Senior Technical Officer - Drone

The role of Intelligence is to develop the right operations, which target and disrupt - by the most effective means - the offenders who seek to cause the highest harm to the UK.

A diverse directorate with a wide variety of unique functions and specialist skillsets in our ranks, some of which we deliver as the national provider for the wider Serious Organised Crime (SOC) system. From our niche technical capabilities, to our overseas network of International Liaison Officers (ILO) and our Tasking teams, there are many component parts which contribute to the efforts of the directorate and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Information about the Business Area

Intelligence Collection coordinates NCA collection capabilities against the NCA’s highest priorities. Intelligence Collection includes forensics, open source, covert human intelligence sources, undercover officers and technical collection capabilities. This includes responding to threats and exploiting opportunities relating to the use of electronic communications by Subjects of Interest using the various powers conferred within the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA). This is a dynamic and diverse arena with constant and rapid change, suiting those officers who thrive on near constant challenge.

To be the lead Drone Pilot for the NCA’s Technical Operations unmanned vehicle programme. The role involves flight planning and clearances, piloting a varied range of vehicles, briefing management and staff and developing capabilities

Role Description

As the lead Drone Officer you will be responsible for flying and managing unmanned aircraft System (UAS) and unmanned surface vessels (USV) within Technical Operations. You will lead on developing innovative, lawfully audacious unmanned technical capabilities to enable the delivery of technical surveillance activity against authorised tactical and strategic objectives.

You will support technical and technological research activity, in consultation with fellow law enforcement Drone Officers, UK and International partners and the commercial sector. You will proactively maintain a high degree of awareness around unmanned technological innovations, ensuring the Agency maintains cutting edge lead on technical surveillance capabilities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead on Technical Operations unmanned vehicle programme.

You will be the lead Flying Officer for Technical Operations drone cadre.

You will lead for Technical Operations on engagement with the Civil Aviation Authority and Maritime Agency

You will be responsible for developing the unmanned vehicle capability

Responsible for training and developing the Technical Operations drone cadre.

Be the Technical Operations Subject Matter Expert in un-manned vehicles.

Lead on engagement with suppliers and devlopers

Responsible for writing and developing associated policy and unit standards

General Visual Line of Sight (GVC) Certificate

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.

How we will assess you

Your application will be assessed against the following:

Experience - This will be assessed:

Experience Criteria - will be assessed by 250 word examples on:

• Knowledge and Experience of advanced Drone flying on multiple Drone airframes.
• Experience of developing, modifying repairing a Drone airframe.
• Experience in developing the flying capabilities of others.

A panel will assess how well your application demonstrates the requirements outlined above.

Longlist

In the event of a high number of applications, we may operate a longlist. Applicants will need to meet the minimum pass mark for the lead criteria.

• Knowledge and Experience of advanced Drone flying on multiple Drone airframes. .

Candidates who do not meet the minimum pass mark for the lead criteria will not progress to having their other criteria assessed. Applications must meet the minimum criteria to be progressed to the assessment stage.

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.

For guidance on the application process, visit:

NCA Applying and Onboarding

Assessment 1

The format of this assessment will be Drone Flying Assessment which will be tested on via the details listed below.

Candidates successful at shortlisting will be invited to complete a drone flying assessment against set parameters in person. Further guidelines will be provided on the day.

Candidates are required to pass every stage of the assessment in order to be invited to interview.

If you are successful you will be invited to the second assessment.

Assessment 2

The format of this assessment will be Interview which will be tested on the criteria listed in the Success Profiles at Assessment section.

Success Profiles at Assessment

Behaviours

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Experience

• Knowledge and Experience of advanced Drone flying on multiple Drone airframes.
• Experience of developing, modifying repairing a Drone airframe.
• Experience in developing the flying capabilities of others.

Assessment Outcome

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.

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

Feedback is provided only to those who attend an assessment.

You will be subject to vetting and pre-employment checks before appointment.

Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be accessible. Please save a copy for your records.

We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA Careers Page for more information.

Eligibility, Pre-Employment Check and Vetting

Please see the NCA T&Cs and Privacy Policy (pdf) for details on how your data is handled.

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.

Nationality Requirements

This role is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals or dual nationals, where one component is British
• 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)
• 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

You will be required to participate in digital right to work and address checks as part of the recruitment process.

Security and Vetting

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

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.

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.

Vetting requirements - SC Enhanced

Prior to commencing the role, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

For further information on National Security Vetting checks please visit the following page Demystifying Vetting

Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.

Occupational Health

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.

Things you need to know

Operational Roles

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.

Near Miss

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.

Hybrid Working

The NCA supports hybrid working. The extent of remote working will depend on the role and can be discussed at the offer stage.

Reasonable Adjustments

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 central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk 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.

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 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.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Working for the NCA

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.

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.

If you have any specific queries about the role that are not covered by the advert, please contact:

Name : Central Recruitment Team

Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk

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