Your senior investigative expertise will be key to your success in this role, as you deliver effective leadership and guidance to colleagues across both your immediate teams and the wider NFCU. You’ll work to ensure that investigations are carried out as effectively as possible, while championing quality assurance in our work that will ensure we meet required standards in everything we do.

You’ll be a talented collaborator, who can develop and maintain effective working relationships that strengthen our efforts to deliver food safety and security. Whether you are directly empowering your teams or working closely with senior and external stakeholders, you’ll expertly guide us through complex and sensitive investigations.

This an opportunity for a skilled communicator to have a real influence on public safety, whether you are leading the FSA’s teams in important work or acting as a representative of the organisation at domestic and international events.

If you are excited by the chance to use your experience and skills to deliver a positive impact that affects every single person in the country, and can support our talented teams as we fight to keep food safe, apply today for this unique opportunity.

Please read before applying

As this is an investigatory / intelligence role we need to be aware if any of our employees have any of the following: 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 FSA.

You must declare to the best of your knowledge:

·         Any disciplinary finding of guilt / failure to meet the appropriate standard of conduct relating to your employment you have ever had

·         Any charge of a disciplinary offence / notification of a failure to meet the appropriate standards you have ever had where the case has not yet been concluded

The disclosure of this information will not automatically disbar you from this role but we need to be aware of any event or issue which could impinge on your credibility if questioned in court.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.  

Technical (Licence): You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role. 

·         Full UK Driving Licence (manual or automatic) for category B vehicles

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

·   Lead criteria:   Experience of senior responsibility for risk management, intelligence development and decision making in order to direct and manage criminal investigations.

·    Experience of performing the Senior Investigating Officer role on complex criminal investigations.

·     Experience of leading effective, diverse, inclusive and collaborative teams, with a commitment to coaching, motivating and developing individuals and undertake fair personal appraisal assessments.

Technical

·     Experience of operating in a law enforcement context and making frequent practical use of key legislation namely, Fraud Act 2006, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Criminal Procedures Investigations Act 1996 together with associated codes of practice.

Lead Criteria

An initial sift may take place on just the identified Lead Criteria indicated.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours Level 4.

Behaviours

·         Seeing the Big Picture (Assessed via Seen presentation)

·         Leadership

·         Developing Self and Others

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Experience

·         Experience of performing the Senior Investigating Officer role on complex criminal investigations.

·         Experience of managing an investigation with complex challenges around disclosure.

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to prepare a seen presentation. Further information will be provided to you on the invitation to interview email.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 17 March 2024

Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 18 March 2024

Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 8 April 2024

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application.)

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) Requirements (SC)

Appointment will be subject to the candidate having, or being able to achieve, National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) level.

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 (although there are some exceptions e.g. if you have been serving abroad with HM Armed Forces).

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

Checks will be made against:

·        a departmental/company records check which will include, for example personal files, staff reports, sick leave returns and security records

·        a check of both spent and unspent criminal records

·        a check of credit and financial history with a credit reference agency

·        a check of Security Service (MI5) records

·        exceptionally, if there are any unresolved security concerns about the individual, or if recommended by the Security Service, the individual may also be interviewed

·        in the event of any unresolved financial concerns, the individual may also be required to complete a separate financial questionnaire so that a full review of personal finances can be carried out

·        checks may extend to third parties included on the security questionnaire.

The FSA is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity for all

Being truly reflective of our society and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to the work of the FSA. We are looking to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and encourage candidates to apply from a diverse range of backgrounds. We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process and beyond. All appointments are made on merit.

Please be assured that diversity or socio–economic information requested during the course of your application plays absolutely no part in our selection processes and is not seen by anyone assessing applications.  Any information provided is anonymised and used for statistical purposes only.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency 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

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview, but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.