Insolvency Service

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Birmingham, Cardiff, Croydon, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Stratford (London).

About the job

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty. 

Legal Services undertakes both criminal enforcement work on a range of offences that underpin the insolvency regime and civil litigation work arising from director misconduct. The purpose of this post is to manage a team of Paralegal Officers who are responsible for providing support and assistance to the in-house legal team.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 10 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability & Health, FACES Network Group, Grass Roots, LGBT+, Mind Matters, No Limits, Part Time Workers, The Shed, and Women’s Network Group.

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, though our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities. 

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career.

Job description

This is an exciting InsS (Insolvency Service) role within our Legal Services Directorate. As a Paralegal Assistant you will be contributing to the completion of administrative tasks within LSD, which is responsible for the pre and post decision to prosecute and post submission stage of all: criminal proceedings, s6 and s8 disqualification proceedings, bankruptcy and debt relief restrictions and winding up in the Public Interest cases, brought by InsS (and including and any subsequent appeals, s17 and 8A applications etc), ensuring InsS operational objectives are achieved, in particular quantitative, qualitative and timeliness targets.

Responsibilities

As an A2/AO Paralegal Assistant, you will be:

• Accurately drafting and sending S16 notices, processing disqualification and bankruptcy undertakings / orders.
• Registering new criminal referrals and / or advice cases on cyclops.
• Processing Turn Down decisions on criminal cases and sending general correspondence.
• Arranging conflict searches for external solicitor instructions.
• Registering PSC cases submitted by Companies House on cyclops, ensuring timely updates of each stage of the process is completed.
• Completing ad hoc requests, to include posting documents, using Notify/PSL systems, processing sanction increase requests, drafting additional undertakings, issuing reminder letters.
• Taking on additional casework as required by Line Manager i.e. dealing with absent colleagues’ casework.
• Providing support and cover of the main Legal Services mailbox when requested.

Person specification

The successful candidate will have:

• An ability to work well as part of a team.
• A keen eye for detail to ensure accuracy of information.
• Confidence in decision making.
• The ability to use initiative and find solutions to problems.
• Good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise tasks.
• Resilience and adaptability to changeable situations.
• Good communication skills to confidently deal with a range of stakeholders, both internal & external.
• A team player with the ability to build relationships, enabling you to act as a flexible colleague ensuring responsibilities are fulfilled.
• Good IT skills, particularly in the use of MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, and Excel).

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £22,183, Insolvency Service contributes £5,989 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want you have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do so we offer a great benefits package: 

• Flexible working arrangements and flexi-time.
• Full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. 
• In addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave. 
• Competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave. 
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• Cycle to work scheme
• Staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life.

A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27% 

• Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk 

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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 : Neeta Patel
• Email : Neeta.Patel@insolvency.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

A candidate can raise a complaint to the Insolvency Service if they think that:

They have been discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010.

There have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process.

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance: insolvencyrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission.

All complaints must be received by the contact point for applicants within 24 hours from the date the applicant is advised of their non-success at sift, assessment or interview. Complaints will be considered by an independent third-party outside of the recruitment campaign. The decision will be conveyed to the applicant, in writing, within 5 working days of receipt of the complaint. The recruitment process will usually be put on hold until the complaint has been resolved.

Complaints may also be made to the Civil Service Commission at any time if the individual believes their application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles (appointment on merit through fair and open competition). However, complaints must first have been raised with Government Recruitment Service.

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