About the job

Job summary

The Intelligence Directorate works collaboratively with 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.

As an experienced Intelligence Officer, your role will be to collect, evaluate, develop and exploit intelligence in support of the NCA’s mission. 

Job description

You will undertake intelligence development work on projects and operations to contribute to the National Strategic Assessment, Annual Plan, National Intelligence Requirements and National Control Strategy to drive business and aid the fight to cut serious and organised crime.  

This role attracts a SPOT Rate (SR) salary. SPOT Rate offers a progressive increase in pay to reflect the skills and experience of the officer. The starting SPOT Rate is SR 2 - £38,560. Progression to a higher SPOT Rate is only achievable once in post. The SPOT Rate range for this role is SR2 £38,560 - SR3 £40,996.

If you are not found appointable at the starting salary of SPOT Rate 2, you may be offered the lower SPOT Rate salary, SPOT rate 1 (£37,100) if you are considered to meet the skills, experience and behaviours at that lower level. The benchmark to appointing to the lower SPOT Rate is set at the start of each campaign. All offers will be made in merit order

If you would like to find out more about the role and the application process, we will be holding a virtual open evening via MS Teams on Tuesday 12th March 2024, 18:00 - 19:00. This event is by invitation only. If you would like to receive an invite, please email central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk with the subject line 'Virtual open evening - G5 experienced intelligence officer'

***To be considered, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance before commencing the role and some roles may require you to achieve DV clearance within the first 12 months in post***

Some roles may require DV STRAP within the first 12 months in post, this will also be determined by the role. Further details of this will be provided at the virtual event. 

Person specification

You will be carrying out cross-source data exploitation, delivery and dissemination of intelligence relating to serious and organised crime. Your work will play a key role in supporting activity to combat serious and organised crime, both tactically and strategically. You will interact with other NCA departments and teams, and external partners including government, Law Enforcement, UK Intelligence Community, public, private and third sector partners.

You will be playing a key role in supporting analytic teams with the tasking of intelligence assets and collection of information.

You could be deployed to work on any type of investigation, including, but not limited to Child Sexual Exploitation, Cyber Investigations or Financial investigations or your portfolio may include support to International activity and performance delivery, supporting the International Liaison Officer network and enhancing intelligence collected overseas. This may involve exposure to child sexual abuse material. You should consider the sensitive nature of the work before deciding to apply. All officers working on or supporting this type of operational activity will undergo a psychological assessment on taking up the role and at regular intervals once in post, and also receive welfare support as needed.

Applicants will be considered for roles across the Directorate and Agency, but we appreciate that candidates will have preferences in terms of the sorts of areas that they would like to support, and indeed that they may bring experience that may make them particularly suitable for some positions. Please refer to the attached document 'About the NCA - Our Teams' for further information about the different teams that you could work in as an Experienced Intelligence Officer. The information below provides reference numbers for some of the areas for which you will be requested to express a preference in additional question 3 on your application. Please note: This list is not exhaustive and if successful you may be offered posts in other specialisms that are not listed here:

1. International
2. National Tasking and Coordination (NTAC)
3. The Data & Analysis Hub (D&A Hub)
4. National Intelligence Hub (NIH)
5. Intelligence Collection
6. Intelligence Futures
7. Threat Leadership - NCCU
8. Investigations

Please note; Some roles will have an On Call requirement as part of their duties. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,560, National Crime Agency contributes £10,411 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 17th March 2024.

Sift Process 

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.

• CV - Your CV is for reference only, and will not be scored as part of the recruitment process. 
• Personal Statement

Using 1000 words (through your personal statement) please describe your motivation for applying for the role, and how you think you meet the essential qualifications/experience criteria. Please clearly outline: 

• How you believe your experience is equivalent to the current/active Intelligence Professionalisation Programme (IPP) Intelligence Officer (IO) certification. Please refer to the attached document ‘Guidance for applicants’ for further detail around essential qualifications and experience
• How you apply relevant legislation and policy within your role.
  
• How you gather, evaluate and structure intelligence in your role, including how you would assess risks and make decisions.
  

Your personal statement will be used to assess whether you meet the essential criteria: Intelligence Professionalisation Programme (IPP) Intelligence Officer certification or be able to provide evidence of equivalent experience. Therefore please ensure your personal statement clearly outlines how you believe you meet this criteria. Please use the attached 'guidance for applicant' to support you in writing your personal statement. Where you do not hold the required accreditations and your equivalent experience/accreditations are deemed not to be suitable, you will be notified that we will be unable to progress your application further. 

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.

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 8th 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 NCA alongside other government departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

Candidates who are successfully shortlisted will be invited to an Assessment Centre where candidates will be assessed through a knowledge check covering essential criteria, interviewed and undergo certain pre-employment checks including substance testing.

At interview you will be assessed on Behaviours, Technical skills and Experience. There will also be a written assessment.

Candidates must provide copies of any qualifications they rely on as part of their application to interview. Failure to provide the required documentation when requested will delay your application.

Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates via a virtual event which is expected to be held during the week commencing 15th April 2024. Assessment Centres will take place week commencing 6th May 2024 and will take place over a two week period in London and Warrington.

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.

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.

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)

Further information about working with NCA can be found here: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers?view=article&id=3067&catid=10

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

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.