Inspection Officer (Child Protection) - Secondment

About the job

• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is a national organisation with a Head Office in Birmingham and regional offices in London, Salford. In line with the Places for Growth Programme HMICFRS will relocate more roles based outside London and the Southeast over the next six to seven years.

This role is designated as a Home Worker/Remote Access Worker position. The successful candidate will normally work remotely using their home as their base location and will be required to travel to inspections, meetings, training events and HMICFRS offices as required. Home Worker status applies to directly employed HMICFRS staff, whilst Remote Access Worker (RAW) status applies to secondees. As our inspection work takes place across forces throughout England and Wales, successful candidates will be required to travel regularly, including overnight stays where necessary to support inspection activity. Travel, accommodation and subsistence costs will be reimbursed in accordance with HMICFRS policy.

For administrative purposes, you will be attached to either the Birmingham or Salford office.

About the job

Job summary

HMICFRS independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire and rescue services – in the public interest. We promote improvements in policing and fire and rescue services to make everyone safer.

We are independent of the Government, police and fire and rescue services. We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered and produce major reports that shine a light on issues at the very heart of policing and fire and rescue services.

Our reports are widely covered by the media and help inform the public of the performance of their local police forces and fire and rescue services. You can find out more about HMICFRS on our website and see some of our recent reports.

Working at HMICFRS gives you an opportunity to make a real difference to the quality of local police and fire and rescue services and the lives of the public.

HMICFRS is a unique organisation with staff seconded or loaned from across the Civil Service, police forces and fire and rescue services. 

We set ourselves high standards, taking great pride in the quality of work we achieve and the opportunities we create for our staff.

Find out more

If you would like to talk to someone about this role and what it is like working for HMICFRS we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact Sarah.Lewis10@hmicfrs.gov.uk

Job description

Inspection officers are essential to the conduct of HMICFRS’ inspection programmes. They are responsible for supporting inspections by ensuring thorough preparation and detailed fieldwork, an assessment of evidence found is undertaken to the highest standards.

This role is being advertised as full time only due to business needs.

This role is open only to serving police officers.

Responsibilities

• Act as an ambassador for HMICFRS ensuring the highest standards of professional conduct are demonstrated at all times;
• Supporting inspections - including both planning and fieldwork;
• Collaborating with force liaison leads and inspection support teams to prepare inspections;
• Preparing pre-fieldwork briefings, analysing data and drawing conclusions that supports the report drafting process;
• Be responsible for gaining a sound understanding of the subject matter, knowledge of the inspection methodology and question sets;
• Working within a team of inspectors and ensuring that the right type of evidence is gathered;
• Provide feedback to support continuous improvement; and
• Actively seeking professional development to enhance personal and team knowledge of child protection matters.

Person specification

Essential criteria

All applicants must be currently employed by a police force within England and Wales and meet the above rank criteria. All applicants are also expected to have the following skills:

• Extensive tactical experience of working within child protection;
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret complex evidence and present clear conclusions;
• Confidence and experience in liaising, negotiating and influencing with senior stakeholders and statutory safeguarding partners;
• Ability to meet deadlines and maintain standards whilst working independently with minimal supervision;
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) with an understanding of office-based computer systems and experience of using applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Excel and Word.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of contributing to programmes and projects.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

We are committed to investing in our staff and providing all staff with opportunities to maximize their skills and achieve their potential. We offer a range of work-based training and development opportunities including access to coaching and mentoring, and five days volunteering per year.

HMICFRS has an Inspection Development Programme and linked accreditation process that all inspection staff undertake in our organisation. The scheme is approved by Skills for Justice and is based on you demonstrating competencies against a framework of role-specific tasks. The expectation is that all new inspection staff will complete a portfolio of evidence within agreed timescales (normally 12 months) and once this is complete it will be assessed by a trained assessor.

• An environment with flexible working options

We promote flexible working that balances professional and personal commitments. We support virtual and smart working, making best use of our technology and building collaborative working models to help all staff to work from home and/or in the office in a ‘hybrid’ way. 

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

The diversity of our people is a real asset to HMICFRS. We are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best. We particularly welcome applications from candidates from ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities, as they are currently under-represented within this grade level.

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 and Experience.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete

• A CV detailing job history/qualifications/skills. (The CV is for information purposes only and will not be marked).
• Personal Statement (1000 words).

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

The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description.

Please ensure you reference in your personal statement which force you are currently employed in. Failure to make this clear in your application form may result in your application being withdrawn.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

Sift

The sift will be carried out on your personal statement which should be aligned to the essential criteria.

If you do not meet the essential criteria, your application will not progress further.

Interview

If successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview where you will be tested against the Success Profiles behaviours and experience based on the essential criteria stated in the advert.

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers .

Sift and Interview Dates

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

Sift – week commencing Monday 5 th October 2026.

Interviews via Teams Video link – week commencing Monday 26 th October 2026.

Behavioural Statements

You need to provide specific examples of when you have demonstrated particular skills or qualities for each of the four Civil Service behaviours listed. Your examples must also show how you meet the Essential criteria and skills listed in the job description.

We recommend that you use the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) method to help make sure your examples are clear and highlight your skills and qualities. Each example should set out what you have done, how you completed the task and the results of this action to allow the panel to assess how you meet the required behaviours.

Please make sure you have provided sufficient information – it is not enough to submit a list of bullet points. Please refer to the Success Profiles (opens in a new window) to make sure you are familiar with what is required for each behaviour. You will not be expected to meet every single aspect of every behaviour but must show a good range or depth for each behaviour to be successful at the sift stage.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer.

Important information please read before applying on secondment:

This role is only open to currently serving police officers.

This is a Remote Access worker post. This post will be attached to one of the office locations.

Remote Access Worker (RAW)

Your home address will be used as your operational base for travel and expense purposes. You will primarily work remotely and travel to inspections, HMICFRS offices, meetings, training events and other work-related activities as required. This designation is typically used for secondees and reflects the way the role is accessed and delivered rather than a contractual home-working arrangement.

Remote Access workers, as part of the secondment will not be entitled to London Weighting Allowance. You will be required to attend HMICFRS offices or other locations on a regular basis, and your travel, accommodation and subsistence costs will be reimbursed according to HMICFRS policy.

This role is only open to currently serving police officers .

The role will involve regular travel and overnight stays.

Secondees can be appointed to HMICFRS for a maximum of 4 years – this includes new and previous postings.

Candidates who have served for the maximum tenure length, cannot be reappointed for 12 months from the date their previous secondment ended.

Candidates will need their Force to complete the Secondment Approval Form (see attachment). Please return your completed approval form to the HMICFRS Recruitment mailbox recruitment@hmicfrs.gov.uk . This should be sent before the advert closing date .