Senior Digital Forensic Investigator (NEROCU) in Sunderland

Salary: Band 9, £42,861 - £49,716 (Please note it is Northumbria Police policy to appoint at the beginning of the band)

Location: Sunderland

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

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’re looking for a Senior Digital Forensic Investigator to join the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU). Our Digital Forensic Unit is responsible for extracting and analysing data from more than 2,000 electronic devices each year, securing evidence for some of the North East’s most high-profile court cases. Not an easy feat, so we’re looking to grow our team to help us on our journey to become an Outstanding Police Force.

This is a fantastic time to join us as a Senior Digital Forensic Investigator. You’ll direct and support your team, ensuring all types of crime are investigated thoroughly and provide them with technical expertise and assistance. This is an extremely rewarding role where you’ll play an important part in keeping people safe whilst adhering to quality standards, relevant legislation and Codes of Practice and Conduct.

What you’ll do

• Team Management: Manage, motivate, and develop your team, ensuring they have the right knowledge, skills, and standards to deliver exceptional results.
• Point of Contact: Act as primary point of contact for issues and concerns that arise within the unit. Resolve any issues relating to investigations, including liaison with Officers in Charge / Senior Investigating Officers and management of Crown Prosecuting Service actions and Judicial Orders.
• Specialist Advice and Support: Provide specialist technical and professional advice and guidance to colleagues, other departments, and partners. Attend strategy meetings to determine investigative requirements, providing advice and support to guide investigations.
• Review Submissions: Review digital forensic submissions, authorising or rejecting submissions, allocating work, and managing ongoing examinations. This will include reviewing and categorising indecent images for inclusion in the National Child Abuse Image Database to support victim identification and investigations.
• Share Knowledge: Cascade knowledge to officers during awareness/CPD events to increase forensic knowledge throughout the organisation. You will also actively participate and coordinate the continuous development of relevant systems and projects.
• Service Delivery: Use, develop and maintain key service delivery systems, databases and infrastructure critical to digital forensic investigations using forensically safe techniques and in accordance with national guidelines and ISO accreditation standards.
• Crime Scenes and Court: Attend crime scenes, search premises, secure evidence from digital equipment, providing technical expertise and guidance. You will also present fact and procedural based evidence at Court and attend Case Conferences with the CPS.

What you’ll bring

• It is essential that you have previous working experience in a digital forensic investigation role.
• Education or Experience: Undergraduate degree or equivalent level academic qualification in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, digital forensic investigation, policing/investigation) or significant experience in a related field.
• Knowledge: You must have current and extensive knowledge of digital forensic tools and techniques for all digital devices.
• Planning and Organisation: The ability to plan and prioritise effectively as well as the organisation skills to allocate tasks to others.
• Attention to Detail: Strong accuracy and attention to detail when recording and relaying information.
• Problem Solving: Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically when gathering information.
• Teamwork: The ability to work well within a team.
• Report Writing: Demonstrate experience in writing detailed reports to describe technical matters to a non-technical audience.

Please be aware that you will be exposed to police reports, intelligence, and photographic material of a disturbing nature as part of this role. You will need to have the physical and emotional resilience to deal with material of a distressing and upsetting nature.

Sound interesting? For further information, and to support your application, please view the job description.

We know it's important for you to feel that you're not only part of a great team, but part of a community. 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.

Interested to learn more? For further information about the role please contact careers@northumbria.police.uk

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
• Flexi time - allowing you to fit your working hours around your individual needs
• Flexible working (we are happy to discuss options such as compressed hours)
• 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
• We’ve invested in extensive paid sick leave, trained mental health first aiders on-site, an employee advice service for the times you need that 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

Candidates with priority status will be given precedence for this role over other applicants. Our application form will help us understand how your work, education and life experience has prepared you for the role of a Senior Digital Forensic Investigator 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.

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

If your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a Management Vetting (MV) form and Biometric Testing, 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.

We are proud members of the Business Disability Forum, working together to improve the lives of disabled employees. As a Disability Confident Leader, we are committed to offering an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. In cases of very high application volumes, we may prioritise those who most closely meet the criteria, applying the same fair approach for all candidates.

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) You can get in touch with us via careers@northumbria.police.uk for any support regarding the application process. Please provide us with plenty of notice so we can ensure your visit goes smoothly.

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.

Terms of appointment

This is a permanent 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 interested in applying for this secondment opportunity, please discuss this with your Line Manager and gain agreement prior to applying.

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.