About the job

Job summary

The Intelligence Directorate works collaboratively with the NCA Investigations Directorate and partners to deliver a unified crime fighting response. 

Serious and organised crime (SOC) is one of the recognised national security threats, estimated at costing the UK economy over £37 billion every year. 

In the Intelligence Directorate we collect, record and enhance intelligence to build a picture of that SOC, sharing this with partners in the UK and abroad. Then, through the exploitation of intelligence, we flex law enforcement’s collective resources against these dynamic threats. We are continuously looking for new opportunities to enhance traditional capabilities to increase the quantity and quality of available intelligence and maximise its potential for exploitation. 

This role is part of the National Intelligence Hub who are responsible for identifying key priority targets and developing intelligence through its symbiotic relationship with Intelligence Collection and International. The National Intelligence Hub (NIH) is at the heart of the NCA, delivering intelligence products and identifying opportunities which drive NCA and partner activity in response to the highest threats from Serious and Organised Crime.

Job description

The NTC-CSAE team deliver a variety of CSAE investigations using a range of diverse and innovative tools, as well as urgent support against incoming intelligence feeds.

This role is for an Intelligence Officer within the NTC CSAE Victim Identification team. The successful candidate will join a team of digital intelligence specialists who use a range of diverse and innovative tools to identify child victims of CSAE offending. The role is a unique opportunity to receive specialist training and experience in the field of image analysis. You will be expected to work with government and international partners on new and emerging technologies in the field of digital image analysis to maximise opportunities to safeguard vulnerable victims. 

This role attracts a SPOT Rate salary. SPOT Rate offers a progressive increase in pay to reflect the skills and experience of the officer. The starting SPOT Rate is SPOT rate 1 £37,100. Progression to a higher spot rate is only achievable once in post. The SPOT rate range for this role includes SPOT rate 2 £38,560/SPOT rate 3 £40,996.
  
Eligibility for spot rates is determined by the requirements of the role, not the skills or capabilities of the officer occupying the role. Roles where IPP or PIP2 accreditation is essential are eligible for spot rates.
 
Pay principles for existing NCA officers can be found in the NCA Remuneration policy (HR04 OP03) 

Civil service salary matching is not permitted on the Spot rate structure

If you are not found appointable at the starting salary of SPOT Rate 2, you may be offered a lower grade or lower SPOT Rate salary, if you are considered to meet the skills, experience and behaviours at that lower level. The benchmark to appointing to the lower grade is set at the start of each campaign. All offers will be made in merit order.

Please note; Candidates should note that this role involves exposure to child abuse images and material.  Due to the exposure to CSAE material, the successful candidate will have to complete psychological assessment and image exposure training. The NCA is committed to the well-being of its officers and offers a number of initiatives to support those working in such roles.

** To be considered, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance before commencing the role and achieve DV STRAP clearance within the first 12 months in post. Applicants must be willing to undergo DV clearance and STRAP induction and be full UK Nationals or Dual Nationals, of whom one component is British may be considered on a case by case basis.**

Person specification

The successful candidate will develop tactical and strategic intelligence, and provide advice regarding law enforcement and safeguarding strategies to the investigations. You will be focused on the identification of victims and suspects of CSAE offending in the United Kingdom, with the aim of safeguarding the most vulnerable and innocent members of our community.

You will be expected to understand the risks to children, and recognise the need for contingency planning for safeguarding intervention activity without compromising ongoing investigation.
 
The successful candidate will be proactive, working on fast time investigations, and focused on victim identification, using a variety of intelligence development techniques. You will be required to develop and maintain an exemplary standard of subject matter knowledge in support of the team objectives; showing competence in the use intelligence handling against information security protocols, NCA policies and procedures, and the law.  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,100, National Crime Agency contributes £10,017 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 Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

If you wish to apply for this vacancy, you must submit your application by 23:55 on Sunday 24th March 2024.

You will be asked to complete a CV as part of the application process Your CV should set out your career history including training and qualifications, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure that each entry of your career history also has a few sentences outlining a description and the key elements of that role, and that you provide reasons for any gaps within the last two years. Please ensure the dates of any accreditations you are relying on are entered onto the CV. Experience criteria can also be assessed from CV.

• CV.
• 2 x Behaviours via a 250 statement per criteria.
• 4 x Technical / Experience skills via a 250 Statement of Suitability per criteria. 

For further application guidance please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/applying-and-onboarding

Once submitted your application will be acknowledged by the Government Recruitment Service.

Please note depending on the volume of applications a Longlist at sift may be conducted on following criteria:

• Knowledge of intelligence collection methods and techniques.

Candidates must pass this criteria for their application to be progressed.

A panel will then assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the Entry Criteria section.

Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Sift results are expected to be released w/c Monday 15th April 2024.

Interview Details 

You will then be asked to attend an interview in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence. 

The interview will consist of two rounds (1x interview, and 1x assessment), and will assess:

• 2 x Behaviours
• 4 x Technical Skills
• IPP Knowledge Check Assessment (if successful at interview)

If applying under the previous experience route/returning ILO/career breaker this will be subject to assessment by OSCAU*

*This will be an Intelligence assessment for candidates who pass the sifting process and do not already hold IPP Intelligence Officer certification.

Interviews will take place throughout April and May - locations to be confirmed. Please be advised that the type of interview (eg. virtual/face-to-face) may be subject to change and successful candidates will be notified of this prior to attending. However the interview is conducted, the interview criteria will remain as detailed within this advert.

Candidates who are successful at interview will be invited to an Assessment Centre where candidates will be assessed through an IPP Knowledge Check Assessment. Please refer to attached 'Guidance for applicants' for detail about what constitutes equivalent experience.

The above sift and interview dates are an indicative timeline.

Should you be successful at sift but cannot attend on the interview date(s) listed the recruitment team cannot guarantee an alternative date. Please contact the recruitment team.

Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates.

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. Any instances of plagiarism including copying of examples/answers from internet sources will result in a withdrawal of your application. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

Interview Outcome 

Candidates will be alerted of the outcome of their interview via their CS Jobs Portal.  We will be retaining a candidate pool of successful applicants to draw from as vacancies arise for up to 12 months.

If your application is successful and we are unable to offer you a post immediately, you will be invited to join our reserve list. If over the next 12 months we are able to offer you a position, we will contact you as soon as possible. 

Once we make you an offer you will then go through our vetting and pre-employment checks processes.

All Appointments will be made in location merit order. 

The NCA is a law enforcement agency & as such we are part of the Criminal Justice System. Therefore if you are going into an operational role we need to be aware if any of our officers have, either before they join us or afterwards, any of the following:

• Any criminal conviction (including by Court Martial), or caution or fixed penalty notice for disorder or theft;
• Any adverse judicial findings;
• Any charges or summonses where the proceedings are not complete;
• Any misconduct or gross misconduct findings or where proceedings are not complete.

You will be asked to complete a declaration form covering the above if offered a role with the NCA. 

Each case will be considered on its merits and a positive declaration does not automatically mean that your application will not be progressed. However, should you fail to disclose a relevant matter then your application or employment will be adversely affected. If in doubt, please declare it at this stage.

Multi-Location

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only. If you are posted to a location that you have requested and you do not accept that location, you may not be offered another role.

Please note, only advertised location can be offered. Notes populated in a free text box will not be taken into consideration.

Near Miss 

If you are not found appointable at the advertised grade you may be offered the lower grade role if you are considered to meet the skills, experience and behaviours for the lower level. The benchmark for appointing to the lower grade is set at the start of each campaign. All offers will be made in merit.

If you are found appointable at the higher grade but there are no positions available you may be offered an appointment at the lower grade.

Hybrid Working

Here at the NCA we have a hybrid working arrangement in place enabling officers to work a proportion of their role remotely. Eligibility and the degree of home working will vary depending on the requirements of the role. Further details can be discussed at offer stage.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. As part of our application process you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process that you may need. If you have a disability or long-term condition (a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, 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 ncarecruitment.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.

Inclusion and Accessibility

We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process. For details of the available group please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/benefits-and-support

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, the NCA require certain personal details about you on submission of your application. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application. You will be asked to complete an E-consent survey asking for permission to share this data with the NCA to be used for statistical/monitoring purposes only, refusal of consent to share the information will not impact your application.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Additional Information 

• The NCA is a 24/7 organisation, and working patterns must support business requirements. Some roles may require you to respond at short notice or outside of core hours.
• Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.
• Successful candidates may be required to undertake a medical. If required, the medical will take place in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.
• If you are an internal candidate who has passed interview but is undergoing an internal investigation or have a written warning in place preventing a post move you may not be able to be posted until this investigation is concluded or restriction lifted. You will remain on the reserve list for a max of 12 months.

This role is being advertised on a permanent basis. If preferable, Loan or Secondment options will also be available for existing Civil Servants (Loan) and applicants from accredited NDPBs or any other employer (Secondment). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

VETTING REQUIREMENTS SC

All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.

Checks will be made against:

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

VETTING REQUIREMENTS - DV 

All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.

The requirement for DV is to have been present in the UK for at least 7 of the last 10 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If you require DV clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.

Checks will be made against:

• successful completion of the BPSS
• UK criminal record and identity checks
• credit reference checks
• relevant personnel and medical checks (if required)

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

We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA careers page for further information please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers

If you have any specific queries about the role that are not covered by the candidate pack, please contact:

ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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

Open to UK nationals only.

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.