Financial Investigator

The SFO is a unique law enforcement organisation which both investigates and prosecutes the top tier of fraud, bribery and corruption and related money laundering. We bring the skills of our lawyers, investigators, accountants, analysts and administrators together on every case from the outset and work closely with law enforcement and prosecution partners in the UK and overseas.

You will work in the Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance Division (POCIAD), playing a key role in delivering the SFO’s strategic objective to deliver justice for victims and recover the proceeds of financial crime.

As a Financial Investigator, you will manage a varied caseload of proceeds of crime investigations. You will use investigative and financial analysis skills to identify lines of enquiry, criminal benefit, realisable assets and recoverable property, and pursue appropriate asset recovery outcomes.

Your work may include restraint and confiscation investigations, civil recovery, cash seizure and forfeiture, account freezing and forfeiture, listed asset investigations, money laundering investigations and the enforcement of confiscation orders. You will work closely with POCIAD lawyers, SFO case teams and UK and overseas law enforcement partners.

POCIAD also includes specialist functions covering International Assistance, Enforcement, and Crypto & Digital Asset work. Depending on business need, Financial Investigators may be expected to assist with International Assistance work. Candidates may also be assigned to particular proceeds of crime, Enforcement or Crypto & Digital Asset teams having regard to business need, existing skills and experience, and development requirements. Candidate preferences will be taken into consideration where possible during the allocation process.

Successful candidates will undertake a structured six-month secondment with one of the SFO’s criminal investigation teams before commencing Financial Investigator training. This provides experience of the SFO’s wider investigative work and forms part of the development pathway towards Financial Investigator accreditation. As part of ongoing professional development, successful candidates will undertake relevant asset recovery training and achieve and maintain required external accreditation.

As a Financial Investigator you will be responsible for:

• Planning and conducting restraint and confiscation investigations, using analytical skills to identify lines of enquiry, criminal benefit and realisable assets, with the aim of obtaining and enforcing confiscation orders that may be used to compensate victims of crime.
• Conducting investigations into suspected money laundering offences, gathering evidence capable of supporting criminal proceedings, including obtaining statements from third-party witnesses and interviewing suspects under caution.
• Conducting financial intelligence enquiries, analysing information from a range of sources and developing financial profiles to identify assets, financial relationships and reasonable lines of enquiry.
• Undertaking investigations into cash seizure and forfeiture, account freezing and forfeiture, listed assets and civil recovery where appropriate.
• Taking appropriate investigative action to support the effective enforcement of confiscation orders and maximise asset recovery.
• Producing robust witness statements in a high standard of written English in support of court applications or to introduce evidence in criminal proceedings.
• Identifying and using appropriate investigative powers to acquire material, including obtaining court orders and warrants under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
• Liaising with criminal case teams, attending case conferences and providing progress reports, and working with other government departments and law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas where required.

For more information about the role and for a full list of key responsibilities, please see attached Job Pack.

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)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application stage

As part of the application process you will be required to provide:

• A personal statement of no more than 500 words that explains how your skills and experience meet each of the essential and desirable experience criteria as listed in the job pack.

The following experience is a lead criteria; this experience will be assessed first and candidates who do not meet the required standard will not have the remainder of their application considered.

• Experience of conducting investigations, preferably within financial crime, economic crime, asset tracing, asset recovery or another comparable investigative environment.

Please note, desirable experience will only be taken into account if there is a large volume of applications and there is a need for further shortlisting for interview.

• A supporting CV of no more than two A4 sides, outlining your job history and qualifications.

It will not be possible to provide feedback to applicants who are unsuccessful at the application stage.

Interview stage

Behaviours and experience criteria as outlined in the job pack will be tested at interview. You will also be required to complete an assessment assessing essential experience.

Full details of the interview process will be made available to shortlisted candidates in the invite to interview.

Sift to take place from 29 October

Interviews to take place from 09 November

All dates are indicative and subject to change.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. To be eligible you must meet the following residency requirements dependent of the level of security vetting required:

• SC: 5 years residency in the United Kingdom preceding this application.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.