About the job

Job summary

Fraud and error costs the government an estimated £39.8 to £58.5 billion each year. Fraud against public bodies takes money away from the vital public services that citizens rely on and can damage trust in government. Fraud, and the harm it causes, is not a new issue for the public sector. However, it is one that is constantly changing, and the advent of the digital age has driven the evolution at an event greater pace. 
As part of its development and governance, UKHSA has established an Anti-Fraud Team to tackle the threat of fraud, bribery and corruption, both within and against the Agency. The team takes a flexible and collaborative approach in acknowledging, preventing and responding to fraud in order to maintain public confidence and protect money intended for better health security.
We are looking for a fraud Investigation and Prevention Officer to join our team. 

Job description

Main duties of the job:

Your key responsibilities will include:

(This is not an exhaustive list please see Job description document for full list of duties). 
•    Investigate all allegations of fraud promptly and to the highest standards, in line with UKHSA standard operating procedures and in accordance with all relevant legislation. 
•    Be accountable for decisions and activities undertaken during investigations. These are subject to review and inspection by Senior Investigation Officers. 
•    Contributing to the completion of investigation plans, producing case progress reports and conduct briefings to share knowledge and expertise within the team.  
•    Working closely with all members of the case team, contribute to the planning, review and delivery of the investigative strategy for complex investigations as well as supporting subsequent prosecutions where appropriate. 
•    Reviewing intelligence and evidence obtained assessing its value and carrying out analysis to identify any links that will progress the investigation.
•    Completing high-quality case reports and evidential packages for submission to law enforcement and others prosecution agencies. 

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Working to the Investigation and Prevention Manager, we are looking for a self-starter who will take the lead on fraud investigations through to appropriate conclusion.
You will investigate fraud allegations to the highest standards, in line with UKHSA policy and relevant legislation, applying a multi-sanction approach to ensure that where offences are proven the appropriate disciplinary, civil, or criminal remedies are applied. 

Good communication skills using a range of methods are vital to the success of the role both internally, within UKHSA, and across central government, local government, and with other external stakeholders including law enforcement organisations.

You will support the Anti-Fraud Team senior leadership to help develop a culture of fraud awareness, prevention, detection and investigation across UKHSA. All team members have a responsibility for contributing towards the development of solutions in response to identified fraud risks within Agency.

The postholder must be of the utmost integrity so as not to undermine the work of the team.

Person specification

Please be aware that we will assess on the ten essential criteria stated on the advert rather than the full list on the job description document.

Essential criteria

•    Either Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist or PIP Level 2 qualification, or equivalent relevant experience.
•    Analytical and decision-making skills as they need to exercise sound judgement.
•    Are self-motivators; investigators must be comfortable working on their own and as part of a wider team environment.
•    Possess excellent communication skills, ability to manage workload efficiently and delegate work.
•    Candidates must be resilient and able to handle confrontation with confidence.
•    This role requires recent experience of conducting investigations and a thorough knowledge of Criminal Justice procedures.
•    A competent IT user, with experience of the MS Office suite of applications, SharePoint, and ability to learn new bespoke IT systems quickly.
•    Experience of working and liaising with external law enforcement agencies and criminal justice partners.
•    Experience of working in criminal, civil or counter fraud investigation roles within the Civil Service or UK health sector.
•    Candidates must hold, or be willing to obtain, SC clearance. 

Desirable criteria

•    Knowledge of Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).
•    Knowledge of Criminal Procedures Investigations Act 1996
•    Member of the Government Counter Fraud Profession.
•    The successful applicant would be expected to travel as part of their responsibilities. This will involve overnights away from home.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,473, UK Health Security Agency contributes £8,228 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

Stage 1: Application & Sift 

Success profiles assessments

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of  
•    a CV/ Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
•    a 1250 word Statement of Suitability. 

This should outline how your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria. 

The CV and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.

In the event of a high volume of applications, we will first longlist, and then shortlist on experience in criminal, civil, or counter-fraud investigation roles within the Civil Service or UK health sector.

Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered  

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment 

Please do not exceed 1250 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview  (success profiles)

You will be invited to a single remote interview.   
Behaviours will be tested at interview. The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be
•    Making Effective Decisions (Lead Criteria)
•    Communicating and Influencing
•    Working Together

Interviews to be held week beginning 29th July.  These dates may be subject to change.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Location information

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London).  Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site.

 
Eligibility Criteria 

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).  

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.

To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you.

An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work.

This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme.

If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should:

Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Clearance .  For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires  Security Check (SC).  UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

I understand my application may be rejected or I may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

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.