About the job

Job summary

Are you inquisitive and love problem-solving?  

Would you like to pursue a career in intelligence with a focus on finance? 

If so, we would love for you to join us at the Intelligence Development Team in Bristol. 

As a Financial Intelligence Officer, you’ll be joining one of the most exciting roles in Government and Law Enforcement, so we’re looking for dynamic and enthusiastic individuals who have a passion for this interesting and varied work. 

This role requires keen attention to detail, and will draw on your tenacity, resilience, and flexibility. You’ll need to exercise sound judgement and discretion, along with the ability to understand and apply legislation, policy, and procedure. 

If you have an open and enquiring mind, love problem-solving and decision-making, based on rules, precedent, and in-depth analysis; if you can thrive in a high-pressure environment, adapting to changing priorities and demands, we encourage you to apply.

This could be the role you have been looking for!

To apply you must be a UK National.  

Successful candidates must hold or be willing to apply and attain National Security Vetting (NSV) at Security Check (SC) clearance level to be appointed to this sensitive role. This requires 5-year consecutive residency in the UK and is not eligible for visa sponsorship. To check that you are eligible to apply, review the  Additional Security Information and Security sections in the advert. 

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

   

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

Job description

You will be joining the Intelligence Development team, which is part of the Law Enforcement arm of HMRC. We pursue criminals, fraudsters and smugglers who attack the UK Exchequer, and build intelligence packages for civil interventions. We also work with our civil colleagues to use all the tools at HMRC’s disposal to prevent and detect serious organised crime. 
 
We develop intelligence for serious civil cases for intervention partners, mainly in Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) with a focus on dismantling, disrupting and prosecuting individuals and Organised Crime Groups who criminally attack on our tax systems. 
 
You’ll be joining our Bristol team of around 20 colleagues.  

The role necessitates the building of strong relationships with our varied stakeholders to maximise the benefits to HMRC.  

It will involve dealing with enquiries from internal and external teams in relation to financial work undertaken. You will use your analytical skills to exploit intelligence received from a variety of sources. 

This will involve analysing data and intelligence particularly those of a financial nature, and ensuring all risks are considered before development for our operational partners. 

You can look forward to receiving our highly regarded training programme, the support of a mentor, job shadowing, and excellent potential for career progression.

We anticipate the successful candidate starting in post around October or November 2024. 

Mandatory Training  

1. Undertake and pass a training programme of up to 12 months. This will be a combination of online and on-the-job training and will commence from your start date. 
2. Financial Intelligence officer training which is accredited by the National Crime Agency (NCA). This course is approximately 6 months and is a mixture of online training with on-the-job consolidation, documenting how financial powers will be used in the work environment. You will not be able to continue in this role if the course is not fully completed and pass rate achieved. However we will help you find an alternative Officer role within HMRC within the priority movers process. 
3. Intelligence Foundation Course - Accreditation as a Counter Fraud Intelligence Technician. This interactive online course is approximately 4 weeks and involves group exercises where you will make practical application of the knowledge, intelligence techniques, and skills learnt. 

On successful completion of your training you will be an accredited Financial Intelligence Officer.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Reviewing and analysing incoming intelligence from internal and external sources to establish HMRC risks and offences.
• Developing intelligence, and associated HMRC information, to create Intelligence Packages for our operational partners within investigation to take forward for HMRC civil interventions and operations. 
• Processing incoming Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests from National Crime Agency (NCA) deconflicting against HMRC held data. Liaise with internal and external colleagues to establish if any action can be taken using Proceeds of Crime Act 2022 (POCA) legislation and other powers. 
• Using and maintaining internal and external databases and mailboxes. 

Person specification

The ideal candidate will have: 

• Excellent verbal and communication skills. 
• Good awareness/usage of using Microsoft 365, such as Microsoft Teams, Excel, Word, SharePoint, and Outlook.  
• Good team working skills and be able to adopt a flexible approach to help achieve business results. 
• Experience of using, analysing, and interpreting information. 
• Experience in managing multiple tasks. 
• Experience of collaborating with customers. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,341, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £6,772 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, Ability and Experience.

How to Apply 

The assessment process for this vacancy consists of 3 stages: 

1. Application 

Online Tests (Civil Service Numerical Test and Civil Service Judgement Test) 

Once you have completed the short application form (basic personal information only) you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Numerical Test. If you meet the required pass mark, you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test. 

Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is on Thursday 25th July 2024 at 23:55. If you fail to complete both online tests before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for each test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website. Further information on the Civil Service Judgement Test and Civil Service Numerical Test can be found here. 

Please note, Online Practice Tests are available on Gov.uk and within your application centre once invited to each test. 

Written Application  

If you pass both the Numerical Reasoning and Judgement tests you will be invited to complete the written stage of the application which must be submitted by 23:55 on Thursday 25th July 2024.  

CV 

Your 300-word CV should provide details of your career history and include a brief description of the: 

• Roles and responsibilities 

• Skills and experience 

• Key achievements/Deliverables 

• Qualifications. 

Match these to the person specification in the job advert. 

Any additional wording will not be considered. 

Your CV is for information only and will not be scored 

Personal Statement 

Your 750-word Personal Statement must demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience in the person specification. Show why you are suitable and what you can bring to the role.

Give examples of what you have done and how you achieved it. 

Your CV and Personal Statement must not contain any personal details which could be used to identify you. 

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

2. Sift 

At sift your Personal Statement will be assessed. 

Applicants successful at sift will be invited to interview.  

3. Interview 

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to interview via Teams with a panel of up to 3 people. 

You will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of. 

The behaviours to be assessed are: 

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead) 
• Delivering at Pace 

We recommend that you review the Success Profiles framework and consider examples of how you have demonstrated the Behaviours for this role. Using the STAR model will help you to structure your examples. 

You will also be asked strength-based questions to explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role. 

This is an example of a strength-based question: 

“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?” 

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview as we are looking for your instinctive, natural responses. However, you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. 

See the Success Profiles framework for how we assess Behaviours and Strengths.  

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process to manage the number of successful candidates. 

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via: ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for 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.

Merit List

After interview, a merit list will be created for this vacancy. If you are successful at interview, you will be placed on the merit list. Appointments will be made in strict merit order.

Criminal Record Check

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.

Reasonable Adjustments

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

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

• Contact the UBS Recruitment Excellence Team via ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.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.

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.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role. 

Terms and Conditions

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.

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.

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.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

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.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

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

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

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.