Detention Custody Officer - Heathrow AP

Better places, thriving communities.

Detainee Custody Officer – Heathrow DCO Airport Based

Join Us and Make a Difference

📌 DCO: Salary £32, based on 42 hours per week

Who We're Looking For

We're looking for respectful, caring, and resilient individuals to join our team. If you have:
✔ Strong communication and interpersonal skills
✔ A calm and non-judgemental approach
✔ Great problem-solving abilities
✔ The ability to stay composed under pressure,

Then this could be the perfect role for you!

What You'll Be Doing

As an In-Country Escorting DCO at Heathrow Airport, you'll be responsible for:

• Escorting and transporting immigration residents within the UK
• Driving a small minibus-sized vehicle and ensuring the safe transportation of those in your care
• Maintaining high security and safety standards while treating residents with dignity and respect

As an In-Country Escorting DCO at Gatwick Airport DCO based you'll be responsible for:

• Providing care to immigration residents in a fixed location
• Maintaining high security and safety standards while treating residents with dignity and respect

This role requires flexibility, as you will work a mix of day and night shifts, covering a 24/7, -day operation.

No Experience? No Problem!

No prior experience or qualifications are needed—full training and support will be provided. If you have experience handling challenging situations or working with people in distress, it would be a plus.

Your journey begins with a 4-week paid training course, including a control and restraint training course. Over the next 13 months, you'll receive on-the-job mentoring and assessments, leading to an accredited Level 3 Apprenticeship in Detention and Custody.

Why Join Us?

⭐ Work-life balance – structured shifts for stability, up to 1 year in advance so you can plan your goals and travel.

📈 Career growth – start with a Level 3 Apprenticeship, with opportunities for leadership roles

⭐Continued personal development with full support given to enhance your career.

⭐Free parking and uniform

🎓 Training: 4-week fully paid training course

⭐A great selection of benefits incl. Access to on-line GP services, share options and a generous holiday allowance.

⭐Pension and Life assurance

⭐Reward & Recognition scheme.

⭐Discounts which include cinema, online shopping discounts, leisure centre memberships, holidays, and Health & Wellbeing Benefits. AND as a DCO, you can apply for a Blue Light discount card.

Essential Requirements

To apply, you must:
✅ Be a UK Citizen, a Commonwealth Citizen with indefinite leave to remain (not through marriage), or an EEA Citizen
✅ Hold a valid UK passport (expired visas in out-of-date passports cannot be accepted)
✅ Have lived in the UK continuously for the past 3 years, with no single absence over 3 months
✅ Pass an Enhanced DBS check, employer referencing (last 5 years), and Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC) vetting
✅ Hold a full UK manual driving licence (at least 12 months of experience)
✅ Have fewer than 7 points on your licence and no driving bans in the last 12 months

✅ Be over 21 years of age

Due to the safety-critical nature of this role, we require that employees are not under the influence of any substance—including prescribed medication—that may impair their ability to perform their duties safely. This includes any THC-based prescriptions due to the lack of reliable evidence on safe levels of THC in the system.

If you are currently prescribed medication that may affect your ability to carry out safety-critical tasks, we encourage you to discuss this with us as part of the recruitment process. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments where appropriate and in line with our obligations under the Equality Act .

To ensure the highest standards of safety and compliance, we operate a random drug and alcohol testing programme. By applying, you acknowledge that participation in this testing is a condition of employment.

🚨 Important: If you do not have a valid UK passport and a full UK manual car driving licence, we cannot proceed with your application.

Application Process

Successful candidates will be invited to an assessment process which includes:
📌 Interview
📌 Capability assessments
📌 Full vetting screening

🚀 Ready to take the next step? Apply now and start your journey with us!

Our market-leading offering provides you with benefits that suit your lifestyle.

We have a virtual GP on hand for you and members of your household. So you can get expert advice by video or phone without having to leave your home. We offer financial wellbeing assistance through our Salary Finance scheme. For example, you could access 50% of your earned pay before payday for a small fee. Salary Finance also offers competitive loans.

When you join us, we’ll give you a link to our flexible lifestyle benefits platform, Choices. You might choose to purchase up to five extra days’ holiday each year. You might buy critical illness insurance, seek dental treatment or buy technology products at an affordable cost. There are many choices!

We give you access to high street discounts from thousands of well-known retailers, gyms and more through our MiDeals platform. And we have a cycle-to-work scheme. Life cover of up to four times your salary is available. We also offer enhanced pension contributions, a save-as-you-earn scheme, and a Mitie Matching Share Plan (you could even be awarded free shares in Mitie).

We award our employees with Mitie Stars as recognition for their hard work. There are cash prizes up for grabs each month and at the end of the year there’s a chance to scoop a top prize of £10,!

Our success is a direct result of the experience and quality of our people. Progressing your career is therefore a top priority for us. We offer a diverse variety of training and development avenues via a wide selection of learning resources to suit you.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long-term condition (for example dyslexia, anxiety, autism, a mobility condition or hearing loss) and need us to make any reasonable adjustments, changes or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing at .