About the job

Job summary

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1500 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) provides the FSA’s law enforcement capability, seeking to create as hostile an environment as possible for those seeking to involve themselves in food crime in the UK. Identifying, disrupting and deterring serious food criminality, the NFCU works with key internal and external stakeholders to protect the nation’s food.

The unit has an opening for an Investigator (York), who will play a vital role in investigating activity endangering the nation’s food. The successful candidate does not need to be geographically based in the York area – but regular travel to York will be required.

The successful post holder will have experience of conducting investigations in a criminal, civil, regulatory or food environment.  You will enjoy working as part of a team and engaging with stakeholders to achieve desired outcomes. 

Job description

As a successful applicant, you will work as an integral part of the NFCU’s Investigations team, conducting all areas of investigations and intelligence development activities in compliance with relevant legislation, guidelines and best practice.

There will be a requirement for the post holder to travel to various FSA offices and other locations as part of the role to carry out investigations and the responsibilities of the role.  You will be expected to attend national events and conferences where appropriate to represent the NFCU and to present evidence in court when required.

If you are excited by the opportunity to join a diverse national law enforcement unit, who have a unique and developing mission statement, making a real and tangible difference to food safety, and you have the ability to communicate and collaborate with others, often on challenging matters, we look forward to receiving your application.

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.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,505, Food Standards Agency contributes £8,809 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.

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 (Licence) requirements of the role. 

• Full 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 and desirable criteria. (Desirable criteria will only be assessed in

the event of a tie between candidates).

Essential

Experience

• Lead criteria 1: Experience of conducting investigations in a criminal, civil, regulatory or food environment – involving the use of Law Enforcement investigation and intelligence tools such as PNC/PND/ANPR/IDB. 
• Proven experience of prioritising workloads and meeting deadlines against competing demands.
• Experience of drafting and writing documents, articulating and presenting findings verbally, to a wide range of audiences, including senior, internal and external partners.
• Data inputting – proficient use of SharePoint Excel and Word documents (or equivalent packages)

Technical

• Lead criteria 2: Practical experience of the application of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, The Fraud Act 2006 and The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000/Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (including interviewing and taking of statements).

Lead Criteria

An initial sift will take place on just Lead Criteria 1 (Experience).

If successful in the lead criteria 1 sift, you will proceed to lead criteria 2 sift (Technical)

If successful at lead criteria 2 sift, your application will proceed to the full sift.

In the event 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 requirement 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 Technical requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours Level 3

Behaviours

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical:

• Practical experience of the application of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, The Fraud Act 2006 and The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000/Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (including interviewing and taking of statements).

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 10 March 2024 (23:55)

Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 11 March 2024

Final panel interview: Expected to take place 25 or 26 March 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.

If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.

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.

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.

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. 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.