Open Source Intelligence Officer

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, fire, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Home Office Intelligence brings together a number of existing teams involved in the collection and analysis of border and immigration related intelligence. It delivers Intelligence Collection, Development, Analysis, Targeting (Data Analytics) and Watchlisting capabilities within the Home Office and to its partners across Government and Law Enforcement. Learn more on the HO Intelligence careers page.

This is a role within Home Office Intelligence directorate and presents an excellent opportunity to be involved in a developing area of intelligence work, helping to set the direction of the team and draft policy and guidance.

The Home Office Intelligence – Internet Intelligence and Investigations Unit (HOI-III) through the use of specialist software and analytical tools are responsible for the investigation of social media and online platforms to identify threats and criminality concerning organised immigration and border related crimes.

The team identify and exploit online opportunities in order to reduce harm to the UK by maintaining an up-to-date understanding of internet-based technology and emerging trends relating to covert user techniques, social media, and mobile applications. You will work closely with other law enforcement partners and colleagues to support intelligence and investigative advancement through intelligence capture and other key supportive tactics such as analytical profiling.

The Home Office Intelligence – Internet intelligence and Investigation (HOI III) unit plays a critical role in supporting Immigration Enforcement (IE) and Border Force (BF) by providing advanced open-source intelligence capabilities, ensuring a comprehensive and integrated approach to intelligence and operational activities across departments. HOI-III is structured into four key operational functions:

• Collections and Insight: This function is responsible for providing insights that address both strategic and tactical intelligence requirements across IE and BF threats. It supports decision-making by delivering actionable intelligence based on comprehensive analysis of open-source data. The team also provides horizon scanning on emerging threats to ensure proactive measures are in place.
• Lead Generation: Focuses on collecting and developing intelligence from all layers of the web, while integrating intelligence from both open and closed data sources. This intelligence is then used for further tasking and/or disruption activities, ensuring proactive measures against emerging threats are undertaken.
• Development Support: Provides specialist III support to ongoing IE and BF SOC operations by leveraging the units advanced capabilities. This function ensures that current operations benefit from the latest intelligence and technological advancements in open-source information gathering.
• Innovation, Assurance, and Governance: This function ensures the continuous improvement of III capabilities across IE and BF through innovation, maintains high standards through assurance activities, while overseeing Open-Source governance to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards.
• Successful candidates will be placed in one of the four teams post training and in house mentoring based on the operational needs of the unit.

You will be able to demonstrate a keen interest and ability for working in an open-source investigative environment, helping us to tackle immigration and border related crimes on a national scale. The role offers a range of opportunities to develop your internet research skills, while giving you a greater understanding of the cyber threat landscape. You will also be able to develop your internal and external stakeholder skills so that information can be processed and shared appropriately across the entire business, and with corporate partners.

Responsibilities

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Undertaking initial assessment of intelligence to establish what Open-Source research is required, in line with local, regional, and national priorities as well as threat and risk levels.
• Ensuring all intelligence is handled in accordance with legislation and Intelligence Manual Standards
• Providing ongoing intelligence support for complex criminal investigations including mapping and disclosure
• Managing high-harm cases with an appropriate risk management plan
• Identifying intelligence gaps and ensure that any new patterns of abuse are quickly and accurately reported in order to inform the monthly/annual threat assessment process.
• Drafting reports and summaries to the required standard
• Prioritising and allocating your time in line with the agreed development strategy and department priorities.
• Creation of high-quality intelligence packages and products
• Dissemination of high-quality intelligence products in the appropriate format
• Ensuring that research and intelligence reports are accurate, and that intelligence is sanitised correctly, including the quality assurance and compliance of intelligence products where relevant.
• Identifying, collecting, and developing internet based open-source intelligence as well as effectively report on findings from surface, deep and dark web environments.
• Identifying and understanding the wider threat landscape.

Working patterns

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis.

Shift working

You will need to be able to attend for all shifts including early starts and late night finishes. These shifts may be outside of public transport operating hours.

Training and security clearance

You will be given extensive training and have 25 days’ worth of specific tradecraft learning. You can start in post if you have a minimum of Security Check (SC) clearance but will be expected to undergo and successfully obtain Developed Vetting (DV) clearance once in post, if not already held. If you do not successfully obtain DV clearance you will remain in post, but certain functions of the role will not be carried out by you.

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