About the job

Job summary

The in-house legal department of the NCA sits at the heart of the Agency; providing specialist advisory and litigation support across the entire organisation.  NCA Legal collaborates with operational officers as well as other government departments, agencies and police forces on a daily basis to assist with live investigations around the world.  

The advice provided by the department contributes directly to the disruption of serious and organised crime.

The Legal department (of approximately 60 people) is made up of the following teams:

• Commercial and Employment
• Financial Disruptions Litigation
• Data and Operational Advisory
• Disruptive Actions – Litigation
• Civil Litigation

The teams include solicitors and barristers from a variety of backgrounds and with a wide range of experience.  These are supported by paralegals and the business management team.  

To learn more about this role, please register your interest for the following event:

On Tuesday 23rd January 2024 between 18:00 and 19:00 we will be hosting a MS Teams event presented by the NCA’s Legal Team where candidates will be given the opportunity to ask questions about the role.

Attendance for this event is by invitation only. To register your interest, please contact central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk ASAP with the subject NCA – G2 Lawyer Virtual Recruitment Event 23/01/2024.

Job description

We are currently recruiting exceptional solicitors and barristers with a minimum of two year’s post qualification to join one of the following litigation teams:

Civil Litigation Team
You will be part of the team responsible for defending the NCA against all civil claims brought against the Agency - including a range of private and public law litigation as well as Inquest and Inquiry work. Team members manage an individual caseload of a mixture of work including Judicial Reviews, Inquiries/Inquests and a variety of damages claims.

The types of cases that you will conduct can touch upon the various areas of work undertaken by the NCA, including international matters.  Cases are likely to be in the High Court but may also be before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Disruptive Actions Litigation Team
You will concentrate on driving civil disruption measures and tools by which to protect the public from those involved in serious and organised crime. One focus is on immigration disruptions, working across the NCA, with the Home Office and other agencies, and assisting in appeals and judicial reviews arising from the disruption.  This may include supporting litigation in the Special Immigration Appeal Commission in Closed Material Proceedings.  The role also includes advising on civil orders, such as Sexual Risk Orders and Serious Crime Prevention Orders.  You will have the opportunity to work across HMG and to contribute to legislative amendment proposals to enhance NCA capabilities. 

Financial Disruptions Litigation Team
You will work collaboratively with our investigative teams and specialist counsel to investigate and recover criminal property, including cash, listed assets (such as gold, jewellery and works of art) and real estate through civil litigation (including in the High Court) under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.  In providing legal advice and assistance, our team contributes to the setting of investigative strategy and, in advance of the substantive legal proceedings, you will be responsible for making applications for a wide range of investigative orders including search and seizure warrants, disclosure orders, unexplained wealth orders and property freezing orders.

Our cases are amongst the most complex and high-profile and the novel issues raised have recently been litigated right up to the Supreme Court.  You will also have opportunities to build relationships with internal and external partners including our internal press office, senior officers within the Agency, the National Economic Crime Centre and our partners agencies (such as the CPS and the SFO) in order to shape strategy and help drive the future direction of the Agency in this growing area of work.

**The role will involve frequent travel, the successful candidates will be required to travel regularly to London for court hearings. 

***To be considered, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance before commencing the role and achieve DV clearance within the first 12 months in post.

Person specification

Our Litigation Lawyers need to be able to think of creative solutions to proactively tackle the ever evolving threats posed by the most dangerous criminals.  You will need to think creatively to help manage legal risk in cases that are often novel, complex and challenging.  Your work will directly contribute to protecting the public.  We are looking for individuals who have experience in any of the following areas:

1. Asset Denial and financial disruptions
2. High-value, complex civil litigation
3. Disruptive actions - litigation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,640, National Crime Agency contributes £15,562 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.

If you wish to apply for this vacancy, you must submit your application by 23:55 on Sunday 28th January 2024.

Sift Process 

At sift, you will be assessed on; 

You will be asked to complete a CV as part of the application process. Your CV should set out your career history including training and qualifications, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure that each entry of your career history also has a few sentences outlining a description and the key elements of that role, and that you provide reasons for any gaps within the last two years. Please ensure the dates of any accreditations you are relying on are entered onto your CV. Experience criteria can also be assessed from CV. 

During the application process  you will be asked to complete a 500  word personal statement assessing the below criteria:

• Please outline why you are motivated to join the National Crime Agency and how you feel you might contribute effectively to a litigation role with us demonstrating how you meet the criteria for the post.

Technical skills:

You will be asked to provide a statement of suitability for each of the following technical criteria (maximum of 250 words per criteria):

• Experience of high value and/or complex litigation and of running an independent caseload
• Experience of making effective decisions under pressure in a fast paced operational environment with minimal supervision.
  
• Understanding of public law and legal risk and the role of lawyers in Government

 For further application guidance please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/applying-and-onboarding

Once submitted your application will be acknowledged by the Government Recruitment Service.

 Please note depending on the volume of applications a Longlist at sift may be conducted on;

• Technical skill 1 - Experience of high value and/or complex litigation and of running an independent caseload.

Candidates must pass this criteria for their application to be progressed.

A panel will then assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the Entry Criteria section.

Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Sift results are expected to be released w/c 19th February 2024.

Interview Details 

The timescales for the interview are approximately 2.5 hours with a short break, inclusive of the role play and exercise.

The interview will include a role play and exercise, which will assess the following technical criteria and behaviours: 

• The ability to think strategically & creatively, see legal issues in their wider context and advise accordingly
• The ability to make effective decisions under pressure in a fast paced operational environment with minimal supervision
• Understanding of public law, legal risk and the role of lawyers in Government
• Communicating and Influencing

There will also be behaviour and technical based questions assessing the following: 

• Leadership 
• Working Together
• Experience of high value and/or complex litigation and of running an independent caseload

Interviews will take place throughout March 2024 - locations to be confirmed. Please be advised that the type of interview (eg. virtual/face-to-face) may be subject to change and successful candidates will be notified of this prior to attending. However the interview is conducted, the interview criteria will remain as detailed within this advert.

The above sift and interview dates are an indicative timeline.

Should you be successful at sift but cannot attend on the interview date(s) listed the recruitment team cannot guarantee an alternative date. Please contact the recruitment team.

Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates.

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Any instances of plagiarism including copying of examples/answers from internet sources will result in a withdrawal of your application. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

Interview Outcome 

Candidates will be alerted of the outcome of their interview via their CS Jobs Portal.  We will be retaining a candidate pool of successful applicants to draw from as vacancies arise for up to 12 months.

If your application is successful and we are unable to offer you a post immediately, you will be invited to join our reserve list. If over the next 12 months we are able to offer you a position, we will contact you as soon as possible. 

Once we make you an offer you will then go through our vetting and pre-employment checks processes.

 All Appointments will be made in location merit order. 

The NCA is a law enforcement agency & as such we are part of the Criminal Justice System. Therefore if you are going into an operational role we need to be aware if any of our officers have, either before they join us or afterwards, any of the following:

• Any criminal conviction (including by Court Martial), or caution or fixed penalty notice for disorder or theft;
• Any adverse judicial findings;
• Any charges or summonses where the proceedings are not complete;
• 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 NCA. 

Each case will be considered on its merits and a positive declaration does not automatically mean that your application will not be progressed. However, should you fail to disclose a relevant matter then your application or employment will be adversely affected. If in doubt, please declare it at this stage.

Multi-Location

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only. If you are posted to a location that you have requested and you do not accept that location, you may not be offered another role.

Please note, only advertised location can be offered. Notes populated in a free text box will not be taken into consideration.

Hybrid Working

Here at the NCA we have a hybrid working arrangement in place enabling officers to work a proportion of their role remotely. Eligibility and the degree of home working will vary depending on the requirements of the role. Further details can be discussed at offer stage.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. As part of our application process you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process that you may need. If you have a disability or long-term condition (a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.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.

Inclusion and Accessibility

We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process. For details of the available group please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/benefits-and-support

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, the NCA require certain personal details about you on submission of your application. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application. You will be asked to complete an E-consent survey asking for permission to share this data with the NCA to be used for statistical/monitoring purposes only, refusal of consent to share the information will not impact your application.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Additional Information 

• The NCA is a 24/7 organisation, and working patterns must support business requirements. Some roles may require you to respond at short notice or outside of core hours.
• Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.
• Successful candidates may be required to undertake a medical. If required, the medical will take place in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.
• If you are an internal candidate who has passed interview but is undergoing an internal investigation or have a written warning in place preventing a post move you may not be able to be posted until this investigation is concluded or restriction lifted. You will remain on the reserve list for a max of 12 months.

VETTING REQUIREMENTS SC

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.

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:

•  Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
•  UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records.
•  Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

VETTING REQUIREMENTS - DV 

All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.

The requirement for DV is to have been present in the UK for at least 7 of the last 10 years.

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

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

Checks will be made against:

• successful completion of the BPSS
• UK criminal record and identity checks
• credit reference checks
• relevant personnel and medical checks (if required)

We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA careers page for further information please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers

If you have any specific queries about the role that are not covered by the candidate pack, please contact:

ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

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.