Presenting Officer – Appeals, Litigation and Administrative Review

Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time. On average, you’ll spend three days in court, and two days in the office or at home. While some appeal hearings are remote, listing arrangements aren’t controlled by the Home Office.

Representing the Home Office as an advocate in court, you will contribute to national immigration policy – helping to keep UK citizens safe and secure.

About us

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter terrorism, organised crime, modern slavery, trafficking, drugs policy, immigration, and passport control.

Appeals, Litigation and Administrative Review (ALAR) is part of our Customer Services Group. We’re responsible for dealing with all applications where an appeal or legal challenge has been lodged. We ensure that high-quality decisions on cases are made, then robustly defend those decisions. We deal with the administration and presentation of the Secretary of State’s case in Immigration Tribunal cases.

Everyone in the Appeals team plays a key role in contributing to the Home Office’s overarching strategic objective of controlling immigration. We do that by delivering excellent customer service and accurate decisions, which keep the UK safe and secure.

About the role

This role is an opportunity to do hands-on work that comes with skill development and a sense of purpose. You’ll gain significant courtroom experience and experience of reviewing complex decisions to ensure they are sustainable. Working in an engaging, dynamic and fast-paced environment, you’ll prepare and present cases in the First-tier Immigration Tribunal. You’ll also undertake a review of complex immigration decisions and responses to legal representations.

You’ll be given a lot of responsibility from the start. This will help you gain valuable experience in public service and immigration law, and a unique perspective on legal processes.

The wide variety of cases will make your role intellectually stimulating and challenging.

About you

While you don’t need a law degree, you will have a strong interest in immigration law. Resilient and articulate under pressure, you’re able to work dynamically in a fast-changing and time-pressured environment. You’ll also be able to accurately analyse, review and consider complex legal arguments, and communicate with and influence a wide variety of external stakeholders.

This is a role that requires extended periods of concentration, so it is vital you can maintain focus over long periods of time when presenting and preparing cases.

Training and development

After joining, you’ll take part in a comprehensive foundation programme that typically lasts around 12 weeks. This programme provides a solid base of knowledge across multiple areas of immigration law, as well as how to operate effectively in the Tribunal. On top of this, a mentor will support you throughout, and you’ll receive consolidation training alongside other continued learning. All of this will give you the right support and environment in which to increase your knowledge and skills in how to review, prepare and present Immigration Appeals.

Application process

First, you’ll complete a personal statement. This allows you to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet our essential criteria.

We sift applications based on these personal statements.

The next step is an interview in which you’ll deliver a 15-minute presentation and respond to follow-up questions. Details of the presentation will be provided at the start of your interview.

During the selection process, we’ll assess you on:

Communicating and influencing Delivering at pace Making effective decisions

Closing date: 6 January 2025.