Apply before
29/07/2026, 23:55
Reference number
996
Salary
£67,609
London weighting allowance (Per Annum)
£4218
South East weighting allowance (Per Annum)
£3375
Role grade
G2
Contract type
Permanent
Command
National Economic Crime Centre (NECC)
Business Area
Public Private Partnership Team
Type of role
Analytical, Architecture and Data, Governance, Intelligence, Operational Delivery, Senior Leadership, Strategy
Working pattern
Full time, Part time, Flexible Working, Job share
Number of roles available
1
Lead Data Scientist
Location(s)
Belfast, Birmingham, Bridgend, Bristol, Cheltenham, Dover, Exeter, Felixstowe, Folkestone, Gartcosh, Gillingham, Hambleton, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Normanton (Calder), Nottingham, Portsmouth, Slough, Solent, St Neots, Stevenage, Sunderland, Warrington
About the Role
Information about the Command
Economic crime affects more UK citizens, more often, than any other criminal threat to our national security. It undermines the integrity of the UK economy, our global reputation as a global financial centre. Finances are integral to trade and investment, and the ease of doing business is vital for our prosperity. However, our open financial systems and strong economy continue to be exploited by those seeking to generate, move and invest criminal money, from street cash up to the proceeds of the highest levels of bribery and corruption. The National Economic Crime Command consists of three cross-functions that operate independently from one another: the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), the United Kingdom Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) and the Proceeds of Crime Centre (PoCC).
The NECC brings together law enforcement agencies, government departments, regulatory bodies and the private sector, with a shared objective of driving down economic crime in the UK. From targeting corrupt elites to tackling fraud, our work is high profile and focused on the highest harms to protect the most vulnerable.
Information about the Business Area
An established partnership between UK law enforcement, government and private sector, using NCA capabilities to innovate in sharing intelligence and data.
The ambition of NECC, is to become a genuine public private hub for combatting economic crime; bringing greater coherence to public private engagement and leverage capability from public and private partners to deliver on our ambition.
Optimise - We use all of our collective capabilities to prevent, identify and disrupt economic crime.
Economic Crime Plan - We respond to the highest harm threat and risks as they emerge.
Role Summary
The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) is hosted by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and has a multi-agency structure, staffed by a mixture of NCA officers and secondees partners, including the private sector. We are a diverse, dynamic centre with a strong focus on developing and upskilling our officers.
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) Team is an established partnership between UK law enforcement, government and private sector, using NCA capabilities to innovate in sharing and analysing intelligence and data. As well as building and maintaining relationships with the private sector, the successful applicant will also lead development of technical capabilities of PPP intelligence capabilities like the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT+), and the cross-organisation Joint Analytical Team (JAT) within Data Fusion team (Project BREAKOUT).
An opportunity has opened for a G2 Lead Data Scientist to lead the Technology areas within the NECC Public Private Partnerships Team. The successful applicant will be expected to manage and develop a public private technical team, build capability and set and communicate direction.
This role is aligned with the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework
Role Description
The role in PPP will lead technical aspects of the NECC's public, private partnership work, shaping the strategic plan and personally leading engagement with a wide range of stakeholders internally and externally. The job holder will be responsible for planning, coordinating and delivering technical projects working closely with operational, project and policy teams across the NCA to ensure that the NECC is delivering on its strategic commitments and realising benefits from its partnership activity.
Duties and Responsibilities
Duties & Responsibilities
Overview
Technology & Data Science Lead
Lead a team responsible for technology and data science across the Public Private Partnerships Team. Design and implement scalable data science outputs and products, driving collaboration with others in support of shared public private objectives.
Communicating and presenting
Responsible for working with stakeholders and communicating with senior leaders across the relevant stakeholders, including to PPP governance forums.
Technical relationship management with public & private partners
Maintain and establish technical relationships with public and private sector partners; helping to establish initiatives to develop capability collaboratively and taking on new responsibilities as change demands.
Stakeholder collaboration and analysis
Work with stakeholders across all parts of the NECC and wider NCA to drive up understanding and usage of data science-driven financial intelligence
Data science/data driven approach
Take a data science/data driven approach to improve analytical methodologies, tools and data science products through collaboration with wider technical teams
Manage & coach officers implementing workforce management & performance
Managing and coaching officers across varied locations assuring appropriate workforce planning measures are in place; that officers feel included and developed in line with wider business demands; and that performance is managed in an appropriate and demanding way. Support recruitment activity of technical resources into NECC
Person Specification
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Description
Leading and Managing a Team
Has led people and managed resources, while overseeing and supporting large operational teams to maximise service delivery
Written and Verbal Communication
Conveys information clearly and effectively through written and verbal communication, including experience of communicating to Board level or C Suite level audiences
Risk Management
Balances priorities across managing finances, risks, innovation and resources. Has the ability to support the business in identifying, managing and reporting on risk
Relationship Management
Develops and maintains positive relationships with internal and/or external stakeholders in order to achieve stakeholder needs and business objectives.
Data Ethics and Privacy
Experience ensuring ethical, lawful and secure use of data while providing trusted analytical insight to operational decision making, investigations and organisational priorities.
Applied maths, statistics and scientific practices
Identifies opportunities to develop statistical insight, reports or models to support organisational objectives. Uses model outputs to produce evidence and help design services and policies.
Data engineering
Identifies the data engineering requirement for any data science product. Understands the need to cleanse and prepare data before including it in data science products and can put processes and checks in place
Data Science Innovation
Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of data science tools and techniques (including machine learning, NLP and large language models) to challenge the status quo improve ways of working and deliver innovative, impactful solutions. Develops innovative and forward-thinking strategies that contribute to organisational success.
Systems Thinking
Significant experience setting technical strategy and designing scalable, secure data science solutions across cloud and on-premise platforms, enabling sustainable organisational capabilities.
Developing data science capability
Act as a leader in providing detailed support and guidance to help colleagues develop skills. Keep up to date with new developments in data science and demonstrate in-depth understanding of a wide range of data science techniques, such as machine learning and natural language processing
Programming and build
Experience of writing complex programs and scripts and supervision of junior analysts. Set coding standards for your team. Perform user testing on products prior to launch.
Desirable Criteria
Desirable criteria are only used for assessment in the event of a tie break.
- Knowledge of the illicit finance economic crime threats with awareness of the emerging picture of the threat
- Bachelors Degree (or equivalent to Level 6 qualifications) in a subject relating to technology or mathematical science
Salary
Allowances are reviewed annually and may be increased, decreased or removed.
All salary offers will be made in line with Remuneration Policy.
Roles based in London will receive an additional London Weighting (Per Annum) of £4218
Roles based in the South-East will receive an additional South-East Allowance (Per Annum) of £3375
Benefits
All NCA employees are members of the UK Civil Service and eligible for the Civil Service pension scheme, alongside your salary the NCA contributes £19,586. Further information on the benefits of the scheme is available on the Civil Service Pension Website.
New entrants to the NCA receive 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.
If qualifying criteria is met new joiners from UK Police Forces or the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for annual leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 31 days leave (including 1 privilege day).
Other benefits include:
Flexible working, including flexi-time, compressed hours and job sharing (in line with business requirements)
Family friendly policies, notably above the statutory minimum
Learning and Development opportunities
Interest free loans and advances, including season tickets, childcare and rental deposits
Housing schemes - Key Worker status
Discounts and Savings with a wide variety of services including Cycle to Work, Smart Tech schemes, dental insurance, gym discounts and savings on everyday spending, available through the Reward Gateway | Edenred and Blue Light Card schemes.
Staff support groups/networks
Sports and social activities, including membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC)
Further information is available on the NCA Website.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using the Success Profiles framework and will assess using the following criteria: Behaviours, Experience, Technical Skills
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
How we will assess you
Your application will be assessed against the following:
Technical - this will be assessed by 250 word examples on:
Demonstrable experience of leading and developing data science teams to design, deliver and embed data science capabilities directly supporting organisational objectives and operational decision making.
Extensive experience applying data science techniques, including machine learning, natural language processing and AI approaches, to large scale structured and unstructured datasets
Experience in maintaining collaborative and technical relationships with stakeholders from across the public and private sector
Experience - This will be assessed:
CV
Please include your full career history, training, qualifications, key responsibilities, and achievements. Explain any employment gaps in the last two years. Ensure all accreditation dates are accurate.
Details of what is expected within your CV are as follows: Applied maths, statistics and scientific practices, developing data science capability, responsibility for managing and developing teams, knowledge and understanding of data architecture platforms, enterprise infrastructure, and network technologies.
A panel will assess how well your application demonstrates the requirements outlined above.
Longlist
In the event of a high number of applications, we may operate a longlist. Applicants will need to meet the minimum pass mark for the lead criteria.
- Demonstrable experience of leading and developing data science teams to design, deliver and embed data science capabilities directly supporting organisational objectives and operational decision making. .
Candidates who do not meet the minimum pass mark for the lead criteria will not progress to having their other criteria assessed. Applications must meet the minimum criteria to be progressed to the assessment stage.
You will receive an acknowledgement once your application is submitted.
We aim to have sift completed and scores released within 10 working days of the closing date of the advert. For high volume campaigns this timeframe may be extended.
Scores will be provided but further feedback will not be available at this stage.
For guidance on the application process, visit:
NCA Applying and Onboarding
Assessment 1
The format of this assessment will be Interview which will be tested on the criteria listed in the Success Profiles at Assessment section.
Success Profiles at Assessment
Behaviours
Leadership
Changing and Improving
Technical
Experience of leading data science initiatives to deliver strategic and tactical intelligence value
Experience in identifying opportunities to develop statistical insight, reports and models to support organisational objectives
Identifying the data engineering requirements for data science product, working with engineers and data scientists to design and deliver products into the organisation effectively
Assessment Outcome
Outcomes will be communicated via the NCA recruitment portal.
If successful but no role is immediately available, you may be placed on a reserve list for 12 months.
Reserve lists can be used to fill similar role types across the Agency where the assessment criteria is considered a match by the recruitment team and the business area.
In the event of a tie at the assessment stage, available roles will be offered in merit order using the following order:
Lead criteria (behaviours/technical/experience)
If still tied, desirable criteria will be assessed (if advertised)
If still tied, application sift scores will be used
Feedback is provided only to those who attend an assessment.
You will be subject to vetting and pre-employment checks before appointment.
Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be accessible. Please save a copy for your records.
We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA Careers Page for more information.
Eligibility, Pre-Employment Check and Vetting
Please see the NCA T&Cs and Privacy Policy (pdf) for details on how your data is handled.
If you are an internal candidate who has passed interview but is undergoing an internal investigation or have a written warning in place preventing a post move you may not be able to be posted until this investigation is concluded or restriction lifted.
Nationality Requirements
This role is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals or dual nationals, where one component is British
- 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)
- 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
You will be required to participate in digital right to work and address checks as part of the recruitment process.
Security and Vetting
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is SC Enhanced. All security clearances will be managed by the NCA.
For more information on security vetting please visit: UK Security Vetting guidance for applicants and Demystifying Vetting and see our vetting charter at: The Vetting Charter.
Vetting requirements - SC Enhanced
Prior to commencing the role, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance.
The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.
For further information on National Security Vetting checks please visit the following page Demystifying Vetting
Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.
Occupational Health
Successful candidates will be expected to undertake an occupational health assessment. Depending on the role an in-person medical may be required in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.
Things you need to know
Multi Location
Where multiple locations are advertised, appointments will be made in merit order for each location.
Please indicate up to three location preferences clearly. Only your first three preferences will be considered. You may be allocated to any of the locations you select. If you decline an offer for a location you have selected as a preference, a further offer may not be made.
If you choose to reject an offer and no alternative preferred location can be offered, you will not be able to return to the process or be placed on a reserve list.
Only the advertised locations are available; any additional notes added to the application will not be taken into account.
Near Miss
If you meet the criteria for a lower grade, you may be offered that role if not appointable at the advertised grade.
Conversely, if found appointable at a higher grade but no posts are available, you may be offered a lower-grade role.
All offers are made based on merit.
Hybrid Working
The NCA supports hybrid working. The extent of remote working will depend on the role and can be discussed at the offer stage.
Reasonable Adjustments
We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and an inclusive, equal opportunities employer.
We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone can be their authentic self. If you’re neurodiverse, have a disability, or live with a long-term health condition, we encourage you to let us know about any reasonable adjustments you may need during the recruitment process.
If you experience accessibility issues with the advert or require reasonable adjustments, please contact our Recruitment Team at
[email protected] before the advert closing date.
Please ensure you complete the ‘Equal opportunities’ and 'Reasonable Adjustments' sections in the application form to inform us on what support you may need in the recruitment process.
For more on our Disability Confident commitment, visit Disability Confident Scheme | Civil Service Careers.
Visit NCA Benefits and Support for more details.
Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency's Diversity & Inclusion strategy, we require certain personal details about you on submission of your application for statistical and monitoring purposes only. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application.
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit on merit through fair and open competition, in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
If you believe your application has not been treated fairly, email:
[email protected] (quoting the vacancy reference).
If unresolved, you may escalate your complaint to the Civil Service Commission.
Working for the NCA
The National Crime Agency is a 24/7 organisation, and working patterns must support business requirements. Some roles may require you to respond at short notice or outside of core hours.
If preferable, alternative contract types may be available. Please review the green bar of this advert to view all available contract types for this role. Where Loan or Secondment options are available, these would be for existing Civil Servants (Loan) and applicants from accredited Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) or any other employer (Secondment). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
If you have any specific queries about the role that are not covered by the advert, please contact:
Name : Central Recruitment Team
Email : [email protected]