Internet, Intelligence, and Investigation (III) Officer. - Ipswich - Brooke Lawrence House

About the job

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it's really like to work at HMRC.

The Risk and Intelligence Service (RIS) is at the heart of HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) compliance and enforcement activity. The purpose of the Intelligence team within RIS is to develop and enhance the intelligence picture of organised crime and serious fraud impacting HMRC. We then deliver quality intelligence products to drive decision making and compliance interventions to maximise our impact.

We do this by:

• Collecting, collating, and exploiting intelligence to identify the greatest threats to HMRC and drive operational decision making.
• Providing information, intelligence and live operational support to HMRC teams, Law Enforcement, and international partners to increase their impact and effectiveness.
• Developing and delivering high impacting intervention opportunities to stop and disrupt serious non-compliance.
• Collaborating with national and international partners to increase our collective impact and capability.

This is an opportunity to join the Internet, Intelligence, and Investigation Team (III), part of Specialist Intelligence. The III team work with key partners in all areas of HMRC to develop and provide open-source/social media research.

The role of an Internet, Intelligence, and Investigation (III) Officer is to lead HMRC's efforts to tackle fraud by using developed techniques to exploit Open Source and Social Media information.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Using a range of Open-source tools and techniques to research and deliver intelligence to our customers.
• Working with customers to understand their needs and expectations, and deliver a high quality service.
• Manage the flow of work with your colleagues to ensure cases are prioritised and deadlines met.
• Support colleagues and stakeholders with technical advice and decision making.
• Have or develop an understanding of legal issues, e.g. RIPA, DSAs, to understand when we can/cannot provide information especially with regards to social media.
• Developing a high level of understanding around legislation and policy that impacts Open Source work.
• Undertake regular continuous professional development to keep pace with evolving technology and techniques.
• There is an expectation for you to travel on occasion for training or conferences in relation to your role.
• RIS III team members work collaboratively and may regularly be asked to work across the different specialisms in Intelligence Services where appropriate.

Person specification

The successful candidate will:

• Be able to assimilate information from various sources.
• Be a good problem solver.
• Communicate with customers to establish their exact requirements.
• Liaise with other Open-Source practitioners in HMRC and across Government Departments/Agencies.
• Collaborate with and upskill team members.
• Prioritise & distribute work as well as dealing with queries.
• Use Continuous Improvement techniques to proactively develop tools and techniques within the Open-Source space.

Essential Criteria:

• Have an aptitude for internet use/research.
• The post holder must be well-organised, able to manage multiple requests as well as dealing with changing priorities.
• Willing to travel and undertake residential training courses.

Desirable Criteria:

• An awareness of the latest social media platforms and trends.
• Use of social media, and open-source systems, to provide intelligence on subjects, companies and areas of research.
• Experience of interrogating open-source systems for the purpose of intelligence gathering.

Additional Information:

Roles based in Brooke Lawrence House in Ipswich. Hybrid working, but role may require office attendance to undertake certain tasks.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

If you had a tasking to locate someone, what would be your process?

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,475, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £8,538 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary. Family friendly policies. Personal support. Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills. As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A 750-word Personal Statement. Your Personal Statement should explain in no more than 750 words why you are suitable for this role, and how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the advert.
• Please complete a separate statement (Max 250 words) for the Desirable Criteria where applicable. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy-holder where candidates have the same scores at sift or interview.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

We acknowledge that AI can assist you in your application. Find our guidelines here.

Sift

A sift will be carried out on your Personal Statement, with the successful candidates being invited to interview. We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and you will be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role.

At the interview, candidates will be asked to prepare an answer to the following question: If you had a tasking to locate someone, what would be your process?

This is an example of a strengths-based question: "It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?" There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. Interviews will take place via video call.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you.

If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via email.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we'll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the UBS Recruitment team 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.

Additional Security Information

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy.

You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application.

If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.

Additional Information

We are looking into ways to enhance the applicant experience. As part of our legitimate interests, we are testing the use of new technologies such as automation and/or Artificial Intelligence in the assessment for CV, personal statement and behaviour statement.

Please note that for this specific vacancy, this testing may run in parallel with our standard assessment process and will not influence or determine the outcome of your application in any way.

You can read the Civil Service Jobs and HMRC Privacy Notices for more information about our lawful basis for processing your personal data and HMRC's use of AI.

If you don't want your data to be used as part of the trial, please send your Application ID and the Vacancy Reference to the provided email.

Terms and Conditions

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard 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)
• 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 is available.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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. 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.