Forensic Higher Support Officer - Nottingham

About the job

Discover what it's like to work in a compliance role that makes an impact. Could you help us shape a stronger, fairer future? Your next career move starts here. HMRC is the UK's tax, payments and customs authority and we have a vital purpose: we collect the money that pays for the UK's public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support.

HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for the department's civil and criminal investigations. FIS provides HMRC with an effective investigation arm to enforce the Department's compliance policies. This enables the Department to deliver against the strategic responsibilities across all the taxes and duties it administers. This includes complex offshore evasion, international smuggling of illicit excise goods, exports of controlled weapons and technology, labour market abuses, VAT and Self-Assessment repayment frauds and a host of other fraud attacks targeted at the tax system.

FIS is home to a wide range of people with a variety of skills and professional backgrounds - including accountants, cybercrime specialists, criminal justice professionals, tax professionals and operational delivery support teams to name but a few. We use a range of powers and approaches to protect funding for UK public services, investigating the most harmful tax cheats and ensuring nobody is beyond our reach.

Covert Operations, Digital Exploitation (CODE) sits within FIS. Working across Law Enforcement and government, CODE provides investigative tools and covert techniques to front-line investigations and works with key partners to develop and provide access to new technology and systems to enable investigators to respond to serious and complex tax evasion and crime.

As part of CODE, Cybercrime & Forensic services (CFS) provides comprehensive forensics services to support FIS operations. This includes, but is not limited to, the capture and preservation of data from digital devices, as well as the subsequent processing and analysis of resultant data to provide actionable evidence. Traditional forensics (fingerprinting, DNA etc.) also forms a crucial part of the services we provide.

The CFS team is a large, diverse team of driven, talented people all striving to achieve common goals within a dynamic law enforcement arena. It consists of several specialist teams, differing work environments and various locations. Forensic Support Hub (FSH) support CFS and is vital to the successful delivery of the work carried out in the ISO accredited laboratories, providing support and services as appropriate.

The role of the Forensic Higher Support Officer in CFS is a varied and challenging role which provides day to day support to the wider CFS team. The key responsibilities listed below are not exhaustive and will vary according to the individual needs of the business, with an expectation that other appropriate tasks will be completed.

Person specification

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with internal teams, external service providers and law enforcement agencies to support operational effectiveness.
• Lead the Forensic Support Hub (FSH) efforts in achieving and maintaining C&FS accreditation in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and the Forensic Science Regulator's Codes of Practice, ensuring clarity around FSH roles and responsibilities in the accreditation process.
• Maintain and update C&FS guidance materials on customer-facing SharePoint pages and within the FIS handbook, ensuring alignment with O365 workflow processes.
• Assist the wider C&FS team with various tasks, including coordination of specialist and technical training requirements.
• Collaborate with CODE Finance, HMRC Commercial teams, and external suppliers to ensure efficient and compliant processes.
• HR line management of Officers.
• Travel regularly between locations as part of the role's operational responsibilities.

Essential Criteria:

• Communicate effectively and confidently with colleagues and senior stakeholders, both verbally and in writing.
• Demonstrate a strong ability to quickly grasp new concepts, adapt to change, and take initiative in learning and task execution.
• Exhibit strong organisational and time management capabilities.
• Accurately and efficiently interpret and analyse data using Microsoft Excel and the broader Microsoft 365 suite.

Desirable Criteria:

• Previous HR line management experience.
• Awareness of ISO/IEC17025:2017 and FSR Codes of Practice.
• Experience of working with technical personnel within a support team environment.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Making Effective Decisions, Working Together, Managing a Quality Service.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 37,682, HM Revenue and Customs contributes 10,916 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.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following: A 750-word personal statement. Your Personal Statement should be used to describe how your skills and experience would be suitable for the advertised role, making reference to the essential criteria and person specification 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 interview.

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

Sift

At sift your Personal Statement will be assessed, 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 also be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role.

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 face to face in Nottingham. 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. Mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we may not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - 'Please re-open my application - (insert vacancy ref) & vacancy closing date (insert date)'. To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Exceptionally, candidates who are not successful at this grade may be considered for appointment to similar roles at a lower grade where the eligibility criteria are met. If this applies, we will contact you directly.

The HMRC app can help you with your application. The HMRC app can provide you with your past 5 years' employment history, making the process of filling in your application quicker and easier. If successful in your application, you will need your National Insurance number for the onboarding process.