Higher Executive Officer

Are you bright, motivated and keen to use your talents to help make a difference to the lives of victims of violent crime?

We are recruiting for people to fill Higher Executive Officer roles.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an Executive Agency of Ministry of Justice. We receive over 40,000 applications a year for compensation, from people who have lost loved ones or have been injured as a result of violent crime. We know financial compensation can never fully redress what they have experienced. Nevertheless, what we do is an important part of providing justice for victims and we take pride that the compensation we pay helps people move forward with their lives.

Some of the material you will access may include upsetting personal accounts of harm inflicted by others. This could include sexual assault and violence against children which is distressing. We recognise the personal impact this may have over a prolonged period and we provide resilience training, to promote wellbeing. 

We employ around 350 people and are based in Glasgow city centre, with excellent transport links. We are a small, engaged, productive workforce with a real sense of corporate community. We want to keep improving our services and the way we work to best serve the public, meet new challenges, deliver value for money and ensure CICA is a great place to work.

These positions are based at Buchanan Wharf, 10 Clyde Place, Glasgow, G5 8AQ. We currently operate a hybrid working business model, where a typical employee works 50% of their contracted hours in the office and the remainder at home.

The Role

We are looking for people who can show empathy, humanity and a passion for delivering excellent customer service.

Higher Executive Officer roles require a strong commitment to delivering personal and team objectives linked to our Business Plan. They also require strong interpersonal skills, to develop effective working relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

Higher Executive Officer Key Responsibilities

Our Higher Executive Officer roles are based across a number of teams and key responsibilities in role may include:

• Operating as part of a team focused on agreed goals and priorities, and working flexibly to achieve business objectives and meet key performance indicators

• Working with multiple sources of information and deciding compensation claims or responding to complaints, based on available evidence and provisions of the compensation scheme and associated guidance

• Preparing letters advising applicants or representatives of the outcome of claims or complaints in a manner that demonstrates compassion, empathy and sensitivity

• Building capacity through active participation in one-to-one performance discussions, learning from common errors and quality checking feedback

• Controlling workflows to ensure claims progress without delay

• Completing quality checks that assure the financial and procedural accuracy of work

• Line managing teams of colleagues at Executive Officer and/or Administrative Officer Grade

• Keeping up with technical and legislative developments and regulations and disseminating this as required

Essential Criteria

• Excellent numerical, written and oral communication skills

• Ability to self-manage, plan and prioritise

• Ability to review extensive and complex information, swiftly identifying the relevant facts and issues

• Excellent analysis and investigative skills requiring good attention to detail

• Strong interpersonal skills to develop effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders

• Highly focused on customer outcomes and committed to supporting the business in achieving its goals in a changing environment

The following criteria are not essential; however, candidates who can offer this experience should provide relevant evidence in their application.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in handling complex casework, complaints or decision making

• Experience of working with legal documents and/or statutory regulations

• Line management experience

• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Excel

Selection Process

The vacancy process involves 2 stages using Civil Service Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Stage 1

For the first stage of the vacancy filling process, you will be asked to provide a personal statement of suitability (maximum 750 words) demonstrating evidence of the essential criteria. If applicable, you should also incorporate evidence of how you meet the desirable criteria.

Stage 2

If successful at Stage 1, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed against the following behaviours:

• Managing a Quality Service

• Making Effective Decisions

• Delivering at Pace

• Leadership

During the panel interview, you will be asked Behaviour based questions and Strengths based questions.

Interviews are expected to take place in November 2025.

We will be conducting all interviews in person, at Buchanan Wharf, 10 Clyde Place, Glasgow, G5 8AQ.

Apply and Further Information

Following the closing date, the job advert will no longer be available. You may wish to save a copy for your records.

A reserve list will be created and will be valid for 12 months. If further vacancies arise for these or similar roles at Higher Executive Officer Grade, candidates may be appointed from the reserve list in order of merit.

We offer flexible working 7am - 7pm, Monday to Friday and these roles are offered on a full-time (37 hours per week) or part-time working pattern.

Please note we ask that candidates make themselves available on a full-time, fixed hours basis (9am to 5pm) for a 10 week initial training period, on site at our Glasgow office. This is to ensure the best training and consolidation experience for new colleagues.

For queries about the roles, please email the Corporate Support Services Team corporate.support@cica.gov.uk