Cover Officer

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, fire, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the government’s immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. It also aims to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on our careers pages.

The Covert Projects Unit (CPU) is a specialist nationally Accredited Undercover Unit that provides the management and support of all covert undercover activity on behalf of the Home Office throughout the United Kingdom. The CPU maintains a cadre of fully trained and accredited Undercover Operatives and Cover Officers.

IE tackles the criminality behind organised immigration crime.

Our Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) teams are committed to disrupting and dismantling the organised crime groups facilitating immigration abuse; utilising its financial investigations capability to remove the proceeds of crime and strip criminals of their assets.

IE has a fundamental role to play in tackling Immigration crime, as part of a multi-layered UK law enforcement approach. Through working closely with partners in the National Crime Agency (NCA), territorial policing and many other agencies and departments, our CFI Teams take vigorous action against those criminals that seek to benefit from illegal migration. We employ talented people who challenge and guide each other. In CFI you will work within a highly capable team who will support you to develop your skills, knowledge, and experience.

You will form an integral part of the Home Office CPU. You will be responsible for the safety and wellbeing of undercover operatives and other covert assets. You must be highly motivated and demonstrate a problem-solving mindset. The role is rewarding but undoubtedly challenging and can be demanding at times due to the nature of CPU investigations and the national coverage of the department.

You will operate in a challenging area of law enforcement and must manage and mitigate a diverse range of risk, including operational and personal, as well as work alongside a variety of internal departments and external agencies to manage the tactical deployment of covert assets to achieve investigational objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Preparing role related evidence.
• The application, review, update, renewal, and cancellation processes in compliance with Regulation of Investigatory Powers 2000 and the Criminal Conduct Act 2021.
• The risk assessment and risk management of undercover operations.
• Managing disclosure in accordance with the Criminal Procedure and Investigations (CPIA).
• Contributing to the team efforts to improve business performance.
• Giving evidence in Court.
• Conducting briefings and de-briefings.
• Contributing to undertake stakeholder engagement and partnership working.

Working pattern

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis.

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Disability Confident

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .