National Security Vetting Officer

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.

As a National Security Vetting Officer, you will play a vital role in protecting the integrity and security of the organisation. You will support the delivery of a professional and efficient vetting service by assessing applications, making decisions on low risk cases based on Government Guidance and completing recommendations for complex cases. You will maintain accurate records, helping to identify and manage personnel security risks.

Working with sensitive and confidential information, you will ensure vetting cases are processed consistently, fairly and in line with relevant policies and procedures. You will provide advice and support to applicants, managers and stakeholders, helping them understand vetting requirements and guiding cases through to completion.

This is an excellent opportunity for a highly organised and detail-oriented individual who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment, managing competing priorities and contributing to national security outcomes through high-quality casework and customer service.

Job description

As a National Security Vetting Officer, you will be responsible for managing vetting cases and supporting the delivery of a timely, accurate and professional personnel security service. You will review information provided by applicants, identify potential issues or discrepancies, maintain secure records and work with colleagues and stakeholders including UK Security Vetting to ensure cases are progressed efficiently.

The role requires sound judgement, strong organisational skills and the ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and integrity. You will contribute to maintaining high standards of quality and customer service while supporting the organisation's security and risk management objectives.

Key responsibilities may include:

• Process and manage national security vetting cases in line with agreed policies, procedures, service standards and legal requirements.
• Review applicant information, supporting documentation and case records to identify omissions, inconsistencies, risks or issues requiring escalation.
• Maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date records on vetting systems and ensure all activity is handled securely and confidentially.
• Provide clear, professional and timely advice to applicants, recruiting managers and internal colleagues.
• Liaise with internal teams, external partners and vetting authorities to progress cases and resolve queries.
• Apply sound judgement when assessing routine cases, seeking guidance or escalating complex, sensitive or high-risk matters as appropriate.
• Support quality assurance activity by checking casework, identifying errors or trends, and contributing to continuous improvement.
• Help ensure service performance is maintained by prioritising workloads, meeting deadlines and supporting colleagues during peak demand.
• Contribute to the development of guidance, process notes and team knowledge-sharing to improve consistency and customer experience.

Person specification

• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to review information accurately and identify gaps or inconsistencies.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain requirements clearly and professionally.
• Good organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise competing tasks and meet deadlines

Essential criteria:

• Experience of working in an administrative, operational delivery, casework, compliance, or customer-focused environment.
• Ability to handle sensitive, confidential or personal information with discretion and integrity.
• Sound judgement and the confidence to escalate issues appropriately.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and build effective working relationships with stakeholders.
• Competence in using digital systems, case management tools and Microsoft Office applications.

Desirable criteria:

• Awareness of national security vetting, personnel security, or Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks.
• Experience of quality checking casework or supporting process improvement activity.

Security and Confidential Requirements:

• The post holder will be required to meet the security clearance requirements for the role before appointment and must continue to meet those requirements while in post. The clearance required for this role is Security Check (SC).
• The role involves access to sensitive personal and security-related information. The post holder must demonstrate discretion, integrity and compliance with data protection and information security obligations.
• The post holder may be required to support sensitive conversations or casework and must maintain professionalism, impartiality and respect throughout.

Working environment

The role is likely to involve a mix of casework, stakeholder engagement, system updates and quality checks. Workloads may vary depending on recruitment activity, operational priorities and service demand. The post holder will be expected to work flexibly, follow agreed processes and contribute to a supportive team culture.

Further Location Information

Please ensure that you only apply for a location that you are willing and able to work from, as we will only make one offer of employment. Any additional notes included in a 'Further Location Preferences (optional)' field within the application form, will not be considered. Please be aware that you cannot change your location preference after submitting your application.

Office Closures

If your location preference is for the following site, 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.

For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations (opens in a new window)

This site is:

• Telford Plaza, Telford - moving to Parkside Court, Telford.

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

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,096, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £9,008 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, 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.

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 and Experience.

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, previous skills and experience of your recent 3 roles using no more than 100 words per role. Your CV will be scored against the essential criteria and person specification outlined in the advert
• A 500-word Personal Statement. Your personal statement should be used to describe how your skills and experience would be suitable for the advertised role, making reference to the key responsibilities outlined in the advert.

Please evidence any Desirable Criteria where applicable, (up to 250 words max). This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy holder where candidates have the same score at interview.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

On-line Test
. click apply for full job details