Senior Digital Forensic Practitioner -
Nottingham Regional Centre - Unity Square
About the job Job summary Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it's really like to work at HMRC.
Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.
HMRC is the UK's tax, payments and customs authority and we have a vital purpose: we collect the money that pays for the UK's public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support.
Covert Operations, Digital Exploitation (CODE) sits within HMRC's wider Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) responsible for the department's civil and criminal investigation work. FIS ensures that HMRC has an effective approach to taking on the most serious tax evasion and fraud.
Working across Law Enforcement and government, CODE provides investigative tools and covert techniques to front-line investigations and works with key partners to develop and provide access to new technology and systems to enable investigators to respond to serious and complex tax evasion and crime.
Job description Cybercrime & Forensic Services (C&FS) provides critical support to FIS investigations nationally through the provision of important forensic services. From supporting warrant executions to the preservation and analysis of digital evidence.
Person specification This is a unique opportunity to be responsible for critical elements of our Digital Forensic Service provided to HMRC's investigation teams.
You will ensure that all aspects of Digital Forensic work are carried out to a high standard, adhering to a solid forensic strategy, and meeting all requirements of the Forensic Science Regulator.
This will involve leading and developing junior colleagues who will benefit from your expertise and experience during lab-based acquisition work, forensic analysis, and presentation of evidence.
As an effective communicator you will collaborate closely with Senior Investigation Officers (SIOs) running operations and their senior management structures. Providing consultant level services on Forensic Strategy and technical problem solving.
On-site operations, such as search warrants, are an important part in HMRC's enforcement work, here the investigation teams will benefit from your experience dealing with frontline challenges and assisting with the forensic aspects of fast-paced operational work.
The responsibilities of this role will include (but not limited to):
• Ability to work effectively as a team leader demonstrating excellent leadership skills and support the team's goals above individual goals.
• Assist and manage other staff during the seizure and retention of digital devices within a laboratory environment and during warrant executions for subsequent forensic examination.
• Manage forensic exhibits to ensure continuity, confidentiality and security is maintained at all times.
• Understand, follow, and actively promote Digital Forensic good practice methodologies (ISO17025:2017 standard and FSR Codes of Practice) to examine computers, mobile phones, and other digital devices.
• Provide fact and procedural-based evidence at Court as and when required.
• Good communicator who can perform in a client/customer facing role.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple tasks through to completion.
• Be at the forefront of technical developments within Digital Forensics.
• To carry out any duties proportionate with the purpose of the post that may change from time to time according to business needs.
• Mentor laboratory Digital Forensic Practitioners, Higher Digital Forensic Practitioners and educate senior investigation colleagues about the field of digital forensics.
• Attending operational duties (including search warrant executions away from normal place of work with overnight stays).
• Travelling across the country, including occasional international travel.
Essential Criteria • Proven demonstrable experience of leading a team working within a Digital Forensic environment.
• Proficiency with one or more of the current mainstream digital forensic software tools (for either mobile devices or computers).
• Experience in examining computer and/or mobile devices (ideally both).
• Demonstrable experience of onsite acquisition of digital devices.
• Experience and knowledge in performing Digital Forensic examinations; be able to demonstrate case experience within either the law enforcement or civil work environment.
• Be knowledgeable of the ISO 17025:2017 standard and Forensic Science Regulators Codes of Practice.
• Be able to regularly work with material that may be of an obscene, offensive, or distressing nature. Treat such material in the appropriate manner ensuring it is secured and handled according to defined policy.
• To be willing to undertake the building of a portfolio of evidence to become a full member of ICDIP/CIISec
• Hold a full UK Driving Licence & be willing to drive on official business.
• Knowledge of Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) material and how to deal with it.
A full UK Driving Licence We recognise that some people cannot drive due to a disability or underlying health condition and may not be able to meet this requirement. Where this applies, you can apply but will need to declare that you require a reasonable adjustment at the point you receive a provisional offer. The vacancy holder will then discuss your specific requirements to consider if this can be reasonably accommodated in this role.
Desirable Criteria • Knowledge and understanding of criminal justice procedures including the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA) and the Police Act 1997.
• Previous experience working in a Law Enforcement environment / legal environment.
• Experience of giving evidence in court.
Training Requirements Depending on existing experience, you will be expected to undertake Digital Forensics training, ranging from in-house training to external courses.
Public and Personal Safety Training (PPST) Applicants will be required to be cleared by an occupational health assessment to be able to attend a public and personal safety training (PPST) course. Successful completion of the PPST is required to undertake duties away from the office for this role. Failure to pass and maintain the PPST certificate may affect receipt of the flexibility payment.
Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
Benefits Alongside your salary of £44,110, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £12,778 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.
We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
- Family friendly policies.
- Personal support.
- Coaching and development.
To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service
Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
How to Apply As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:
- The CV consists of 3 sections: Qualifications, Career History and Skills and experience - maximum 500 words per section. Digital Forensics will be assessed in CV (skills and experience section)
- A 1000-word Personal Statement. Your Personal Statement should be used to describe how your skills and experience would be suitable for the advertised role, making reference to the essential criteria and person specification outlined in the advert.
Please complete a separate statement (Max 250 words) for the Desirable Criteria where applicable. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy-holder where candidates have the same scores at sift or interview.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
We acknowledge that AI can assist you in your application. Find our guidelines at
Link: Artificial Intelligence in recruitment
Sift The CV, Personal Statement and experience will be assessed at sift.
We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.
Interview If you progress to interview, you will be further assessed on Strengths and the Civil Service behaviours: 'Making Effective Decisions', 'Delivering at Pace' and 'Managing a Quality Service'.
This is an example of a strengths-based question :
"It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?"
There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.
Interviews will take place face to face in
Nottingham and Stratford.
Sift and Interview dates to be confirmed.
Eligibility Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days(Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: - Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - 'Please re-open my application -
(insert vacancy ref) & vacancy closing date
(insert date)'. To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.
Reserve List A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we'll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Merit List After interview, merit lists will be created for each location advertised within the vacancy. If you are successful at interview, you will be placed on the merit list for any locations you have expressed an interest for. Appointments from each merit list will be made in strict merit order.
Criminal Record Check Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
Reasonable Adjustments We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact the UBS Recruitment team via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss
Complete the "Assistance required" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Additional Security Information Please note in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.
Additional Information We are looking into ways to enhance the applicant experience.
As part of our legitimate interests, we are testing the use of new technologies such as automation and/or Artificial Intelligence in the assessment for CV, personal statement and behaviour statement.
Please note that for this specific vacancy, this testing may run in parallel with our standard assessment process and will not influence or determine the outcome of your application in any way. You can read the Civil Service Jobs and HMRC Privacy Notices for more information about our lawful basis for processing your personal data and HMRC's use of AI.
If you don't want your data
to be used as part of the trial, please send your Application ID and the Vacancy Reference to
Terms and Conditions Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.
Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.
Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.
Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email
address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- 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) (opens in a new window)
- 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 (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
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.
Diversity and 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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Read Less
