Forensic Quality Manager - Stratford Regional Centre - Westfield Avenue

Forensic Quality Manager - Stratford Regional Centre - Westfield Avenue 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

Your role as Quality Manager will see you act as an ambassador for quality within Cybercrime & Forensic Services and the wider forensic unit. Overseeing the delivery of digital and traditional forensic services to ensure all work is conducted in adherence to Statutory requirements, as well as internal and external quality standards and regulations.

The role of the Quality Manager is vital for the development, maintenance, and assurance of forensic services provided to HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service. HMRCs forensic unit conducts forensic activities within office and laboratory environments, as well as at the scene of crime.

Reporting to the Senior Quality Managers, in this role you will assist in the development and ongoing maintenance of the quality systems within the forensic unit. Aligning business objectives to the strict requirements of ISO quality standards and the Forensic Science Regulator's Code of Practice.

You will be responsible for understanding and actively promoting adherence to the internal quality management system, as well as driving continuous improvement to enable efficiencies and ensure quality standards are upheld.

Person specification

Your role as Quality Manager will see you act as an ambassador for quality within Cybercrime & Forensic Services and the wider forensic unit. Working together with the Quality Assurance and Technical Management teams to oversee methods and practices for forensic examinations; ensuring that standards are upheld, and that policies and procedures are correctly followed.

Evidential data obtained by the forensic unit may be used by analysts, investigators, prosecution, defence teams, as well as juries for informed decision making within the criminal justice system. As Quality Manager, you will support the Quality Assurance team in the ultimate objective of assuring that such evidence is obtained by competent, impartial personnel, using forensically sound methods. In order to achieve this, the duties of the successful candidate will include but not be limited to:

• Ascertaining and maintaining a comprehensive understanding of internal policies and procedures across the forensic unit, as well as existing legislation and reacting to any updates, changes, and/or introductions of new regulatory requirements;
• Facilitating the creation, review, and distribution of documentation and records for specific business areas;
• Supporting the ongoing maintenance and control of documentation within the quality management system;
• Engaging with personnel across the forensic unit to ensure understanding, co-operation, and compliance with the management system and required standards;
• Assisting the Quality Assurance team to plan and deliver an internal audit programme; comprising of horizontal, vertical, and method witness audits of both the quality management system and technical/forensic processes;
• Supervising, training, and mentoring trainee internal auditors, and personally undertaking audits;
• Actively investigating Quality Assurance based nonconformities, as well as overseeing and assisting with the investigation and analysis of nonconformities relating to the wider business;
• Working with the wider Quality Assurance team to prepare for and facilitate UKAS Assessments and visits during the course of maintaining and expanding HMRC's scope of accreditation.
In addition, you will adopt a continuous improvement approach, ensuring the service remains consistent, fit for purpose, and meets the demands of both internal and external requirements.

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience within a Quality Assurance or adjacent role;
• Sound knowledge and understanding of quality standards (specifically ISO/IEC 17025:2017, ISO/IEC 17020:2012, FSR Code of Practice) and the importance of statutory requirements within a Forensic environment;
• Proven ability to thrive under pressure in challenging and high-stakes situations, as an individual or part of a specialised team. Have the ability to plan, organise and prioritise resources to successfully meet deadlines and deliver a quality service;
• Experience with technology such as bespoke QMS and LIMS, and proficient in the use of Microsoft Office applications and/or SharePoint;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with experience influencing discussions, decisions and change with internal and external partners and agencies.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience working within digital forensics, traditional forensics, and/or a laboratory subject to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, ISO/IEC 17020:2012, and/or FSR Code of Practice;
• Proven ability to communicate, guide and advise on the importance and specifics of working to statutory requirements;
• Ability to think critically on processes and procedures and be able to manage and implement improvements;
• Understand risks, nonconformities, and their importance, and have experience managing and handling sensitive and challenging issues.

Training Requirements

Depending on existing experience, the successful candidate will be expected to undertake the following or equivalent training courses:
• ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Awareness
• ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Awareness
• Laboratory Management/Quality Management
• Internal Audit (ISO/IEC 17025:2017)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• As part of the interview we will test your experience by way of a 10 minute presentation delivered at interview. The presentation brief will be sent out to those invited for interview.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,289, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £11,961 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, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A name-blind CV. The CV consists of 3 sections: Qualifications, Career History and Skills and Experience - maximum 500 words per section. Please demonstrate your technical experience within the skills and experience sections. Your CV will be scored.
• A 750-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.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on your skills and experience.

At full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, Behaviours (Managing a Quality Service, Communicating and Influencing and Working Together) and a Presentation will be assessed.

Presentation

As part of the interview we will test your experience by way of a 10 minute presentation delivered at interview. The presentation brief will be sent out to those invited for interview.

Interviews will take place face to face in Stratford Regional Centre E20 1HZ. 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: [email protected] - 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, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

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 [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

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.

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).