HR Senior Investigator

at  Department for Work and Pensions

JOB SUMMARY

This is a Senior Leadership role, reporting to the Grade 7 of the DWP HR Investigation Service. The DWP HR Investigations Team provides an expert investigation service for cases which are high profile and/or complex in nature. These can be cases that:

• represent a significant risk to the business and/or the reputation of DWP.
• are likely to be subject to media and/or Ministerial interest.
• involve multiple strands/complainants/witnesses.

The Senior Investigator role is fast-paced and challenging, requiring a proactive and organised approach. The successful candidate will be expected to operate with a high level of autonomy and resilience due to the nature of the role and subject matter. The successful candidate will carry out investigations to the highest professional standards; interviewing complainants, subjects of complaints and witnesses, producing quality reports and scrutinising information to drive improvements within the department. The ability to work effectively with a variety of stakeholders, including senior leaders, and a range of specialist colleagues, is therefore a critical part of the role to maintain a quality service.
The successful candidate will analyse information/data from HR investigations to identify trends, areas of concern and to ensure advice provided is legally sound. The ability to interrogate and manage information, including legally privileged information, confidentially and with sensitivity is essential.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate strong organisational skills in order to work flexibly and proactively to manage their varied workload, often with fixed deadlines.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• HR Investigation Skills

Benefits
Alongside your salary of £42,614, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £12,345 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Things you need to know

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)

TYPE OF ROLE

Administration / Corporate Support
Human Resources
Investigation
Other

YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

• Managing a caseload of complex investigations and preparing high quality investigation reports, to support senior leaders and Line Managers in the business areas.
• Analysing and challenging complex information and identifying the potential risks associated with different courses of action to ensure advice given is legally sound and protects the department.
• Preparing high quality investigation reports, ensuring that evidence gathered from cases is communicated clearly and effectively to Decision Makers.
• Liaising with stakeholders, such as Government Legal Department, Occupational Health, Trade Unions, HR Business Partners and the Senior Civil Service to progress cases.
• Developing and keeping up-to-date knowledge on HR Policy and Employment Law.
• Analysing themes and trends within investigations to support with business development.
• Providing bespoke support for cases involving members of Senior Civil Service (SCS).
• Managing queries sent to DWP Private Offices which require further consideration.
• Providing upskilling and training to line managers investigating complex cases in the business.
• Providing support to business as usual investigations to ensure line managers have confidence and capability and feel able to conduct investigation if it has not been accepted by HRIS by acting as single point of contact.
• Acting as a Single Point of Contact to for business as usual investigations.
  The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The role holder is expected to undertake additional tasks within the scope of their grade.

This is a Senior Leadership role, reporting to the Grade 7 of the DWP HR Investigation Service. The DWP HR Investigations Team provides an expert investigation service for cases which are high profile and/or complex in nature. These can be cases that:

• represent a significant risk to the business and/or the reputation of DWP.
• are likely to be subject to media and/or Ministerial interest.
• involve multiple strands/complainants/witnesses