Senior Counter Terrorism Officer

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

This post can be based in London (1 Horse Guards Road), or Darlington (Feethams House).

About the job

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth. 

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more. 

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you! 

Job description

About the Group

International Group

Do you want to advise ministers on promoting and protecting the UK’s economy and its competitiveness internationally in a fast-changing environment? If so, read on!

International Group provides opportunities to work on areas including – spending control on international development, trade policy, climate change, health, cooperation on Ukraine, economic security, financial sanctions and tackling illicit finance. We also manage economic relationships with Europe, US, China and other advanced economies and emerging markets.

We build relationships with external and international partners and represent the UK in a range of international groupings and institutions, including the G7, the G20, the International Monetary Fund and at some of the Multilateral Development Banks. We also analyse international comparisons and the wider global economic context, including for fiscal events. Although international travel is an important part of some roles, it is not required for every role in the group and will be specified if required.

About the team 

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has been operational since March 2016 and has quickly established itself as a world-leader in financial sanctions, a key area of foreign and national security policy.

OFSI is the UK’s Competent Authority for financial sanctions. It leads on the implementation of UN and UK financial sanctions and domestic terrorist asset freezing, providing a high-quality service to the private and third sector, and guidance to help them follow the law.

We work closely with law enforcement, intelligence agencies and strategic policy colleagues across Government to help ensure that financial sanctions are accurately understood, implemented and enforced.

We are a diverse and friendly team, offering an outstanding environment to broaden your experience and develop new skills, whilst working on some of the highest profile international issues the UK faces.

About the Job 

We are recruiting for one role within the Counter Terrorism Sanctions team to be based in either London or Darlington.

The CT Sanctions Team is responsible for the administration of terrorist asset freezes in the UK. The key CT sanctions regimes implemented in the UK are The ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida (United Nations Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, The Counter-Terrorism (International Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and The Counter-Terrorism (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. In the CT Team the successful candidates could find themselves undertaking a range of tasks and responsibilities including:

• Lead on the management of CT sanctions designations under the Counter-Terrorism (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 developing an in-depth knowledge of the regime and reviewing and actioning designation proposals from partners. The post holder will have input on cases under other CT sanctions regimes. This includes providing concise, accurate and timely advice to support Ministers and senior officials in making sensitive decisions which often carry significant legal risk.
• Keeping senior officials and ministers adequately informed of developments within regimes and keeping a broad watching brief on relevant sanctioned persons and countries.
• Leading on relevant licensing requests from receipt through to issue where appropriate, working closely with Treasury Legal Advisers on the licensing Application process and in assessing the legal risk of granting or refusing licences.
• Leading on investigative casework in relation to suspected sanctions breaches and decide the most appropriate compliance outcomes, working with the Police where appropriate.
• Providing support to the Head of Litigation when decisions under CT sanctions are legally challenged. This includes working with counsel, Treasury Legal Advisers, the Government Legal Department, and other departments.
• Work closely with HM Treasury & FCDO policy teams on policy and operational implications of proposed new CT sanctions measures, developing and maintaining productive relationships across Whitehall on regime implementation.
• Develop a thorough understanding of the CT Sanctions regimes legal framework and apply this in ad hoc advice to Ministers, members of the public, and external stakeholder groups.
• Line-manage two high performing HEO’s to deliver operational outcomes.

Strong communication will be a really important part of your role. Every day you will be communicating with different people, internally and externally. You will need to distil complex detail into clear recommendations and be able to explain and defend those recommendations in writing and verbally. This could be as part of casework decisions or in operational policy work. You will also be expected to work closely with colleagues in the wider team and provide direct line management support to develop HEO’s under your leadership.

The successful candidate will have the ability to develop and analyse information, think creatively and independently to arrive at supportable conclusions when sometimes data is incomplete. Previous experience of financial sanctions, counterterrorism and/or intelligence is desired, but not essential for this role. Most important is the ability to quickly gain an understanding of a range of competing complex issues and the ability to make evidenced recommendations and astute judgements under pressure, deploying evidence and information across a range of sources.

We are looking for someone who has the right set of skills for the role, who demonstrate the values of our organisation, who are motivated to come and work with us, and who can demonstrate an ability to quickly develop an understanding of a complex and sensitive area.

This role is an excellent opportunity for ambitious individuals to take ownership of high profile, and high risk internationally focussed work, and to develop a large network of stakeholders inside and outside of government.

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact the counterterrorism@hmtreasury.gov.uk team. 

Person specification

We are looking for the below skills, experience and behaviours and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application form. Please review the Candidate FAQ document that is attached to the advert for guidance on how to complete your application form. 

1. Making Effective Decisions – Ability to digest large quantities of information, recognise and fill gaps in the information, and identify key points.
2. Seeing the Big picture – Ability to understand how your role fits into the wider counter terrorism system and understands the impact of your work.
3. Communicating and Influencing – Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing to a wide variety of internal and external partners.
4. Working Together – Ability to create strong and lasting partnerships both internal and external to government.

The lead criterion is: Making Effective Decisions

If we receive large volumes of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criterion only.

We will ask you to provide some CV details during your application; however, these will NOT be assessed during the process, but will be used to support discussions at interview – please ensure you put all information you would like to be scored against in your behaviour statements. 

Candidate Guidance Support Session – Microsoft Teams

We will be running an overview of Success Profiles and the STAR approach including top tips for the application and interview process and an opportunity to ask general questions around our recruitment practices. Please note that this session is not role specific, so we will be unable to answer specific questions about roles we are advertising. If you would like to join us, please use the link below to join the call at the right time.

13 February 2025 at 12:30 – 13:15 Join the meeting now 

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,630, HM Treasury contributes £12,060 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant)
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave package.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 28%
• Onsite restaurant and coffee bar. The London office also offers a gym, showers and prayer room
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving
• Access to a retail discounts and cashback site
• A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests and diversity

Flexible Working Arrangements

HM Treasury views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they can enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including; part-time, compressed hours and job sharing. Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees the flexibility to adjust their working patterns throughout the week which is subject to operational needs and line management approval. 

At HM Treasury we have an incredibly broad remit; our work touches every citizen of the country. So, it’s important our employees come from the widest possible range of backgrounds, bringing us the widest possible range of perspectives and ways of thinking. We are committed to ensuring that all staff can realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance. 

HM Treasury operates an office based working approach across all Treasury sites – Darlington, London, and Norwich, and along with the rest of the Civil Service, has an expectation of a minimum of 60% attendance in the office, along with working remotely. This blended working approach allows you to work collaboratively, meet stakeholders face to face, support others and promotes a healthy work life balance (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review. All our offices have been recently modernised and designed to collaborate and connect with colleagues as well as desk and quiet space to allow a range of ways to work.

The office working expectation is linked to the location of the role. If you apply to a post in a single location, then you will not be able to meet this expectation at any of our other sites or move your role to another location. 

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 : OFSI CT team
• Email : counterterrorism@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints Process: Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment based on fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact HMT by email at: hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

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