EOI BPSS Trial Coordinator

Eligibility

Applications are invited from the House of Commons, Parliamentary Digital Service and House of Lords staff who have been recruited through fair and open competition and have significant direct experience of undertaking BPSS (Baseline Personnel Security Standard) checks. Interested staff should discuss their application with their line manager before applying.

Introduction 

The Personnel Security Team drives the development, and implementation, of the policies and processes aimed at mitigating the risk of passholders exploiting their legitimate access to Parliament and its assets.

Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) is a pre-requisite for National Security Vetting to ensure that vetting is being carried out on the correct person. Security vetting applications from non-directly employed individuals contain a declaration from the company/organisation to state they have carried out BPSS checks.

The Audit and Compliance Team in Personnel Security, audit BPSS checks which have been undertaken by contractor companies.  These audits are currently being carried out 6/12 months retrospectively and we are undertaking a trial to audit BPSS as the security questionnaires are submitted via the Parliamentary Security Vetting (PSV) system.  We are also keen to extend auditing to other organisations, not just contractors, who submit non direct security vetting applications to parliament.

The Role 

This position will work across the Security Vetting and Audit and Compliance teams within Personnel Security and is an exciting opportunity to help shape this trial to ensure we have clear goals and measurable outcomes, with a view to establishing if this approach could potentially offer a new way of working.  You will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the trial, collating issues, feeding back regularly to senior management on progress and by the end of the trial develop a list of technical and process changes that would be required should this new way of working be adopted as part of our vetting improvements work. This position has supervisory responsibility for two C band positions, when they are assisting with this trial. In addition, you will assist with the review of a digital identity service provider (IDSP) for potential automation of identity and right-to work checks.

Key stakeholder relationships are the Security Vetting team, the Audit and Compliance team and all companies and organisations who submit non-direct security vetting applications via PSV.

Skills and Experience 

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

Essential

• Practical experience of undertaking BPSS checks so you are confident enough to be able to audit BPSS checks carried out by other organisations and can provide BPSS advice to the team members working on the trial.
• The ability to analyse the trial data to provide weekly updates for senior managers.
• A flexible attitude with the ability to change tack based on changing circumstances as the trial develops.
• Knowledge of the Parliamentary Security Vetting (PSV) system.

Desirable

• Awareness of the Cabinet Office BPSS guidelines.
• Highly organised, with very good knowledge of SharePoint and Excel, to ensure all administrative aspects of the trial are managed according to best practice.
• Experience of dealing with a variety of stakeholders in a customer facing role.
• The ability to coach and develop individuals through encouragement and best practice while adhering to House values.

Next Steps and Additional Information

 If you would like to apply for this role, please submit a covering letter with a 500 word limit. 

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description. 

Contact Details 

To find out more about the role, please contact Melanie Hamer, Acting Head of Personnel Security.