Apply before
05/07/2026, 23:55
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Reference number
1006
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SPOT Rate 1
£49,392
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SPOT Rate 2
£53,493
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Role grade
G4
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Contract type
Permanent
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Command
Investigations
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Business Area
Multi-Threat & Borders & Forensics
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Type of role
Investigation
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Working pattern
Full time, Job share
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Number of roles available
1
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Senior Officer, Covert Monitoring Unit
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Location(s)
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Warrington
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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 Command’s national multi-threat teams (in the north, central & Wales, and the south), as well as the Command’s Forensic capability.
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Role Summary
The role is for a Senior Officer within the Covert Monitoring Unit (CMU), delivering a specialist capability supporting NCA investigations into serious and organised crime. Responsible for leading a small team, ensuring lawful and compliant monitoring activity, and working closely with law enforcement partners to gather intelligence and evidence. This is a high‑impact role requiring strong leadership, operational judgement, and the ability to perform in a sensitive, fast‑paced environment.
The role is based on-site within the office due to its operational requirements, and while duties are carried out within a central location, there is limited provision for home working.
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Role Description
We are seeking a highly motivated officer to manage the Covert Monitoring Unit (CMU) supporting serious and complex investigations both within the NCA and wider UK law enforcement. You will work alongside Senior Investigating Officers to design and deliver covert monitoring strategies, overseeing operations from initial tasking through to the conclusion of the criminal justice process. The role involves managing specially trained covert monitoring, coordinating resources, and ensuring all activity is lawful, proportionate, and aligned to operational strategies.
Based at the NCA site at Warrington, Cheshire you will be working in a fast-paced, operational role, requiring strong decision-making, leadership, and the ability to adapt to changing priorities. As part of a 24/7 organisation, you will be expected to work flexibly, including unsocial hours at short notice.
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Duties and Responsibilities
Duties & Responsibilities
Management - Manage a dedicated team to undertake the lawful acquisition of audio and video covert monitoring product.
Dissemination of information - Manage the handling, security, accuracy, and appropriate dissemination of evidence and intelligence.
Provision of advice - Provide Senior Investigation Officers with advice on legislation, tactical options and evidential opportunities to assist the planning of investigations and operations.
Operational Management - Manage a small team of officers within the CMU, resourcing deployments and overseeing monitoring activity.
Flexibility - Support the business requirement for flexible working in order to achieve the NCA’s objectives and contribute to the provision of on-call cover outside core working hours.
Standards - Oversee delivery through the provision of advice and direction and ensuring accurate record keeping throughout the lifecycle of covert monitoring operations.
Management of control strategies - Manage instances of threat, risk, and evidential opportunity, collateral intrusion and confidential material.
Identifying and management issues - Display an aptitude to identify, troubleshoot and resolve problems.
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Person Specification
Skills, Knowledge and Experience
You will have a strong, working knowledge of legislation governing covert monitoring activity, particularly the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), Investigatory Powers Act, and associated codes of practice. An understanding of wider UK and relevant international legal frameworks affecting law enforcement operations is also important. You must be confident applying this knowledge in an operational context, ensuring compliance while supporting investigations. Previous experience in covert monitoring, surveillance tactics, and case management in a law enforcement setting (including CPIA and the criminal procedure rules) is required, alongside an understanding of how covert monitoring benefits investigative strategies both in relation to serious and organised and major crime.
Operational Experience
You will have recent experience of managing officers involved in covert monitoring and/or surveillance activity within a law enforcement or similar operational environment. Such experience would include the planning, authorising, and overseeing of activity requiring covert surveillance or equivalent authorities, ensuring all deployments are lawful, necessary, and proportionate. You should also have a good understanding of major crime and SOC investigations, including the range of proactive, sensitive tactics available to a SIO. Further you should have experience and a good working knowledge around case management (CPIA, criminal procedure rules, the management of legally privileged, excluded and special procedure material etc) and the criminal justice process.
Leadership and Management
Proven experience of managing and leading teams in a high-pressure, operational environment is essential. You must be able to manage, motivate, and develop specialist officers, often working irregular hours in demanding conditions. Experience of coordinating resources, prioritising competing demands, and maintaining officer welfare and performance is required. You will demonstrate strong leadership presence, clear communication, and the ability to influence both peers and senior stakeholders.
Decision Making and Accountability
You will have a track record of making sound, timely decisions in complex and dynamic environments, often with incomplete or rapidly changing information. You must be comfortable taking ownership of operational decisions and outcomes, providing clear rationale, and standing by those decisions under scrutiny. Experience of advising senior officers and contributing to strategic decision-making is highly desirable.
Risk Management
You will have proven ability to identify threats, and manage the associated risk considering impact v likelihood. You should be able to balance operational necessity against legal, ethical, and reputational considerations, implementing appropriate controls and mitigation strategies in real time.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Strong verbal and written communication skills are essential. You must be able to deliver clear operational briefings, produce accurate and concise reports, and engage effectively and credibly with a range of stakeholders, including SIOs and partner agencies. The ability to handle sensitive information in line with legislation is critical.
Personal Attributes
You will demonstrate high levels of integrity, resilience, and personal accountability. You must be adaptable and able to respond to changing operational demands, often at short notice. A calm and composed approach under pressure, combined with strong analytical thinking and attention to detail, is essential. Commitment to continuous professional development and maintaining the highest professional standards is expected.
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On-call working
Officers are required to participate in a rota to provide cover outside of daily core hours, including weekends. Frequency will depend upon business need and staff availability.
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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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Entry Requirements
Entry requirements:
Audiometric Test - Candidate will be required to successfully pass an audiometric assessment and undergo further assessments every two years thereafter.
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Qualifications, Membership and Licences
Full UK or International Driving Licence - Candidates must hold a valid driving licence permitting them to drive a car in the UK. This may include a full UK driving licence or an appropriate international driving licence recognised for use in the UK, as the role requires regular travel to operational deployments and visits across the country.
Qualification - The successful candidate must be trained to College of Policing H2 License, or recognised equivalent.
Applicants applying via a recognised equivalent route are required to complete a 250-word Statement of Suitability outlining how their experience meets the equivalent criteria.
Continuous Professional Development - Maintained Covert Monitoring competence through both deployment history and continuous professional development.
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Any applications from candidates not meeting this eligibility criteria will not progress.
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Desirable Criteria
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Desirable criteria are only used for assessment in the event of a tie break.
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Experience of supervising law enforcement officers in an operational environment: As this is required experience for the role within the CMU.
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Salary
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Allowances are reviewed annually and may be increased, decreased or removed.
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All salary offers will be made in line with Remuneration Policy.
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On Call Allowance (Per Annum) £25.28 for a 12 hour session
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On Call Allowance details
The role requires participation in a rota to provide cover outside core hours, including evenings, weekends, and public holidays. Officers will also take part in a 24/7 on-call system, with frequency determined by business need and line management.
Officers must demonstrate flexibility to adapt to changing operational demands and working patterns.
Rotas will be issued with appropriate notice in line with NCA terms and conditions. An on-call allowance is payable to eligible officers for each session worked.
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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.
Successful applicants will start at Spot Rate 1 and will have the opportunity to be reviewed to move to Spot Rate 2 whilst in post
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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 £14309. 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, Experience, 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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Understanding the Legislation, Codes of Practice and National Policy that underpins authorised covert monitoring.
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Demonstrate operational competence and experience in managing Covert Monitoring.
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Management of threat and risk in a time critical environment.
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Demonstrated practice of taking steps to improve culture on an individual or team basis.
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Experience - This will be assessed:
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Statement of Suitability
Please provide a 250 word personal statement demonstrating how you meet the criteria below:
H2 equivalent, stating the title of the Covert Monitoring course, date taken and details of the training provider.
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A panel will assess how well your application demonstrates the requirements outlined above.
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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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Changing and Improving
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Working Together
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Technical
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Understanding the Legislation, Codes of Practice and National Policy that underpins authorised covert monitoring.
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Demonstrate operational competence and experience in managing Covert Monitoring.
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Management of threat and risk in a time critical environment.
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Demonstrated practice of taking steps to improve culture on an individual or team basis.
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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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Multi Location
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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.
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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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