About the job

Job summary

Anti-Corruption Criminal Investigations Unit (ACCIU) and the Professional Standards Unit (PSU) make up the criminal and civil investigative arms of the Internal Investigations Unit. 

Supported by the Internal Investigations Hub our mission is to raise standards and protect our people, assets and information.

ACCIU officers are tasked to investigate allegations of criminality, support disciplinary processes and pursue staff whose actions can bring the Home Office reputation into disrepute.

Our criminal investigators undertake a variety of tasks alongside their investigative roles. They work collaboratively with internal and external partners including the police, NCA, CPS & OGDs to build greater resilience and promote stronger working relationships in the fight against crime. 

This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic investigation team as an operational criminal investigator in the Anti-Corruption Criminal Investigations Unit (ACCIU) investigating allegations of internal corruption. 

Job description

Post holders will be required to satisfactorily fulfil the following : 

Operational Delivery

Plan, manage and conduct criminal investigations, sensitive and/or high-profile investigations into allegations of corruption and fraud in relation to staff across the Home Office. That may include:

•    Acting as an Officer in Case (OIC) for serious and complex criminal investigations, working to a high standard and ensuring compliance with all relevant legislation and policy. 

•    Conducting investigations in support of the Home Office disciplinary process, investigating staff of all grades within the department, and providing advice and direction with evidential foundations. 

•    Undertake arrest duties and other operational activity such as property searches 

•    Conducting interviews with suspects, witnesses, and victims – including members of the public, employees and any other persons who may hold information relevant to the investigation. 

•    Prepare and present files for court, to the highest standard, whilst ensuring they are submitted punctually and within deadlines. 

•    Set the direction with in-house specialists such as Financial Investigators and Digital Media Advisors to establish relevant strategies for each strand of the investigations. 

•    Identifying intelligence trends, threats and risk to business areas, whilst providing recommendations and advice for organisational change to increase business resilience.

There are a variety of legal proceedings our staff can become involved in from Magistrates Court to Crown Court, in all eventualities they must:

•    Present evidence in court, with clarity, and integrity whilst always displaying professionalism.

•    Managing and monitoring investigations to ensure progress towards a variety of judicial / non judicial outcomes. 

Engagement 

•    Liaise with internal and external stakeholders who hold relevant material pertinent to our investigations cutting across operational boundaries. 

•    Support law enforcement partners and Other Government Departments (OGDs) by taking on the role of the Single Point of Contact (SPOC).

•    Confidently brief senior managers about your investigations, including producing detailed briefing and submissions suitable for Senior Civil Servants and Permanent Secretaires. Appropriately engage with our Press Office at relevant stages of the investigation. 

•     Liaise with colleagues across the wider Home Office to ensure all issues relating to vetting, aftercare, insider threat, financial irregularities and employee welfare are disseminated appropriately. 

•    Represent the Home Office at regional and national forums, remaining professional and using advanced interpersonal skills to negotiate and secure positive working relationships.

•    Embrace stakeholder engagement nationally by means of attending events and organisational presentations, highlighting the work of the unit and benefits of collaborative working. 

This is not an exhaustive list. You can, and will, be tasked with any activity within the bounds of your grade and the limits of training and competence, which may assist with operational activity and ACCIU investigations.
 
You must have an ability and willingness to support senior managers across the departments with measures identified to ensure the continued protection of the Home Office. Influencing policy and departmental changes with the provision of solutions and guidance will be a part of what you will do. 

Before you can start to conduct investigations, which is just the start of the journey, you will need to disclose any previous convictions.

Person specification

ACCIU are looking for confident and experienced investigators who have excellent decision-making skills and a proven ability of exercising balanced judgement.

You will be required to have outstanding drafting and written communication skills and be responsible for working independently whilst managing highly sensitive investigations.

Your work will bring you into contact with all grades within the Home Office, confidence and responsiveness is a must. You will be working in a team of experienced investigating officers however you will be expected to support colleagues in other areas of the business including CFI, ICE and vetting within pre-employment and aftercare functions. 

Arrest training - Successful candidates are required to be arrest trained to PPST level 3 and pass an annual PPST refresher.  

They  will be required to undergo and pass a health assessment, which is usually repeated every three years (although this can sometimes be yearly for specific health reasons).

Due to the nature of the role, it is available on a full-time basis only with some flexible working, which will be assessed periodically in line with civil service guidelines.

There will be travel associated with this role within various geographical locations, some travel by official vehicles will be inevitable.
 
The role attracts an Annualised Hours Working (AHW) Allowance. AHW is an attendance system where staff work an agreed number of hours for the year rather than weekly conditioned hours.  

You will be required to work flexibly on any day of the week, including weekends, nights, public holidays and privilege days. The hours may vary each week. Attendance may also be subject to change at short notice. The rate payable under the AHW scheme is driven by business requirements and your initial rate will be confirmed when you have started in post and will be paid as a percentage of your basic salary.

Essential skills

Successful candidates must : 

•    Hold and maintain current Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP) 2 accreditation by completing an annual Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Journal & Toolkit.

•    Have previous experience of taking complex investigations to court, working collaboratively with CPS and Counsel whilst demonstrating fortitude in this pressurised environment.

•    Be able to accurately analyse information from a range of internal and external sources and find solutions to support decision making, whilst identifying and addressing any risks.

•    Have a comprehensive understanding (through practical application) of relevant legislation.

•    Be trained to PPST Arrest Level 3 or be willing undertake a 2 week in-house course. Once held officers must maintain arrest capability by attending annual PPST refreshers and regular health screening (once every three years or less if directed by a medical practitioner).

•    All applicants should hold a current, clean, UK full driving licence 

Desirable skills

Ideally a candidate will have:

•    An understanding of Counter Corruption/Anti-Corruption work and wider Home Office departments. 

•    Experience in the use of Excel, Word, Powerpoint and ALTIA. 

•    Knowledge of Home Office IT systems including ATLAS, CID, PEGA, CRS and CLUE.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

•    CV detailing qualifications/skills and job history 
•    A statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 750 words)
•    Provide evidence of the behaviour Making Effective Decisions (250 words maximum)

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The statement of suitability should be aligned to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description.

The sift will be conducted on the behaviour and statement of suitability. However, if a large number of applications are received, the sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability (personal statement) only.

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be behaviour-based questions.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 8th April 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 29th April 2024.

 We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change. 
 Interviews will be carried out via video. Candidates will be required to have access to:
•    A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
•    Good internet connection
•    Skype for Business/Microsoft Teams

A reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Further Information

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism and copying and generating of examples/answers from internet sources including Artificial Intelligence. If any is detected the application may be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving civil servants. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

DV clearance or a willingness to undergo DV clearance is an essential requirement for this role. Successful candidates will be permitted to start with SC whilst they undergo the DV clearance processes.

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, 

subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to  bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

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.