelligence environment.

Capability Development Demonstrable experience in building a platform of capabilities and skills to drive improvements in gathering and exploiting information, intelligence and data to practical and strategic effect.

Leadership and Change Management Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and empower colleagues to deliver against a landscape of technical and organisational change.

Stakeholder Engagement Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder skills, with the willingness and ability to maintain strong working relationships with a wide range of senior stakeholders across Government, maintaining support for a demanding agenda amidst competing pressures.

Operational Leadership and Decision-Making Ability to provide constructive challenge across a complex delivery landscape, set priorities for large and diverse teams, and effectively manage risk and competing demands.

Business Change and Transformation Experience of leading successful business change and transformation within an operational environment.

Security Clearance Holds Developed Vetting (DV) with Strap Clearance, or demonstrates willingness to obtain these at the earliest opportunity.

Desirable Criteria

The successful candidate may also demonstrate:

Multi-Agency Leadership Experience of leading within a multi-agency environment, effectively coordinating across organisational boundaries to deliver shared objectives.

Data Exploitation and Intelligence Insight Understanding of the exploitation of bulk data to identify threats and risks, and the ability to derive actionable intelligence insights from data to deliver practical operational outcomes.