About the job

Job summary

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.  

• Are you naturally inquisitive with a passion for problem solving?
• Are you a critical and creative thinker?
• Do you want to make a difference, tackling serious and organised crime and non-compliance as part of a cross-government Intelligence Analysis profession and community?

If the answer is yes, then we would love to hear from you!

We are looking for motivated people with the skills and aptitude to join us as a trainee Intelligence Analyst. You can look forward to receiving our highly regarded training programme (recognised by the Cabinet Office’s Professional Head of Intelligence Assessment), the support of a mentor, and excellent potential for career development.

About the team
Intelligence Assessment (IA) forms part of the Analysis function within HMRC’s Risk and Intelligence Service Directorate. IA provides HMRC with dedicated and professional intelligence analytical expertise, delivering high quality products to customers across the department and wider government.

What is Intelligence Analysis/Assessment?
• Intelligence analysis is the detailed examination of intelligence. It’s ‘identifying and fitting together the pieces of the jigsaw’.
• Intelligence assessment adds a layer of judgement to this analysis, adding the “so what?” to provide an understanding of the overall picture, even when some of the jigsaw pieces are missing.

Job description

As an Intelligence Analyst Officer, you will be part of a dynamic environment in which we will develop you in analysis, assessment, and tradecraft, using structured analytical techniques, and creative and critical thinking.

This role will give you plenty of scope for communicating and influencing, as you work across lines of business and connect with customers to negotiate product requirements and deadlines.

You’ll also need to be naturally inquisitive with a passion for problem solving - skills which will help you to produce clear, concise, and persuasive written reports with recommendations, to support the decisions of enforcement teams both inside and outside HMRC.

You’ll have autonomy over your own workload, creating products with an operational focus, and you’ll also have opportunity to work alongside tactical and strategic intelligence assessments. You’ll collaborate with staff of all grades as you learn to utilise and exploit all available information sources and subject matter knowledge, and working within the confines of legal process and structure.

Professional Trial Period
A condition of employment is the satisfactory progression through the 12-month Professional Trial Period (PTP). Successful applicants will be conditionally appointed for the duration of the PTP. Throughout this 12-month PTP, your progress against a set of pre-defined assessments for HMRC Intelligence Analysts will be evaluated and marked. You will need to pass the training examination process as well as meet the general standards of the PTP.

The PTP and your probation period will run concurrently. If you do not successfully complete your probation period and/or the PTP, your employment with HMRC may be terminated. Applicants who pass their probation period but fail the PTP may be offered alternative, less specialised roles within HMRC. The decision on whether you are offered one of these roles will be based on several factors including performance, behaviours, and location, and it may be at a lower grade.

The structure of the training programme includes several multi-day courses. Not all courses can be delivered in your home office location, so you may be required to travel and be away from home for up to a week at a time.

Person specification

You’ll play an important role in our team of around 112 colleagues, and key responsibilities will include:

• Delivering assessments which enhance the development of intelligence and support criminal investigations.
• Using structured analytical approaches, tools, and techniques to produce clear, and persuasive briefings, written reports and visualisations that inform operational planning, and to make judgements and recommendations.
• Identifying risks, threats and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by criminals for financial gain.
• Working with case managers/officers and investigators to establish and define requirements, managing expectations, presenting outcomes, and ensuring timely delivery.
• Contributing to brainstorms, problem solves, critiquing reports and judgements during peer review.
• Improving the quality of analytical outputs by sharing learned knowledge and expertise.
• Representing IA amongst the professional intelligence analysis peer group and across wider cross government profession.

Join us on a webinar
To find out more about the role and the application process, you can join a 45-minute webinar session via Microsoft Teams. There will be a short Q&A session at the end. These will take place on:

• Thursday 4th July 14:00
• Wednesday 10th July 11:00

If you would like to attend one of these sessions, please email the RIS Recruitment Service at RIS Recruitment Service (RIS) risrecruitmentservice@hmrc.gov.uk with ‘POD4 - 359831 webinar’ in the subject line, and the slot you'd like to attend. You'll be sent a link to join closer to the time.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,341, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £7,652 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, Experience and Technical skills.

How to apply

The assessment process for this vacancy comprises of 3 stages:

1.Online tests/Application
Once you have completed the short application form (basic information only, not assessed) you will need to pass 3 Civil Service online tests:

• Civil Service Numerical test
• Civil Service Verbal test
• Civil Service Judgement test

Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). 

If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

If you pass the online tests, you will need to return to your application and complete a ‘personal statement’. The personal statement will not be assessed or reviewed, and is there simply so that you can submit your application to progress to the next stage; you can simply put ‘n/a’ into the personal statement box.

2. Pre-recorded Strength questions
If you meet the minimum pass marks for the online tests, you will be invited to record your natural responses to a series of Strength questions via our video platform.
You typically have 2 minutes to answer Strength questions, and there’s no expectation to prepare for these as we’re looking for your instinctive, natural responses, though you may like to consider what you are good at and enjoy doing.
A typical Strength question might be 'How quickly do you recover from setbacks?

See the Success Profiles framework for how we assess Strengths.

3. Interview
If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to an interview via Microsoft Teams, lasting up to 60 minutes with a panel of up to 3 people, consisting of:

• A Technical analytical exercise (full details will be provided if you are shortlisted)
• Behaviour questions

We may raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

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.

Appointments in Dover and Newcastle are expected throughout the next 12 months. Successful candidates applying for roles in these locations will be taken from the reserve lists as roles become available. Other locations will be a mixture of appointments made immediately, and from the reserve list in the next 12 months, made in merit order.

Appointments

We will be offering some of the posts advertised immediately after interview, and some will be filled using the reserve list over the next 12 months.

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. 

Merit List  

After interview, merit lists will be created for each location advertised within the vacancy. If you are successful at interview, you will be placed on the merit list for any locations you have expressed an interest for. Appointments from each merit list will be made in strict merit order in line with the number of posts available.

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 Developed Vetting (DV) 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 DV is 10 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.  

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 developed vetting (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.