Litigator

Job content

Location

Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 4GF : Cardiff, Wales, CF14 5YA : London, London (region), E20 1HZ : Glasgow, Scotland, G1 1GY : Salford, North West England, M3 5FS : Washington, North East England, NE38 8QG : Portsmouth, South East England, PO6 3XA

About The Job

Job summary

About SOLS:

Across Solicitor’s Office and Legal Services (SOLS) we provide legal services to the whole of HMRC. This includes:

• The conduct of independent reviews of decisions made by HMRC which are requested by customers under the legislative provisions.
• The conduct of tribunal and civil litigation on a full range of services.
• Work on new legislation.
• Drafting of statutory instruments and other legal documents.
• Legal advice to ExCom and staff.
  

We also provide technical accountancy and forensic services to HMRC, are head of the Compliance Accountants’ and Insolvency Professions as well as handling Ministerial Correspondence and Freedom of Information requests for HMRC.

This Team Specifically deals with:

The posts are with HMRC SOLS Legal Operations, and specifically within National Tax Litigation business stream. This business stream works a range of litigation, mainly defending appeals on behalf of the wider department made by taxpayer customers in the Tax Tribunal.

See what it’s like to work at HMRC : find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question . Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Job Description

The successful applicants will be responsible for delivering casework, the duties vary depending on the post but will include some of the following:

• Make decisions about case progression.
• Independently draft and serve notices and applications to be served on the Tribunal.
• Independently draft and send case correspondence.
• Check, proof and serve witness statements.
• Prepare chronologies.
• Identify relevant documents and produce bundles.
• Presenting hearings on behalf of HMRC at Tribunal/Court.
• Draft statement of case and other key documents.
• As a case holder, manage or support all aspects of case management from commencement of proceedings through to hearing and conclusion, ensuring legal deadlines are strictly adhered to.
• Provide legal support to experienced senior colleagues on complex cases.
• Some administrative duties, and may include instructing counsel, if necessary.
  

There is also an expectation for you to quickly grasp the specialist processes that are key to the delivery of work in the area to which you are appointed.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

The successful candidate must have a tax professional or a legal professional background, or litigation experience (tax, non-tax and benefits and credits).

• A candidate with a tax professional background must have completed Foundation training or its equivalent, or already have passed one of the qualifications shown below in any HMRC regime e.g., Employer Compliance, Corporation Tax, Income Tax, VAT or Customs (ITC, ITS1, IDP, AIC, AIIT, CTA or BDDP or Tax Professional Learning Programme), or an external equivalent tax qualification (CTA/AIIT etc.). A successful candidate may also demonstrate that they have successfully completed the Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) and learning routeway to at least level 1 or have successfully completed the SOLS Practical Assessment Framework (PAF).
• A successful Legal Professional candidate should have a legal qualification, for example be already qualified as a solicitor, barrister, chartered legal executive, of have completed LPC or BPTC/BVC.
• A candidate with litigation experience will be able to demonstrate having operated in a litigation role including the drafting and submission of key litigation documents, such as, Statement of case, Particulars of Claim, Skeleton Argument or similar activities.
  

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, so please take into account the advertised office locations for this role when submitting an application and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.

HMRC welcomes applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, taking into account our operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

There may be a need to travel across the UK with occasional overnight stays being required and there may be a need for occasional travel for business purposes.

Location:

The number of posts per location are:

Portsmouth - 1

Washington - 1

Glasgow - 2

London, Stratford - 1

Manchester, 3NB - 1

Belfast - 1

Cardiff – 1

This vacancy is only available at the specified locations, alternative locations are not available.

Your office location is contractual so if you are successful, there is an expectation that you will attend that office location as required by the business. You need to consider how you will meet this requirement before you apply and discuss any concerns with the vacancy holder before accepting any role.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
  

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Working Together
  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,092, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £9,474 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
  

Find more about HMRC benefits in ’Your little extras and big benefits handbook’ for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

All Criminal Record Checks applications are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

SOLS use the Success Profiles framework for its recruitment. Your application will be assessed against the Experience and Behaviours elements of the framework. The Behaviours and Strengths element of the framework will be tested at interview.

Your application will include:

A CV, to include your job history over the past 5 years and a summary of experience and what you have delivered and any key achievements in each role (maximum 150 words per role – any excess word count will not be considered or scored).

A 500-word Personal Statement to include:

• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• An ability to work at pace, under pressure, and to changing demands and priorities.
• A strong team player with the ability to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders.
  

Additionally, candidates should tailor their Personal Statement to address the job description.

• A 250-word Behaviour statement describing a scenario where you have met the behaviour ‘Working Together’.
• A 500-word statement on how you meet the Essential Criteria.
  

Selection will be by sift and (if required) interview.

A preliminary sift on the Essential Criteria will be conducted and only candidates meeting the criteria will progress.

In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will assess the CV and Personal Statement. The CV and Personal Statement will be given a combined score.

Those applications progressing to a full sift will be assessed using the Behaviour statement Working Together.

If an initial sift is not required, applications will be assessed using all elements of the application: The CV and Personal Statement (combined score) and the Behaviour statement Working Together.

Candidates who are successful at the sift stage and progress to interview will be interviewed online.

The interview process will include Behaviours (Working Together and Communicating & Influencing) and Strengths-based questions.

The Strength-based questions look at a combination of what people are good at and what they enjoy doing. They focus on specific areas which motivate, naturally enthuse, and excite candidates. The best way to prepare is to reflect on what you feel your personal strengths are and your preferred way of working. It’s important to remember that there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. The panel will be looking for your unrehearsed initial response. You will not be notified of the strengths being tested before your interview.

Start dates may not be agreed straight away but this will be discussed further with successful candidates.

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.

Interview dates to be confirmed.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 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.

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.

Eligibility

To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments , and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Diversity and Inclusion

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.

For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values

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.

We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

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.

The Civil Service runs 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.

Locations

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 .

Security Update

For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks

Further Information

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.

Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.

Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk

Problems during the application process

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ’Contact point for applicants’ section.

If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.

Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 323280 & vacancy closing date 13/11/23 . Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.

For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.

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
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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.

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 : Rachael Osbaldeston
• Email : rachael.osbaldeston@hmrc.gov.uk
  

Recruitment team

• Email : hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
  

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via complaints.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk 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 web pages: Click here