Criminal Investigator - Strategic Exports and Sanctions Enforcement in Stratford-upon-Avon

About Fraud Investigation Service

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.

This is a Band HO role eligible for a Flexibility Payment (FP) at Level 2, worth £14,400 p.a. (National) and £15,300 p.a. (London), paid in addition to basic salary. In return, you’ll work your hours flexibly, including out‑of‑hours, at weekends and on public holidays, and change your work pattern at short notice. You’ll also undertake periods of on‑call and work additional hours. Payment of FP is dependent on successful completion of training.

FIS fulfils the principal export control enforcement function on behalf of the Department for International Trade, the UK Export Licensing Authority. This role is on the team responsible for export licensing control enforcement and counter proliferation (CP) activity. The team’s job is to detect breaches of UK export controls and other counter‑proliferation (CP) legislation (including trade sanctions) and take appropriate enforcement action to promote compliance within the UK exporter community. This will include disrupting illicit attempts to procure strategic goods from the UK and where appropriate reporting cases to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for consideration of criminal proceedings.

As a Criminal Investigator engaged on CP duties you will be expected to:

• Develop intelligence in relation to suspected breaches of export controls
• Have recent criminal justice experience as a law enforcement professional working in operational/intelligence development work
• Possess at least SC security clearance
• Represent HMRC at cross Whitehall meetings with CP partners
• Conduct outreach visits to the UK exporting community

You will interact with a wide number of internal and external stakeholders including the Department for International Trade, Border Force, Police, National Crime Agency, Solicitors, Crown Prosecutors and colleagues from other Government Departments and Agencies engaged in counter proliferation work. There will be appearances in court and you will be required to make, and be accountable for, decisions and activities within the criminal justice system. These will also be subject to scrutiny and inspection by external authorities.

Person specification

• Ability to lead and progress complex criminal and/or civil investigations, taking ownership of decisions and outcomes.
• Strong investigative judgement, with the confidence to make defensible decisions under pressure.
• Excellent analytical skills, including the ability to review large volumes of information and identify risks, patterns and evidential opportunities.
• Experience producing clear, accurate and legally compliant written material (e.g. case files, warrants, interview records and reports).
• Effective communication skills, including the ability to work confidently with senior stakeholders and external partners and give evidence in court.
• Proven ability to plan, prioritise and manage multiple tasks to deadlines.
• Operational capability to lead or support enforcement activity, managing risk and securing best evidence.
• Strong leadership skills, including coaching others, managing performance and supporting colleague wellbeing.
• Confident use of Microsoft Excel and the wider Microsoft 365 suite.
• Resilience, integrity and professionalism, with flexibility to meet operational demands.

Essential Criteria

• Utilisation of criminal justice procedures including knowledge and experience of:
• The rules of chain of evidence
• The PEACE model of interviewing
• Keeping contemporaneous evidential notes
• Taking witness statements
• Execution of search warrants and production orders
• Use of the powers within the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 for posts in England and Wales, Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 for posts in Northern Ireland and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 & Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 for posts based in Scotland
• Understanding Property Interference as defined within Police Act 1995 and the utilisation of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIPA) Act 2000 and/or Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016
• Applied knowledge of Criminal Procedure & Investigation Act 1996 (CPIA 96) ensuring strong standards of Disclosure Practice
• Experience of the creation or assurance of investigative strategies, applying technical competence to identify pertinent lines of enquiry including the day‑to‑day management of criminal investigation cases.
• Command & Control, supporting operational activities to secure best evidence and an understanding of crime scene control, systematic search techniques and risk management.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, supporting evidential submissions to the Crown Prosecution Service through the appropriate Manual of Guidance forms and applied quality standards.
• Management of others, either operationally or HR people management.
• A full UK driving licence.

Working Arrangements

The nature of criminal investigation work and your role duties mean you must be willing and able to:

• Work your hours flexibly to meet business needs, including at night‑time, weekends and public holidays, and change your work pattern at short notice.
• Be “on‑call” throughout the day and night for 1 week out of every 4.
• Work a specified number of additional hours.

The nature of the attendance requirements and duties of this role mean it isn’t suitable for HMRC’s hybrid working arrangement. FIS will support colleagues receiving the Flexibility Payment to work from home for some of the time, but this won’t be fixed to a number of days per week or month, or to specific days of the week. The role’s attendance requirements also mean some Flexible Working arrangements may not be available.

Training

A comprehensive training programme is provided. There will be a requirement for you to attend a four‑week face to face training programme which may take you away from home. Through this training period you will be required to be available full‑time. The programme will comprise three consecutive classroom weeks followed by a return to home office for up to three weeks and then a one‑week Final Exercise. This training event will build on previous experience in the Law Enforcement arena and provide a refresh and upskilling in HMRC powers and procedures.

Public and Personal Safety Training (PPST) is a crucial element of becoming a criminal investigator. This is a PASS/FAIL event. The event includes digital and face‑to‑face training where you will learn practical techniques to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues, as well as how to apprehend and physically restrain suspects and apply handcuffs. The event is mainly physical and includes scenario‑based exercises where you will require an appropriate level of fitness and mobility.

Additional Security Information

Successful candidates must hold or be willing to hold Developed Vetting (DV) Clearance.

Licences

A Full UK Driving Licence. We recognise that some people cannot drive due to a disability or underlying health condition and may not be able to meet this requirement.

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.