About the job

Job summary

We are an executive agency of His Majesty’s Treasury (HM Treasury), established in April 2015 to improve the quality of internal audit provided to central government. 

Most of the Agency’s people are professionally qualified internal auditors, accountants or investigators. 

Many are also specialists in areas including counter fraud, project management, digital and commercial audit. 

We lead both the Government Internal Audit Profession and the Government Internal Audit Function.

Our workforce brings with it a unique depth of experience gained in a wide range of government departments, related bodies and other sectors. 

This enables us to offer a high-quality service based on cross-government insight and a strong understanding of our customers’ business. 

In GIAA, we aim to be a great place to work and to ensure that we have the capability and capacity to make even more of a significant contribution to achieving A Brilliant Civil Service over the coming years. 

Our initial focus was on becoming “a single audit practice”. We are now focused on taking GIAA to the next level so we can provide better insights and better outcomes for government.

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join GIAA’s multi-award-winning Counter Fraud and Investigation team. Since 2016, the team has delivered counter fraud services to over 120 separate Government Departments, Agencies and Arm’s Length Bodies and offers an unparalleled opportunity to work collaboratively across Government to combat fraud and protect public funds.  

The team provides a high quality, independent specialist counter fraud service, aligned to the Government Counter Fraud Framework and associated functional standards. To achieve this, our service offering is based on five service lines: investigation; fraud risk assessment; whistleblowing/speak up; Government GovS013 Functional Standard; and tailored counter fraud support.  

Whether you’re an experienced counter fraud practitioner looking for a fresh challenge or looking to expand your experience, GIAA’s Counter Fraud Officer role could be for you. 

We will have vacancies in the coming months delivering counter fraud services as part of our central services teams. These include: 

• enabling GIAA and clients to meet their internal and external counter fraud reporting requirements;
• developing and maintaining Counter Fraud and Investigation’s operating procedures, ensuring these remain fit for purpose and reflective of current legislative requirements and best practice;
• contributing to responses to Freedom of Information requests, Right of Access Requests and complaints;
• Supporting and enabling customers to embed and comply with the Government Counter Fraud Functional Standard;
• analysis of counter fraud data to identify trends, patterns or emerging threats and provide insight into the cross government fraud landscape.

The Counter Fraud Officer role is an important, busy and diverse role. It requires flexibility, attention to detail, a commitment to quality, including excellent drafting skills, and a desire to deliver the best possible outcomes. Successful candidates will be assigned to a specific role within Counter Fraud and Investigation but business need or developing skills may provide the opportunity to move to different roles within the team.   

A primary objective of Counter Fraud and Investigation is to lead the Government’s response in tackling insider and third party fraud. To succeed, we continue to foster effective and collaborative working relationships with other parts of government. Successful candidates will be expected to create and nurture relationships, enabling the best response to threats and incidents across government and provide in-depth advice and guidance to senior stakeholders and GIAA customers.  

Person specification

Contribute to responses to requests for information (including cross government reporting, Freedom of Information requests, Audit Committee briefings and complaints) accurately and timeously

• Develop operational instructions and provide in-depth technical advice to enable delivery of investigation services to agreed professional and quality standards;
• Undertake research and analytical activities, including horizon scanning, to identify and analyse current and emerging internal and external counter fraud threats to government;
• Support the delivery of business objectives through publicity and marketing of Counter Fraud and Investigation services, partnering and negotiating with key stakeholder groups and by sharing of best practice with colleagues;
• Support the referral management process, sensitively handling and assessing fraud allegations from a variety of sources, including whistleblowing channels.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and quality assurance across Counter Fraud and Investigation functions to improve the way it identifies problems and delivers appropriate solutions across Government organisations;
• Support the strengthening of the counter fraud response across government through delivery of counter fraud activities and collaboration with government organisations to enhance their counter fraud response;
• Where required, the role may include line management responsibilities.

Person specification

You will be required to write a statement of suitability of up to 750 words setting out how your experience and skills meet the following criteria:

1. Researching and analysing information from a wide range of sources and exploiting cross-source data, including, digital, financial and open-source data to inform high quality, relevant insight
2. Working collaboratively and engaging people at all levels within and across organisations to influence decision-makers and key stakeholders. Displaying confidence and integrity when making difficult decisions even if they prove to be unpopular 
3. Managing complex tasks, prioritising resources as appropriate, identifying risks, issues and dependencies, and considering best practice and options
4. Delivering quality outcomes, at pace, in line with agreed plans, timescales, budget and legislative and procedural requirements. Showing personal resilience and acting promptly to reassess priorities and workplans when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance
5. Communicating complex messages to diverse audiences clearly, concisely and effectively, identifying the most appropriate methods to achieve positive outcomes.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,135, Government Internal Audit Agency contributes £9,216 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Strengths and Experience.

Recruitment Timeline

Closing date: 11th June

Shortlisting: w/c 17th June

Interviews: w/c 1st July + 8th July

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline. 

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs profile. 

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Eligibility Statement

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. 

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is / Security Check (SC)

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. In exceptional circumstances, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.