Economic, Serious and Organised Crime (ESOC) Senior Operational Leader

at  Department for Work and Pensions

DO YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE OR QUALIFICATIONS IN EITHER CRIMINAL OR FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS? ARE YOU WILLING TO WORK TOWARDS OTHER REQUIRED ACCREDITATION? DO YOU HAVE LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE, GREAT COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND ENJOY COACHING OTHERS?

Then DWP may be the place for you. This is an exciting opportunity to join our Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt (CFCD) Directorate on a team committed to tackling fraud encountered through our Economic, Serious and Organised Crime (ESOC) team. You will be at the forefront of tackling serious and organised crimes against DWP which often has links into wider criminality of modern slavery, human trafficking, and identity fraud. You will work with senior leaders across multi law enforcement agencies on high profile and serious fraud operations involving many suspects in multi-million-pound criminality.
As Senior Operational Leader, you will role model excellent senior management leadership, overseeing investigations into either criminal or financial teams, taking responsibility for the flexible, effective, personalised delivery of customer service, quality, and performance. You will provide transformational leadership to the site and beyond - leading through others, driving people engagement, and inspiring colleagues to deliver objectives.
CFCD is a great place to work where the leadership team are passionate about attracting the best talent whilst nurturing and valuing new and existing colleagues to be the best they can be. We are looking for people who can demonstrate our values and commitment to leadership which are based around Collaboration, Resilience and Inclusivity. We look for emotionally aware leaders who enable teams to be innovative, adaptable and flexible. We want you to be comfortable challenging the norm and finding daring and dynamic solutions that support our values and enable colleagues to shine in whatever role they do.

AS A SENIOR OPERATIONAL LEADER, YOU CAN EXPECT TO BE INVOLVED IN A RANGE OF THE FOLLOWING:

• Report directly to the Grade 7, being fully accountable for the management of a large, geographically diverse team of HEO Investigators, setting strategic business priorities for your areas of responsibility and driving performance against key objectives.
• Be a self-starter, able to use your own initiative and make sound, complex decisions at pace.
• Be able to quickly instil technical knowledge and use initiative to seek solutions to problems; making interpretative judgements where circumstances fall outside of available guidance.
• Lead performance within your business area, undertaking regular face-to-face performance reviews with your direct reports, identifying risks to performance achievement, and driving forward continuous improvement.
• Be at the forefront of overseeing business change; leading others through the implementation, and embedding, of new policies and procedures.
• Work alongside multiple, senior representatives from other government departments/external bodies, building strong, collaborative relationships which enhance our reputation and achieve excellent outcomes.
• Provide visible, effective leadership through regular site visits, taking a personal lead in engaging with and communicating key messages with clarity and passion to obtain buy in.
• Motivate teams to operate flexibly, seeking feedback, listening and acting on this, setting performance standards and personalising services for our customers.
• Encourage creative thinking and collaborative working between teams and directorates to drive innovation and service improvements.
• Contribute to people planning activities, ensuring appropriate and effective deployment of people and resources within and between sites.
• Develop a holistic grasp of all customer types enabling you to lead, design and manage new business roles and processes that continuously improve the quality of customer experience.
• Ensure all matters are dealt with promptly and sensitively, in line with DWP policies and procedures, and legislative frameworks, managing risk exposure by overseeing compliance.

DESIRABLE SKILLS

• Empower and encourage your diverse workforce, providing real opportunities for people to develop their strengths and innovate.
• Have strong interpersonal skills, with a high level of emotional intelligence and the ability to remotely manage staff.
• Are honest, with integrity and probity, and have a personal demeanour that inspires confidence and loyalty.
• Understand the political context within which DWP operates.
• Have excellent presentation and communication abilities.
• Hold a solid understanding of equality and diversity, and how it impacts upon service delivery.
• Have excellent, planning, delegation, and organisational skills, as well as strong negotiating and influencing skills.
• Have excellent collaboration skills, particularly as a DWP representative in national multi-agency meetings, requiring strategic decisions.
• If based in Wales, the ability to speak Welsh is desirable.

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE:

To apply for this post all candidates must already hold at least one of the following:

• Accredited Counter Fraud Investigations Program (ACFIP).
• Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA).
• An equivalent such as PINs (Professionalism in Security).
• SAO accreditation via the National Crime Agency.

Or be an experienced Criminal or Financial Investigator willing to work towards:

• Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA)

DWP endorses the use of apprenticeships and successful candidates meeting the Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA) eligibility criteria will be required to complete this learning programme and achieve the level 4 award (as a condition of their appointment).
CFIA includes face to face learning elements which the applicant needs to be aware could require them to travel outside of daily travelling times and incur overnight stays away from home.
Functional Skills at Level 2 for English and Mathematics are a requirement of all apprenticeships. Learners who are not already qualified to this level or who are unable to produce certificates verifying this will be required to complete functional skills assessments as part of their learning journey.
More details on what is involved in this learning can be found in the links below:
Counter fraud investigator / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
Functional Skills qualifications: requirements and guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Candidates are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the requirements of this learning.
You must be willing to attain the appropriate accreditation to undertake the technical functions of the role. This may be attained through completion of a qualification or apprenticeship (see slide in candidate pack ‘Accreditation and Functional Requirements’).
Where a qualification is not achieved, it would not be possible to fulfil the role requirements and candidates will be redeployed, within CFCD where possible, following Workforce Management Policy and Procedures. If you have questions about equivalent qualifications, please contact the vacancy holder.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

You are required to attend and oversee:

• Briefings and operational planning with external stakeholders such as Police, Lawyers and Barristers.
• Participate in high profile arrests, search, and seizure exercises.
• Attendance at Court to support criminal or financial proceedings and hearings.
• Due to the nature of the role this could be at any location nationally and during unsociable hours (both night/day and weekends). A Departmental vehicle OR hire car may be made available if you hold a full UK driving license.

LEARNING REQUIREMENTS

DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) is committed to ensuring their teams are a professional workforce.
Where entry routes are available, it is a professional requirement of Counter Fraud roles within DWP to attain, and retain, membership of the GCFP (Government Counter Fraud Profession) at Practitioner level.
After you have completed your learning routeway, this will entail undertaking an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience within your role to attain and/or retain practitioner level membership.

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) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for 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 (opens in a new window)

Operational Delivery