Apply before
08/07/2026, 23:55
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Reference number
1029
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SPOT Rate 2
£42,270
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Role grade
G5
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Contract type
Permanent
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Command
Investigations
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Business Area
Economic & Devolved Administration
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Type of role
Investigation, Operational Delivery, Operational Research, Policing
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Working pattern
Full time, Flexible Working
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Number of roles available
3
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Surveillance Operative
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Location(s)
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Gartcosh
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About the Role
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Information about the Command
Investigations Command is the core crime fighting capability of the NCA. We take an intelligence-led approach and concentrate on tackling the criminals and risks to the public which are beyond the capability or capacity of other law enforcement bodies. Our work is largely focused on investigating Organised Immigration Crime, Human Trafficking, Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Economic Crime, Firearms, Drugs, Kidnap and Extortion and Money Laundering. The Investigations Command provides a flexible, shared operational capability, designed to maximise the impact of the UK's collective resources against serious and organised crime. Our teams respond to a broad range of threats, many of which also remain a responsibility for police forces and other agencies as well as private industry.
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Information about the Business Area
This DD area comprises the Complex Financial Crime Team (CFCT), Asset Denial teams, the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell (CKC), International Corruption Unit (ICU), Hardened Secure Communications (HSC) and the devolved administrations of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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Role Summary
We are a world class Investigation capability, delivered by highly skilled and motivated officers, flexibly responding to intelligence-led, centrally tasked, Agency priorities. Investigations is the core crime fighting capability of the NCA. We take an intelligence-led approach and concentrate on tackling the criminals and risks to the public which are beyond the capability or capacity of other law enforcement bodies. The Investigations Command provides a flexible, shared operational capability, designed to maximise the impact of the UK's collective resources against serious and organised crime, and in specialist support of major crime. Our teams respond to a broad range of threats, many of which also remain a responsibility for police forces and other agencies as well as private industry.
Our teams lead investigations across the Serious and Organised Crime landscape for example; Organised Immigration Crime, Illicit Finance, Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking, Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, internal Professional Standards, Economic Crime, Firearms, Drugs including County Lines, Anti-Kidnap and Extortion, Professional enablers and Money Laundering. The teams provide a national service of specialist investigative skills and expertise to support major crime investigations conducted by police forces, such as abduction, serial sexual crime and no body murder.
Surveillance Operatives are able to successfully deliver proactive operations utilising the full spectrum of tools and techniques available to covert investigation specialists. The NCA is at the forefront of law enforcement in the UK, protecting the public from the most serious criminal threats by disrupting or bringing to justice those serious and organised criminals who present the highest risk to our communities. You will be part of a team who will have officers with a range of surveillance qualifications, with some being specialists in technical, rural and/or motorcyclist surveillance.
Candidates will bring with them a full range of previous surveillance experience in either law enforcement, military or other government agency roles. It is a challenging role requiring a flexible approach to travel within the UK, working long and varied hours.
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Role Description
Successful applicants will work with the dedicated surveillance teams bringing with you a full range of previous surveillance experience in either law enforcement, military or other government agency roles. It is anticipated that the teams will be made up of officers from a wide range of ethnic and other backgrounds, to reflect the makeup of modern British society. The team may, on occasions, be tasked to respond to other Agency priorities in respect of all types of criminal activity; ranging from firearms supply, child sexual exploitation and the supply of Class A drugs. You will be part of a team who will have officers with a range of surveillance qualifications, with some being specialists in technical, rural and/or motorcyclist surveillance. You will be required to undertake tasks as directed by supervisors to support the work of the investigation command. These tasks may include non surveillance related tasks.
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Duties and Responsibilities
Duties & Responsibilities Overview
Flexible approach to work It is a challenging role requiring a flexible approach to working long and varied hours, often at short notice.
Travel Occasional UK travel.
Evidence and Intelligence gathering Gather evidence and intelligence in support of NCA and partner operations whilst deployed on surveillance operations.
Case management Manage case material in line with NCA policies and procedures in line with the code of ethics.
Maintain Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Maintain CPD and national standards for surveillance, specialist technical, rural and/or motorcycle surveillance skills and advanced driving.
First Aid Officers will be required to complete First Aid training and regular refresher training.
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Person Specification
Skills, Knowledge and Experience Description
Collaboration and team working You will liaise closely with Officers from other NCA Operational teams and specialist departments to enhance delivery of the objectives.
Communication Good communication skills with the ability to listen, empathise, provide support and adapt language to meet the needs of different people and audiences.
Risk Management Knowledge or experience of managing risk in a fast paced operational environment.
Working under pressure Experience of working as a surveillance operative in a highly pressurised environment.
Decision making Experience of making individual decisions in testing operational scenarios.
Team working Experience of working as a productive and positive member of a task orientated team or number of teams in challenging law enforcement situations.
Officer Safety Training - It is an essential requirement for successful candidates to pass an Officer Training Course (OST). Applicants are urged to give consideration to whether this is achievable prior to applying. The OST combines cognitive input, armed and unarmed defence theory and practical techniques and, as such, requires a level of physical exertion due to the nature and repetition of the drills. The practical techniques include use of body weapons, movement and positioning strikes (armed/unarmed) blocks. restraint and control. We will expect officers attending the course to have a standard of physical fitness. Progressive full body warm-ups are conducted each day to minimise risk of injury to the officer. It is expected that the officer is capable of a ground descent and ascent, unaided and within a reasonable timeframe. This is important both individually and in team tactics. Candidates must pass the OST during the first six months of starting in this role. Failure to do so would mean that you would not be able to continue in the operational role and your employment with the NCA will end. Barring any exceptional circumstances the NCA would not seek to find you an alternative role within the Agency. An officer who passes the OST will still be required to successfully pass their 12 month probation to ensure continued employment with the NCA.
First Aid - Officers will be required to complete First Aid training and regular refresher training.
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On-call working
Potentially 1 weekend in 6
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Essential Criteria
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You must meet the essential criteria and evidence this within your application to be considered for the role.
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Qualifications, Membership and Licences
Police Advanced Driver
and
Current/Active PIP1 or recently lapsed within the last 3 years or equivalent recognised qualification/accreditation in investigating crime issued by a Government body (Guidance of equivalent can be found attached to the advert, please read for further information)
Investigators who join the agency on an equivalence basis, without PIP 1 accreditation, will receive appropriate training and will be required to achieve a minimum of PIP 1 accreditation within 12 months of appointment. Which may include passing any exams deemed necessary to meet accreditation and powers designation.
Important terms of exams;
If you require powers for your role, it is mandatory to successfully complete NCA exams, this is because, in order for the DGO to designate NCA powers to any NCA officer under the Crime and Courts Act, The Designating Officer must assess an NCA Officer seeking designation of operational powers as:
Capable of effectively exercising those powers
Having received adequate training in respect of the exercise of those powers
Otherwise being a suitable person to exercise those powers
It has been decided by the agency that the most effective way the designating officer can be satisfied by all 3 of the above points, is for the officer to take all the NCA Exams (Exams 1 and NCA Exam 2 Part A & Part B). The only exemption is if you have sat and passed the National Investigators Examination (NIE) in the last 3 years you are not required to sit NCA exam 2 – Paper A.
These exams provide the officer with knowledge of the legislation the NCA work with, as required by the business area and the wider Agency. Upon successful completion of the NCA exams an officer will be designated under section 10 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 as a person having the following powers:
the powers and privileges of a constable;
the powers of an officer of Revenue and Customs;
the powers of an immigration officer; and
the powers of a general customs official.
Q1 (Q100) Surveillance trained College of Policing (CoP) Surveillance Operative or UK law enforcement, military or Intelligence agency certified equivalent.
If the applicant has not successfully completed the CoP Q1 course they must complete a programme of upskilling to reach that level and/or attend a Q1 course at CoP (Ryton) within the first 12 months of employment. Failure to achieve this level will result in termination of employment as this is an essential requirement for the role.
Applicants who are Q1 trained must have deployed operationally or in a training environment on at least two occasions in a rolling six month period. This six month period must be within the past two years. Applicants who are not Q1 trained must have deployed operationally or in a training environment on at least two occasions in the past six months.
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Any applications from candidates not meeting this eligibility criteria will not progress.
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Salary
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All salary offers will be made in line with Remuneration Policy.
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Operational Role Salary Information
This role attracts a SPOT Rate salary. SPOT Rate offers a progressive increase in pay to reflect the skills and experience of the officer.
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Benefits
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All NCA employees are members of the UK Civil Service and eligible for the Civil Service pension scheme, alongside your salary the NCA contributes £12245. 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.
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Selection Process Details
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This vacancy is using the Success Profiles framework and will assess using the following criteria: Behaviours, Technical Skills
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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.
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How we will assess you
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Your application will be assessed against the following:
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Technical - this will be assessed by 250 word examples on:
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Strong demonstration of experience working as a Surveillance Operative in a demanding and high pressured environment (Lead Criteria)
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Demonstrate you experience of making an individual decision in an operational environment, which enhanced the outcome of the operation?
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Demonstrate your evidence of your experience working as a productive and positive team member within law enforcement, military or other equivalent operating environment to deliver on a task.
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A panel will assess how well your application demonstrates the requirements outlined above.
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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.
- Strong demonstration of experience working as a Surveillance Operative in a demanding and high pressured environment (Lead Criteria) .
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.
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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.
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For guidance on the application process, visit:
NCA Applying and Onboarding
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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.
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Success Profiles at Assessment
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Behaviours
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Delivering at Pace
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Communicating and Influencing
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Technical
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Strong demonstration of experience working as a Surveillance Operative in a demanding and high pressured environment (Lead Criteria)
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Demonstrate you experience of making an individual decision in an operational environment, which enhanced the outcome of the operation?
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Demonstrate your evidence of your experience working as a productive and positive team member within law enforcement, military or other equivalent operating environment to deliver on a task.
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Demonstrate your commitment to the improvement of cultural within a team, and how you measure success.
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Assessment Outcome
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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.
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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
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Feedback is provided only to those who attend an assessment.
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You will be subject to vetting and pre-employment checks before appointment.
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Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be accessible. Please save a copy for your records.
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We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA Careers Page for more information.
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Eligibility, Pre-Employment Check and Vetting
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Please see the NCA T&Cs and Privacy Policy (pdf) for details on how your data is handled.
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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.
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Nationality Requirements
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This role is broadly open to the following groups:
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- UK nationals or dual nationals, where one component is British
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- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
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- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
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- 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)
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- 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)
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- Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
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- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
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Further information on nationality requirements
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You will be required to participate in digital right to work and address checks as part of the recruitment process.
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Security and Vetting
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People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.
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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.
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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.
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Vetting requirements - SC Enhanced
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Prior to commencing the role, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance.
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The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
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Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.
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For further information on National Security Vetting checks please visit the following page Demystifying Vetting
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Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.
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Occupational Health
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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.
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Things you need to know
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Operational Roles
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The National Crime Agency is a law enforcement agency and as such we are part of the Criminal Justice System. Therefore if you are going into an operational role we need to be aware if any of our officers have, either before they join us or afterwards, any of the following:
Any criminal conviction (including Court Martial), or caution or fixed penalty notice for disorder or theft;
Any adverse judicial findings;
Any charges or summonses where the proceedings are not complete;
Any misconduct or gross misconduct findings or where proceedings are not complete.
You will be asked to complete a declaration covering the above if offered a role with the NCA.
Each case will be considered on its merits and a positive declaration does not automatically mean that your application will not be progressed. However, should you fail to disclose a relevant matter then your application or employment will be adversely affected. If in doubt, please declare it at this stage.
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Near Miss
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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.
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Hybrid Working
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The NCA supports hybrid working. The extent of remote working will depend on the role and can be discussed at the offer stage.
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Reasonable Adjustments
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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.
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Inclusion
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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.
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This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
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Working for the Civil Service
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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.
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Working for the NCA
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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.
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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.
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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]
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