Intelligence Researcher - NEROCU in Sunderland

Salary: Band 5, £28,689 – £29,859 per annum (FTE, based on 37 hours per week). Pro rata salary: £11,475 – £11,943 per annum based on 15 hours per week.

Location: Sunderland

Hours/Contract: 0.4FTE 15 hours, 12 Months FTC/Internal Secondment

Working for: North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (“NEROCU”)

The North East Regional Organised Crime Unit is one of nine Regional Organised Crime Units (“ROCU”) in England and Wales who lead the regional response to tackling serious and organised crime whilst supporting local and national delivery. The ROCU network continues to expand and Home Office funding through police officer uplift and increased police staff capacity presents exciting opportunities to further enhance service delivery and positively impact on our partners and the public.

The Home Office Serious and Organised Crime Strategy defines ROCU as leading the regional fight against Serious and Organised Crime and NEROCU have a critical role in leading, connecting and co-ordinating delivery across our region in all four P’s of the strategy:

• Pursue – prosecuting and disrupting people engaged in serious and organised criminality.
• Prevent – preventing people from engaging in serious and organised criminality.
• Protect – increasing protection against organised crime.
• Prepare – reducing the impact of serious and organised crime where it takes place.

NEROCU comprises of specialist teams delivering across intelligence, operations, investigations, cyber, economic, technical and digital capabilities.

The role

We are currently seeking a motivated and experienced individual to join the North East Regional Prison Intelligence Unit (NERPIU) as an Intelligence Researcher. Covering the North East prison estate, this role is open to both existing Police Staff and external candidates with relevant policing experience. As a regional resource, you will be required to work flexibly across sites in line with operational need, supporting the development of intelligence to disrupt organised crime and tackle corruption within prisons. Working alongside Intelligence Analysts, you will contribute to research activity, manage your own workload, and support the wider team where required.

What you’ll do:

• Gather and research information from a range of intelligence sources, presenting key findings to support operational planning and regional tasking processes.
• Conduct research into priority threats, organised crime groups, and individuals under investigation to support accurate assessments of risk, threat, and harm.
• Support Intelligence Analysts with a range of research activities, including managing your own projects and workload effectively.
• Provide real-time research to support live operational activity and national requirements when needed.
• Assist in producing evidential products to support prosecutions and the wider criminal justice process.
• Build effective working relationships with partner agencies and local authorities, including attending and presenting at meetings and briefings.

What you’ll bring:

• Ability to gather information from various sources and data types, and to assess this information and identify key findings.
• Ability to manage and work on own initiative or as part of a team.
• Ability to work in partnership with other teams & agencies.

We welcome applications from suitably qualified people from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Harnessing these differences creates a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, and their talents are fully utilised. Appointments are based on merit alone.

What we offer:

• 26 days’ leave (increasing to 30 days for 5 years+ service) plus 8 bank holidays.
• NHS Fleet Solutions Car Lease Scheme.
• Enhanced maternity, shared parental and adoption leave.
• Fantastic market-leading public sector pension scheme with up to 16% employer contribution.
• Corporate travel schemes – local rail, bus services and metro discounts.
• Access to private healthcare and eye test vouchers.
• Discounts on shopping and eating out thanks to the Blue Light Card and Blue Light Tickets.
• Extensive paid sick leave, trained mental health first aiders on-site, an employee advice service for additional support.
• Access to gyms in some stations.
• Sports & Social Club – join our thriving sports scene at Team NP and enjoy further exclusive discounts on days out and travel.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Opportunity to volunteer in local community.

Just so you know:

Our application form will help us understand how your work, education and life experience has prepared you for the role of an Intelligence Researcher with #TeamNP. To help support your application, research what makes us tick here at Northumbria, the role you’re applying for and the values and behaviours that contribute.

Use of AI in Applications: At Northumbria Police, we embrace innovative technologies to enhance our recruitment process. We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While AI can be a valuable resource, we encourage applicants to ensure their submissions accurately reflect their personal qualifications, experiences, and skills. Our selection process includes thorough evaluations to verify the authenticity and suitability of all applications. We value genuine and thoughtful responses that showcase your unique strengths and perspectives.

The recruitment process will consist of the initial application form followed by a face-to-face interview. You can save your application and come back to it any time prior to the closing date on the advert.

We are proud members of the Business Disability Forum, with whom we collaborate to improve the lives of disabled employees. We are also a Disability Confident Employer; therefore, if you demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria for this role as stated in the advert, we will progress your application and offer you an interview. If you tell us that you have a disability, we can make adjustments to support you through the recruitment process (for example, we can arrange extra time for tests or provide a sign language interpreter).

If your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a Management Vetting (MV)/ Security Clearance (SC) form; therefore, you must be a resident of the UK for a minimum period of 5 years to ensure vetting checks can be successfully performed. A job offer will be dependent upon vetting clearance, medical information, and references.

Terms of appointment: This is a fixed term role subject to a six-month probationary period. If you are successful in your application, you will have a six-month probation period with us where you will be unable to apply for any other post advertised internally or externally. Please note if you are a current NEROCU/Northumbria Police employee interested in applying for this role as a secondment opportunity, please discuss this with your Line Manager and gain agreement prior to applying.

We’re pleased to advertise this funded opportunity, with the appointment expected to be confirmed following the finalisation of funding. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.