About the job

Job summary

HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for the department’s civil and criminal investigations. FIS ensures that HMRC has an effective approach to tackling the most serious tax evasion and fraud. FIS is home to a wide range of people with a variety of skills and professional backgrounds – including accountants, cybercrime specialists, criminal justice professionals, tax professionals and operational delivery support teams to name but a few. We use a range of powers and approaches to protect funding for UK public services, investigating the most harmful tax cheats and ensuring nobody is beyond our reach.  
 
The Economic Crime (EC) deputy directorate forms an integral part of the HMRC Serious Fraud Strategy. Working closely across the department and the wider Law Enforcement community, using specialist expertise and modern technology we put illicit finance at the centre of operations. Our teams tackle the financial aspects of cases that will ultimately deter, disrupt and remove assets from tax fraudsters.

See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Job description

You will be responsible for delivering a wide variety of complex and exciting Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) Part 5 Chapter 2 Investigations which are civil recovery of the proceeds of crime at the High Court.

POCA Part 5 Chapter 2 is primarily non-conviction based asset recovery and the proceedings are aimed at the assets which are derived from the proceeds of crime.

You will take the lead in proactively managing and investigating financial investigations in all recovery areas by working closely with tax professionals, insolvency professionals, forensic accountants and the wider Fraud Investigation Service to identify alternative methods of recovery.

The role may also include HR line management responsibilities for Financial Investigator and Financial Intelligence Officers and management of those officers’ financial investigations.

Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Person specification

As part of this role you would be required to:

• Make court applications and act as an assurance officer in line with the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002, other relevant legislation, case law and codes of practice.
• Analyse financial and case related material in order to improve recovery opportunities.
• Prepare cases for court, attending to give evidence where necessary.
• Keep your knowledge and relevant accreditations up to date with changes in the law and technical and professional developments.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external to ensure illicit finance is at the heart of all FIS investigation work.
• Act as a role model by demonstrating HMRC values and capability.
• Maintain accurate management information on an ongoing basis.

Financial Investigators with recognised Authorised Officer status will additionally:

• Plan, lead and deploy operationally to maximize cash and listed assets interdiction opportunities.
• Deploy operationally on wider activities to enhance Financial Investigations in other areas of Fraud Investigation Service.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Strong decision-making ability and the application of effective problem solving.
• Proven ability to think laterally and to drive performance improvements.
• The ability to communicate, negotiate, persuade, and lead.

Essential Criteria

Candidates must be able to demonstrate the following essential criteria:

• Experience of undertaking civil or criminal investigations or managing a team undertaking this work.
• Candidates must be or willing to obtain SC Clearance.

 Desirable Criteria

• National Crime Agency Financial Investigation Accreditation / Financial Investigation training delivered by Tulliallan Police College for candidates from Scotland or
• POC Authorised Officer Training.
• FIS Criminal Justice Profession.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,893, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £10,771 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, Strengths and Experience.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

CV:

Employment History - You will be asked to provide details on your Employment History. This should detail your job history, responsibilities and key achievements covering up to 3 of your last jobs/roles, in no more than 200 words per role.  

Please use the following format: 

• Name of Employer.
• Dates worked (to and from).
• Job title.
• Role Responsibilities/Key Achievements.

Qualifications – this should be used to provide any and all qualifications you hold.  

Any information provided over this limit will not be considered and your application may be rejected if you exceed the word count as specified. The CV is for information only and will not be scored.   

Personal Statement:

You’ll also be asked to provide a Personal Statement up to 250 words, this must demonstrate how you meet the Essential Criteria and what you and your experience can bring to the role. The Personal Statement will be scored. 

Behaviours:

You will be asked to provide examples up to 250 words each, on two of the specified behaviours.

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift may be completed against the Personal Statement. If your application progresses to a full sift, all sift criteria will then be considered.

Please note: Any candidate who fails to demonstrate that they meet the Essential Criteria within their Personal Statement will be scored a ‘1’ and their application will not be assessed further.

Interview

Candidates successful at sift, will be invited to the next stage, which will consist of an interview, where your behaviours and strengths will be tested. Candidates will not be permitted to bring notes in to the interview. 

Interview dates to be confirmed.

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Eligibility

To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please review the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.

Reasonable Adjustments 

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. 

If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Diversity and Inclusion

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.

For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values.

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process. 

The Civil Service runs 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. 

Locations 

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

Security Update

For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks.

Additional Security Information

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

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

Further Information

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process. 

Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.

Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk

Problems during the application process 

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. 

If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.   

Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 343010 & vacancy closing date 14/03/2024. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.

For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.