Head of Investigations
Location: Home-based, with extensive national travel
Contract: Full-time, permanent
Salary: £40,000 per year
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Supervises: Investigations Officers and Rehoming & Fostering Coordinator
About Animal Welfare Investigations Project
Animal Welfare Investigations Project (AWIP) conducts criminal investigations into serious, organised and complex animal cruelty.
We gather intelligence and evidence while working alongside police forces, local authorities, prosecutors, veterinary professionals and specialist partners to identify offenders, disrupt criminal activity and support enforcement action and criminal prosecutions.
Our investigations can involve animal cruelty, wildlife crime, organised offending, illegal breeding and trading, digital evidence and complex multi-agency enforcement activity.
About the Role
The Head of Investigations is responsible for the professional leadership, quality and operational delivery of AWIP's investigations function.
This is a senior operational role for an experienced criminal investigator who is capable not only of conducting complex investigations personally, but also of setting investigative strategy, reviewing the work of others, making difficult evidence-led decisions and maintaining consistently high investigative standards across the organisation.
The postholder will oversee AWIP's portfolio of criminal investigations from initial intelligence assessment through to enforcement action, prosecution and court proceedings. They will ensure that investigations are lawful, proportionate, properly documented and capable of withstanding scrutiny from police forces, prosecutors, defence representatives and the courts.
The Head of Investigations will directly supervise Investigations Officers, allocate and review investigative work, provide professional guidance and challenge, and develop the capability of the small but growing investigations team.
They will also maintain and expand AWIP's relationships with police forces, local authorities, prosecutors and other enforcement partners throughout the United Kingdom.
This is a hands-on position. Although the role carries significant leadership responsibility, the postholder will remain personally involved in complex investigations and operational activity where their experience or seniority is required.
Key Responsibilities
Investigative Leadership and Strategy
- Provide professional and operational leadership for AWIP's investigations function.
- Receive, assess and prioritise intelligence concerning serious, organised and complex animal cruelty.
- Determine appropriate investigative strategies, objectives and priorities.
- Allocate investigations and investigative tasks according to risk, complexity, urgency and available resources.
- Set clear investigative objectives and ensure reasonable lines of enquiry are identified and pursued.
- Regularly review active investigations to assess progress, evidential sufficiency, proportionality, risk and investigative direction.
- Identify weaknesses, evidential gaps, inconsistencies and opportunities within investigations and direct appropriate remedial action.
- Ensure investigations consider evidence both supporting and undermining allegations.
- Make and document significant investigative decisions and ensure appropriate rationale is recorded.
- Ensure investigative activity remains focused on achieving appropriate enforcement, safeguarding, disruption or prosecution outcomes.
- Personally lead particularly serious, sensitive or complex investigations where appropriate.
- Provide professional advice to the Chief Executive Officer and senior colleagues concerning investigative risk, strategy and operational decisions.
Investigation Quality and Case Review
- Establish and maintain consistently high investigative standards across AWIP.
- Conduct formal reviews of investigations and case files.
- Ensure investigation records are accurate, contemporaneous, secure and capable of independent scrutiny.
- Review witness statements, investigation reports, evidential summaries, exhibits and other investigative documentation.
- Ensure continuity and integrity of physical, documentary, digital, photographic, video and veterinary evidence.
- Ensure investigators understand and comply with applicable requirements relating to disclosure and criminal case preparation.
- Identify cases that are not ready for referral to an enforcement agency or prosecutor and clearly direct what further work is required.
- Challenge unsupported assumptions and ensure investigations remain impartial and evidence-led.
- Develop quality-assurance processes for investigation and prosecution files.
- Promote organisational learning from concluded investigations, court proceedings and operational activity.
Intelligence
- Oversee the receipt, assessment, development and use of intelligence.
- Ensure intelligence is appropriately evaluated and developed before operational or enforcement activity is undertaken.
- Identify intelligence gaps and direct proportionate enquiries to address them.
- Develop intelligence-led investigative strategies relating to individuals, organisations, networks and emerging offending patterns.
- Ensure sensitive and confidential intelligence is handled securely and appropriately.
- Promote effective intelligence sharing with police forces, local authorities and other authorised partner organisations.
- Support the development of AWIP's intelligence capability, systems and procedures.
Operational Investigations
- Plan and participate in searches, seizures, rescues and other operational activity alongside law enforcement and partner agencies where appropriate.
- Develop and review operational plans and risk assessments.
- Ensure appropriate consideration is given to evidential objectives, animal welfare, staff safety and operational risk.
- Conduct or oversee witness, complainant, person-of-interest and suspect interviews.
- Conduct or support interviews under caution where appropriate and in accordance with applicable legislation, codes of practice and organisational procedures.
- Oversee lawful and proportionate surveillance and intelligence-gathering activity.
- Ensure investigative operations have clearly defined objectives and appropriate contingencies.
- Respond to urgent operational requirements and provide senior investigative decision-making where necessary.
- Coordinate specialist input including veterinary, digital, forensic and other expert evidence.
Prosecution and Court Work
- Oversee the preparation of high-quality files for criminal prosecution.
- Ensure exhibits, schedules, witness statements, and unused disclosure material meet appropriate professional standards.
- Work closely with AWIP's external solicitors, barristers and enforcement partners.
- Review evidential sufficiency before cases are submitted for enforcement or prosecution decisions.
- Ensure requests for additional investigative work from prosecutors are appropriately allocated and completed.
- Attend conferences with prosecutors and counsel where required.
- Attend Magistrates' Court and Crown Court proceedings throughout the United Kingdom.
- Provide written and oral evidence and respond professionally to cross-examination when required.
- Support investigators, witnesses and partner agencies through the criminal justice process.
- Review court outcomes and identify learning or improvements for future investigations.
Team Leadership and Management
- Directly supervise Investigations Officers and other investigative personnel.
- Allocate workloads and monitor investigation progress and performance.
- Conduct regular case reviews and professional supervision.
- Set clear expectations concerning investigative standards, conduct and accountability.
- Support investigators in making difficult operational and evidential decisions while maintaining appropriate personal accountability.
- Identify performance or capability concerns and take appropriate action.
- Coach and mentor investigators to develop their professional competence.
- Encourage professional challenge and an environment in which investigators are expected to test assumptions rather than simply confirm them.
- Support recruitment, induction and probationary assessment of Investigations personnel.
- Identify training needs and contribute to professional development programmes.
- Promote a collaborative, disciplined and evidence-led team culture.
Policies, Procedures and Governance
- Develop and maintain investigation policies, procedures, operational guidance and professional standards.
- Ensure organisational procedures remain appropriate for AWIP's role as a non-statutory organisation working alongside enforcement agencies.
- Maintain appropriate governance around intelligence, surveillance, evidence handling, information sharing and investigative activity.
- Identify emerging operational, legal or reputational risks and advise senior leadership accordingly.
- Maintain appropriate audit trails for significant investigative decisions.
- Contribute to organisational risk management and strategic planning.
Partnerships and External Relations
- Build and maintain effective professional relationships with police forces, local authorities, prosecutors, government agencies, veterinary professionals and animal welfare organisations.
- Act as a senior point of contact for enforcement agencies regarding AWIP investigations.
- Represent AWIP at multi-agency meetings, operational briefings and professional forums.
- Promote awareness among law enforcement and local authorities of AWIP's investigative capability and how the organisation can support their work.
- Develop trusted relationships that facilitate lawful intelligence sharing and collaborative investigations.
- Represent AWIP professionally with witnesses, suspects, enforcement bodies, legal representatives and external stakeholders.
Person Specification
Essential Experience
Applicants must have substantial professional experience conducting criminal investigations.
Applicants must also be able to demonstrate:
- Experience managing or leading complex criminal investigations.
- Experience developing and reviewing investigative strategies.
- Experience supervising, reviewing or quality-assuring the investigative work of others.
- Practical experience gathering, assessing, recording and presenting evidence.
- Experience identifying and pursuing reasonable lines of enquiry.
- Experience making significant investigative decisions and recording professional rationale.
- Experience interviewing witnesses, victims and suspects.
- Experience preparing or reviewing criminal investigation or prosecution files.
- Experience handling exhibits and maintaining evidential continuity.
- A strong practical understanding of disclosure and criminal case preparation.
- Experience working with prosecutors and the criminal justice system.
- Experience giving evidence or presenting investigative material in legal proceedings.
- Experience handling confidential, sensitive or restricted intelligence and information.
- Experience working collaboratively with police forces, local authorities, regulators or other enforcement bodies.
- Experience managing operational risk and making decisions in fast-moving or uncertain circumstances.
- Experience supervising, mentoring, coaching or developing other investigators or operational staff.
Applicants without substantial professional criminal investigation experience will not be considered.
Highly Desirable Experience
Experience in one or more of the following is particularly desirable:
- Police Inspector, Detective Sergeant, Detective Inspector or equivalent investigative leadership role.
- Senior Investigating Officer or Deputy Senior Investigating Officer experience.
- Police Wildlife Crime Officers.
- RSPCA Inspector or Animal Health Officers.
- Senior Trading Standards Officers.
It is also highly desirable for applicants to have:
- Experience investigating animal cruelty or wildlife crime.
- Knowledge of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and relevant wildlife legislation.
- Experience relating to dangerous dogs, seized animals or animal welfare within enforcement operations.
- Experience executing or participating in search warrants.
- Experience conducting interviews under caution.
- Experience of covert or surveillance-led investigations.
- Experience working with veterinary evidence.
- Experience investigating organised criminal networks.
- Experience dealing with digital, financial or communications evidence.
- Experience preparing complete files for criminal prosecution.
- Knowledge of CPIA disclosure requirements and criminal case-file standards.
- Recognised investigative, policing or professional enforcement qualifications.
- Experience developing investigative policies, procedures or professional standards.
Skills and Competencies
The successful candidate will be able to:
- Analyse complex intelligence and evidence using structured investigative reasoning.
- Quickly identify evidential gaps, inconsistencies, risks and investigative opportunities.
- Develop clear and proportionate investigative strategies.
- Distinguish investigative activity from meaningful investigative progress.
- Maintain objectivity and follow the evidence wherever it leads.
- Make difficult decisions where information is incomplete or conflicting.
- Clearly explain and defend investigative decisions.
- Challenge colleagues and senior leaders professionally where evidence or risk requires it.
- Review the work of experienced investigators constructively and confidently.
- Prioritise multiple investigations according to risk, harm, opportunity and organisational resources.
- Delegate effectively while maintaining appropriate oversight and accountability.
- Produce concise, accurate and legally robust written work.
- Communicate confidently with police officers, prosecutors, lawyers, veterinary professionals and senior stakeholders.
- Lead teams calmly during challenging or unpredictable operational situations.
- Develop the capability and professional judgement of other investigators.
- Work independently and exercise substantial professional judgement.
Personal Attributes
The successful candidate will be:
- Ethical, impartial and evidence-led.
- Highly motivated by AWIP's mission.
- Professionally courageous and willing to challenge assumptions.
- Calm and decisive under pressure.
- Resilient when dealing with distressing animal cruelty material.
- Thorough and attentive to detail.
- Discreet and trustworthy.
- Accountable for their decisions.
- Comfortable taking responsibility for complex and sensitive matters.
- Supportive of colleagues while maintaining high professional standards.
- Able to move comfortably between strategic leadership and hands-on investigative work.
- Resourceful and capable of operating effectively within a small, developing organisation.
Travel and Operational Requirements
The role holder must:
- Hold a current full UK driving licence.
- Have access to suitable transportation where required for operational duties.
- Hold a valid passport permitting international travel.
- Be able and willing to travel extensively throughout the United Kingdom, sometimes at short notice.
- Attend court proceedings at locations throughout the UK.
- Be prepared to stay away from home where operationally necessary.
- Be willing to travel internationally where required.
- Work outside normal office hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays, where operational circumstances require it.
- Be physically and practically capable of participating in operational deployments.
- Successfully complete an appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service check.
- Have the right to work in the United Kingdom.
Appropriate travel expenses and allowances will be paid in accordance with AWIP policies.
What Success Looks Like
Within the role, the Head of Investigations will be expected to build an investigations function characterised by:
- Clear and defensible investigative strategies.
- Consistently high-quality investigation and prosecution files.
- Strong case supervision and regular investigative review.
- Evidence-led decision-making and professional challenge.
- Effective prioritisation of investigative resources.
- Appropriate governance of intelligence and operational activity.
- Investigators who are increasingly capable of working independently.
- Strong relationships with police forces, local authorities and prosecutors.
- Investigations that achieve meaningful outcomes through prosecution, enforcement, disruption and protection of animals.
Pay: From £40,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Flexitime
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Work from home
Work Location: Remote
