Incident Control and Business Continuity Manager at HM Revenue and Customs in Portsmouth - Lynx House

Job summary

Explore the world of HMRC Estates, where we lead the way in government property transformation. As a key player in one of the UK's largest property programmes, HMRC Estates offers safe, inclusive workplaces and exceptional career development opportunities. Our team is dedicated to delivering high-quality, user-friendly services that enable our colleagues to thrive in an environment where they truly belong. Watch the video below to meet some of our team and come and discover a career in your hands at HMRC.

Build a Career in Property with HMRC Estates

We are seeking an experienced Incident Control and Business Continuity Manager to join our Estates Workplace Operation team in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

This critical role will oversee day-to-day Incident Control and Business Continuity readiness for our HM Government Hub site, ensuring all HMRC Lines of Business and Other Government Departments can effectively respond to incidents and recover operations swiftly.

This role is central to the Estates Workplace Operation team, with responsibility for maintaining resilience and safety across government estates.

The Government Hubs Incident Control and Business Continuity Manager ensure sites are prepared to respond immediately and effectively to incidents, and that business continuity plans are embedded across the region.

Job description

• Collaborate with Estates colleagues to ensure fire safety plans and emergency procedures for the Portsmouth Region meet all departmental and legal requirements.
• Determine and communicate evacuation routes before and during incidents, instructing the Incident Control Team to direct staff and visitors accordingly.
• Act as the lead during emergency situations, making critical decisions and ensuring instructions are followed to safeguard building occupants.
• Liaise with and support emergency services, making informed decisions based on real-time information.
• Lead the development and ongoing support of the incident team, including Incident Marshals and deputy ICOs, providing training as required.
• Oversee and resource counter-terrorism activities in line with departmental standards, working in partnership with the Regional Security Manager and Head of Counter Terrorism.
• Ensure all Lines of Business have comprehensive Business Continuity Plans (BCP), assisting in their development as necessary.
• Prepare for and lead local Business Continuity and Counter Terrorism exercises.
• Work with the Building Manager and Health and Safety Officer to prepare and maintain fire safety and emergency procedures.
• Work with HMRC Estates colleagues to gain the assurances required; that any Fire Risk Assessments or Occupied Building Risk Assessments action points are completed by the appropriate owners of those tasks.
• Collate and manage Personal Evacuation Plans (PEPs) for staff and visitors, integrating them into site evacuation procedures.
• Resolve issues related to emergency procedures, such as staffing for Incident Marshal roles or implementation of risk assessment recommendations.
• Conduct weekly building safety checks and address identified issues.
• Serve as a liaison with business area managers, occupiers, and external agents involved in emergency procedures.
• Ensure regular testing and documentation of fire alarm call points are conducted by service providers.
• Oversee bi-annual evacuation drills, ensuring realistic and effective arrangements.
• Report the status of emergency incidents to the Business Continuity Command and Control Team and provide timely updates.
• Provide guidance to all Other Government Departments within the building on incident control and business continuity matters.
• Monitor safe occupancy levels in collaboration with the Head of Estate.
• Work alongside the Regional Security Manager to assure senior management that staff and assets are adequately protected against terrorist threats and are trained to respond effectively to emergencies.
• Provide training to on-site suppliers supporting staff and visitors in the event of an emergency situation.
• Support the wider Workplace Operations team and carry out other tasks to contribute towards the day to day running of the Estate as directed by the Building Manager or Head of Estates.

Person specification

The following skills, knowledge and experience are required for this role. Prospective candidates must be able to clearly demonstrate their capability in these areas during the application process:

• Responsibility and Organisation: The successful candidate will be highly responsible and able to work in a structured and organised manner, ensuring tasks are prioritised and completed efficiently.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Strong skills in engaging with stakeholders at all levels are essential. Candidates should be able to build effective working relationships, communicate clearly, and manage expectations in challenging situations.
• Incident Management Experience: Substantial, recent, and relevant experience in incident management is required. Candidates must be able to demonstrate their involvement in managing incidents, coordinating responses, and implementing solutions.
• Business Continuity Knowledge: Experience in business continuity planning and execution is essential. This includes developing, testing, and maintaining business continuity plans, as well as responding to disruptions and ensuring organisational resilience.
• Problem Solving and Decision Making: The ability to analyse complex situations, identify key issues, and make effective decisions under pressure is crucial for success in this role.
• Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required, with the ability to convey information clearly and concisely to a variety of audiences.
• Attention to Detail: A keen eye for detail is necessary to ensure accuracy in incident records, reports, and business continuity documentation.

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrable experience of working in an operational, resilience, incident management, or business continuity environment.
• Experience of coordinating activities, managing competing priorities and communicating effectively with a range of stakeholders.
• Ability to make sound decisions and remain calm under pressure during incidents or time-critical situations.
• Knowledge of business continuity, incident management and organisational resilience principles and practices.
• An understanding of relevant standards, legislation and regulatory requirements associated with resilience, business continuity, or incident management.

Desirable Criteria

• L3 Award Passive Fire Protection.
• NEBOSH General Certificate.
• Experience in operational or resilience-focused environments.

Additional Security Information

The successful candidate must hold or be willing to obtain National Security Vetting level at Security Check before starting the role.

Working Pattern

Due to operational needs, these posts are full-time; however, applicants who need to work a more flexible arrangement are welcome to apply. We cannot guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly as any agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate. Any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

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:

• Lynx House, Portsmouth – moving to an alternative office in Portsmouth

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

Qualifications

Applicants must hold, or be willing to obtain within 12 to 18 months of appointment:

• BTEC Level 4 qualification in Security (or equivalent)
• Certificate of the Business Continuity Institute (CBCI) qualification, or an equivalent professional accreditation

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,682, HM Revenue and Customs contributes

£10,916 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 experiences, and full qualification details.
• 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, and how they meet the Essential Criteria and Person Specification 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.

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on your CV.

At full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions, covering Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, to explore in detail what you are capable of. You will also be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role.

This is an example of a strengths-based question:

“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you