OVERALL PURPOSE The Defensibility Officer supports the delivery of fair, proportionate, evidence-based, and audit-ready screening outputs across SP Index services.
The primary purpose of this role is to:
- Audit operational outputs and documentation
- Review screening cases, reports, rationale, and supporting evidence for quality, relevance, proportionality, and defensibility.
- Support quality assurance, escalation handling, challenge responses, audit readiness, and continuous improvement.
- Ensure report outputs are consistent, objective, evidence-led, and aligned with internal standards and client expectations.
- Help strengthen decision-making, operational controls, and defensible reporting across the organisation.
KEY FEATURES
- Remote / home-working role
- Supports social media, adverse media, and wider screening services Works closely with operations, quality assurance, reporting, and management teams
- Focus on defensibility, fairness, evidence quality, proportionality, and audit readiness Structured guidance, internal procedures, and ongoing feedback provided
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Review flagged, complex, disputed, or escalated screening cases before release where required.
- Assess relevance, proportionality, context, evidence quality, identity confidence, and decision rationale.
- Approve, reject, amend, or escalate risk flags, report content, and supporting rationale where appropriate.
- Ensure screening outputs are accurate, consistent, fair, evidence-based, and supported by an appropriate audit trail. Identify over-flagging, under-flagging, weak evidence, unsupported conclusions, or inconsistent interpretation.
- Support client challenges, complaints, disputes, and clarification requests with clear written explanations.
- Record QA findings, escalation outcomes, corrective actions, and improvement recommendations. Support process compliance, SOP review, incident learning, training feedback, and operational improvement.
- Support and defend technical security in operational research processes, ensuring full defensibility free from bias and subjectivity.
- Prepare or contribute to management reporting, defensibility metrics, audit preparation, and trend analysis.
- Oversight of unified case management and support.
- Undertake other duties relevant to the role as reasonably required.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
- Maintain confidentiality, discretion, and professional judgement at all times. Remain objective and impartial when reviewing sensitive or potentially adverse information.
- Apply fairness, proportionality, consistency, and evidence-led reasoning across all review activity. Work accurately and efficiently within agreed procedures, timeframes, and quality standards.
- Challenge decisions constructively where evidence, rationale, or proportionality may be weak.
TEAMWORK AND TRAINING Work closely with operational, QA, reporting, and management colleagues. Provide feedback and guidance based on QA findings, escalation outcomes, and case review learning. Support consistent application of criteria, procedures, evidence standards, and report expectations. Participate in relevant training, onboarding, refresher guidance, and improvement activity. Contribute positively to a fair, supportive, and quality-focused remote working culture.
SECURITY / DATA PROTECTION Comply with all relevant data protection, privacy, confidentiality, and information security requirements. Apply data minimisation, relevance, necessity, and proportionality principles during case review. Identify sensitive, excessive, irrelevant, historical, or low-confidence information where inclusion may not be justified. Follow company procedures for secure handling, review, recording, and storage of information. Ensure all work is carried out within approved systems and a secure home working environment.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
- Mandatory Background in auditing, documentation review, Standard Operating Procedure management.
- Good understanding of quality assurance, evidence review, rationale, and audit trails.
- Ability to assess relevance, risk, proportionality, context, and consistency in sensitive or regulated environments. Working knowledge of GDPR and data protection principles. Strong attention to detail and ability to identify gaps, inconsistencies, or unsupported conclusions.
- Clear written communication skills for explanations, summaries, and defensibility responses. Ability to follow defined procedures, apply review criteria, and work independently. Strong judgement, integrity, confidentiality, and evidence-led decision-making.
Preferred (Not Essential) Experience in screening, compliance, QA, audit, investigations, case review, or regulated operations. Experience working with SOPs, reporting frameworks, escalation processes, or client-facing quality standards. Understanding of social media screening, adverse media review, online research, or digital evidence capture. Ability to turn QA findings and operational data into practical improvement recommendations.
CHARACTER REQUIREMENTS The role requires individuals who can work responsibly with sensitive information and support fair, consistent, and defensible decision-making. Successful candidates are likely to demonstrate:
Integrity – trustworthy and committed to confidentiality.
Objectivity – able to review information impartially and without bias. Attention to detail – careful in reviewing evidence, context, and rationale. Professional judgement – able to recognise risk, relevance, and when escalation is required.
Discretion – able to handle sensitive information responsibly.
Reliability – dependable in completing reviews within agreed standards and timescales.
Constructive challenge – comfortable raising concerns where outputs may not be defensible.
WORKING ARRANGEMENT
Contracted hours: Minimum 30 hours per week
Working days: Monday to Friday Location: Remote / Home working Equipment: Company systems and access provided where required
PAY RATE / BENEFITS £14.10 per hour 28 days per annum, including 8 bank holidays, pro rata to actual hours worked
Pay: £14.10 per hour
Benefits:
Application question(s):
- Please confirm how many years experience you have in auditing and documentation control.
- Do you have any experience in employment screening, compliance and regulated operations?
- Do you have a minimum download speed of 100mbps?
- Please confirm if you currently have less than 1 month's notice period.
Work Location: Remote
