Immigration Liaison Officer at the British High Commission (BHC) Nigeria

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Immigration Liaison Officer (16/22 LOS)

Location: Lagos
Job Category: Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
Job Subcategory: Home Office
Type of Position: Fixed Term
Grade: Executive Officer (EO)
Duration of Post: 12 months
Type of Post: British Deputy High Commission
Start Date: 1 July, 2022

Main Purpose of Job

• An immigration liaison role has arisen to join the Home Office International Operations (Immigration Enforcement International) team. The successful candidate(s) will work as Immigration Liaison Officer(s) for IEI, part of the Home Office, at the British Deputy High Commission, Lagos. 
• The team has responsibility for identifying threats to the UK Border, preventing inadequately documented passengers travelling to the UK, identifying visa abuse and developing criminal investigations.
• We work with UK and international law enforcement agencies to tackle immigration crime, primarily through preventing the travel of inadequately documented passengers to the UK; enhancing visa decision quality; identifying and tackling underlying criminality and providing intelligence on threats to the UK border.  

The team in Lagos have responsibility for Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Niger and Mali and key responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Working with Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to consider complex intelligence and counter-fraud referrals
• Detecting and preventing abuse within the UK visa application process, and identifying and disrupting the activity of the organised crime groups behind it
• Supporting airline carriers with the delivery of robust training packages to aid identification and disruption of passengers and organised crime groups aiming to abuse travel routes to the UK
• Using the Intelligence Management System (IMS) to prioritise and action public allegations and intelligence referrals from IEI posts globally
• Contributing to the capacity building of the host nation through ongoing projects within Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets, supporting the United Kingdom’s Aid Strategy in developing countries
• Develop operational intelligence products through the collection, interpretation and evaluation of relevant quantitative and qualitative information sources
• Work closely with HMG partners at post, host authorities and international partners to support the development of intelligence and investigations to disrupt organised crime groups.
• Support to the wider British High Commission aims and objectives.

Roles and Responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

• Investigation: Individual case working investigations as tasked by the Head of Section and Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) as well as other government departments.
• Crime:  Using collaborative working with overseas and UK law enforcement partners to develop intelligence and investigations to disrupt organised crime groups targeting the UK.
• Intelligence gathering and analysis: Develop operational intelligence products through the collection, interpretation and evaluation of relevant quantitative and qualitative information sources. Strong problem solving skills are required to identify and investigate suspected organised immigration crime and to gather evidence-based intelligence. Ensure that all relevant intelligence is gathered, assessed and disseminated in line with guidance.
• Liaison: Build effective working relationships with host authorities, international partners (5CC/EU) and UK partners to support the delivery of crime and intelligence objectives. Lead on the exchange of actionable intelligence with local law enforcement partners and counterparts in other Diplomatic missions to identify and mitigate threats to the UK border. Representing the Home Office Office professionally, developing effective relationships with the wider embassy and key external partners.

What We Do:

• Immigration Enforcement International (IEI) operates to prevent illegal immigration and disrupt the organised immigration crime groups behind it, supporting both the Immigration Enforcement mission and the Home Office purpose. We have staff deployed to approximately 33 locations across the world.  

We deliver this by:

• Providing intelligence support to the UK visa operation, supporting UKVI to take an increasingly global approach to risk streaming built on the analysis of objective data and enhanced with local risk indicators
• Working with carriers around the world to reduce the threat of inadequately documented arrivals (IDAs) reaching the UK by air
• Developing intelligence packages related to the visa or air threat for subsequent criminal investigations and prosecutions.

What We Want From You?:

• In order to meet Home Office security requirements, we need to recruit a new ILO from either the UK/US/Canada/Australia/NZ or the EU where they have a footprint in their home country.
• We need the ILO to have excellent interpersonal skills that they can use strategically to build relationships with key partners to assist Immigration Enforcement in delivering their objectives. Face to face work is a fundamental part of the job, as is the delivery of training, so the successful candidate should be prepared to do public speaking.
• The role of ILO is extremely varied. The challenge with all IEI work is to deliver both the reactive elements such as air calls and requests for support from visa section, as well as the pro-active elements such as intelligence research and liaison with stakeholders. As such, ILOs need be able to manage very challenging workloads, deliver at pace and be flexible in support of business aims. Once trained, the successful candidate should be able to work towards objectives with minimal supervision

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Computer literate with Microsoft desktop functions (e.g. Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Explorer) at a level where you can: create, use and interrogate complex templates, tables, data-sets on Home Office and FCDO IT platforms
• Strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills.
• A high level of written and spoken English with the ability to write high quality reports and briefings.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.
• An ability to work under pressure with minimal supervision.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience: 

• Previous immigration, law enforcement and/or analytical or investigation experience would be an advantage.

Required behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing.

Other Benefits and Conditions of Employment

Security Restrictions:
Owing to security clearance requirements, only nationals of the following countries are eligible to apply:

• UK or other EU country, Canada, Australia, USA, New Zealand. 
• British citizens must have been resident in the UK for at least two of the previous 10 years. However, applications will be considered from candidates working overseas for HM Government in the past ten years or who already hold adequate security clearance.

Salary
N573,296.78 monthly.

Application Closing Date
26th May, 2022.