About the job

Job summary

Become an accredited NCA Officer. Lead the fight against Serious and Organised crime and protect the public from the most dangerous criminals. Enable us to develop your learning, knowledge and capability equipping you with the skills and support to target and pursue those who pose greatest risk to the UK. Gain specialist skills and progress to experience a world of roles in one team, one NCA.

Job description

The National Crime Agency (NCA) leads the UK’S fight against Serious and Organised Crime, protecting the public from the most dangerous criminals. We are committed to attracting new talent to our Team by recruiting trainees into the Agency and developing them into capable accredited investigators (the operational pathway), Intelligence officers (the intelligence pathway) or Analysts (the analyst pathway).

The role of an NCA Investigator, Intelligence officer or Analyst requires no prior law enforcement experience, with all successful trainees enrolled onto the bespoke Officer Development Programme (ODP). This is a two year structured training programme, in which officers are required to evidence competence across a range of investigational, intelligence or analytical competencies.
During this process, by identifying and valuing the aptitudes of each individual and developing their learning, knowledge and acquired ability, the Agency will seek to place each person in an appropriate, challenging and rewarding role, on the appropriate pathway.

By successfully completing this comprehensive training programme and achieving accreditation as an NCA investigator, NCA Intelligence officer, or NCA Analyst you will be trained to partake in serious and organised crime investigations to a national standard.

These roles are integral to the Agency’s ability to lead the UK’S fight to cut Serious and Organised crime, and offer opportunity to specialise in both overt and covert investigations and progress to a world of varied careers in one NCA.

On Wednesday 7th February between 18:00 and 19:00, we are hosting a virtual recruitment event where you can hear from officers working within the NCA and begiven the opportunity to ask questions about the role.

To register your interest, please email central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk no later than 18:00 on Tuesday 6th February with the subject 'NCA – ODP Trainee South East Region Recruitment Event 07/02/24'.

***To be considered, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance before commencing the role***

Person specification

Investigator

As an NCA Investigator you will be directly engaged in the fight against Serious and Organised Crime targeting organised offenders both nationally and internationally in order to minimise risk to the UK.

As part of a focused team you will identify, gather, review and develop evidence, using both overt and covert tactics, including surveillance, in order to obtain a complete evidential picture and implement effective operational strategies to facilitate these offenders being brought to justice.

The role will see you receive comprehensive training which will prepare and enable you to  competently perform all initial investigational roles to include: arrest, conflict management, systematic search, witness, victim and suspect interview, appropriate level case file preparation and disclosure and Court Room presentation.

Additionally you will receive instruction in specialist ground breaking overt and covert investigational techniques and innovative approaches and be empowered to make decisions which help disrupt and bring to justice criminals who present the highest National threat to the UK.

In doing so you will utilise the skills of associated NCA teams such as Intelligence and Forensics and develop close working partnerships with other UK and overseas Law Enforcement agencies, UK Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

This is a rewarding but physically demanding role often involving working long and/or anti-social hours with the potential for working patterns to change at short notice and calling for both commitment and flexibility. Investigators are required to be trained in the use of force and be able to operate Personal Protective Equipment, including PAVA spray, batons and handcuffs.

You may have to Investigate Child sexual abuse/exploitation involving exposure to images and material and will undergo psychological assessments upon taking up the role and at regular intervals once in post. As a consequence you should consider the sensitive nature of this work before deciding to apply for this position.

You can find examples of successful NCA investigations in the following location: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news

Analyst
As an Intelligence Analyst, your role will be to conduct complex and wide-ranging analysis in support of the National Crime Agency's mission; developing intelligence products and contributing to the National Strategic Assessment, Annual Plan, National Intelligence Requirements and National Control Strategy to aid the fight to cut serious and organised crime.

As a trainee you will receive comprehensive training which will prepare and enable you to complete the Intelligence Analyst role.  You will learn about analysis, exploitation and making recommendations to support the development of intelligence.  You will learn about and gain access to a wide range of covert and over capabilities to inform this work, in support of both tactical and strategic objectives.

Additionally you will receive instruction on analytical techniques and be empowered to assist in the decision making process.

There are three analytical teams within the NCA to which you could be aligned:-
TIAT - The Tactical Intelligence Analysis Team brings together all of the Tactical Intelligence Analysts in the agency across Investigations, Regional Intelligence Teams (RITs) and in the National Tasking Centre Thematic Threat areas. TIAT is one national team and supports the greatest threat, risk and harm across the country determining best use of analytical resource. TIAT support the end to end process of development of high end of high harm targets, prioritisation, proactive analytical support through to reactive investigative support providing evidence at Court.

NAC – The National Assessment Centre acts as the NCA's centre for assessed intelligence reporting. The team’s mission is to articulate the single picture of the serious and organised crime threat. This is done by authoring products to inform strategies, policies, operational teams, governance groups.

NDEC - The National Data Exploitation Capability is a multidisciplinary team made up of data and technology professionals, intelligence officers and analysts and data management officers transforming how the NCA and wider UK Law Enforcement community operate. NDEC are partnering with other organisations, and using advanced data analytics and data science techniques to creates insights that disrupt and detect serious and organised crime 
(SOC). NDEC is also responsible for managing the acquisition of data to exploit and enhance the understanding of these SOC threats

Intelligence officer
As an NCA Intelligence Officer, you will be working at the centre of the action, undertaking and helping to prioritise development work on tasked projects and operations in the UK and overseas. You will play a key role in contributing towards  the NCA’s mission of protecting the public from serious and organised crime.

You will receive comprehensive training to enable you to competently collect, evaluate, develop and exploit intelligence from a range of sources. This training, together with mentoring and support will see you build specialist knowledge around a range of threat areas affecting the UK. 

Your role will see you interacting with other NCA departments and teams, as well as external partners including government, Law Enforcement, UK Intelligence Community, public, private and third sector partners. You will be directing and supporting tactical operational activity in the UK and overseas to cause maximum disruption to individuals and groups involved in serious organised crime. 

As an Intelligence Officer you will work closely with Intelligence Analysts using multiple data sets to build and develop knowledge. Your work will contribute to the NCA’s National Strategic Assessment by building understanding of the threat to the UK from serious and organised crime. 

Working as an Intelligence Officer is an exciting and rewarding role which is hugely varied and challenging. There are a number of roles available within several different departments.  Depending on your role there may be the opportunity to travel within the UK and Internationally. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,370, National Crime Agency contributes £7,119 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.

If you wish to apply for this vacancy, you must submit your application by 23:55 on Sunday 11th February 2024. 

You will be asked to complete a CV as part of the application process,  Please see the candidate information pack for more information.

During your application process your CV will assess the following criteria

• A minimum of Grade 4 / C GCSE Including Mathematics and English, or equivalent.

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 following criteria:

• Confirmation of holding a minimum of Grade 4 / C GCSE including Mathematics and English or equivalent.
• Describe a personal achievement of which you are proud and explain how you accomplished this.

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 Monday 4th March 2024. 

Interviews will take place throughout March and April 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 shown on page 21 of the Candidate Information Pack.

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.

You will then be asked to attend an interview in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence.

If you are successful at the interview stage, you will be invited to attend an assessment centre.

The assessment centre will involve role specific assessment where candidates will be assessed on their suitability for the trainee Intelligence officer, trainee Analyst officer and trainee Investigator pathways.

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.

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.

Near Miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in the NCA which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.

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 protected under the Equality Act 2010) and need us to make any adjustments or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, 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:

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.

Please contact us by emailing ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk or calling 0117 372 0000 as soon as possible before the closing date if you wish to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying.

Inclusion and Accessibility

The NCA embraces and values diversity in all forms. Being truly reflective of the communities we serve and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to leading the UK’s fight against serious and organised crime – something which affects us all. We want to recruit and retain the very best and broadest diversity of officers so the NCA welcomes applications from individuals from all backgrounds.

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.

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

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

We encourage all candidates to thoroughly review the candidate pack which explains the role further before submitting an application.

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.