Covert Surveillance Team Leader

As part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) response to tackling fraud within the welfare system, the Department utilise covert surveillance to gather evidence to prove/disprove offences This is an opportunity to join as a team leader within our team of highly trained, dedicated Operatives in this challenging but highly rewarding role. This is not a normal office hours role. It will require you to work unsociable hours (early start and late finishes) including some weekend work alongside a good level of fitness., As a CFCD Covert Surveillance Team Leader you will:

• Ensure organisational effectiveness by providing leadership to drive the smooth running of all operations including the cohesive teamwork of people,developmentand implementation of agreed processes.
• Regularly deploy on surveillance operations, promoting continuous professional development through undertaking regular reviews of skills to ensure team members arecomplying withrelevant training and agreed practice.
• Create an environment that promotes people engagement in the team, supports a culture where coaching and a team-based approach are at the heart of the team.
• Operate as part of a team focussed on agreed goals and priorities to achieve collective commitments, effectively managing resources in an ever-changing organisational structure to drive efficiencies and keep costs down.
• Manage your team in taking forward tasking requests. Ensuring all surveillance activity provides value for money, is compliant with legal requirements, such as Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000,The Police Act 1997 & Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act 1996, andin accordance withInvestigatory Powers Commissioners Office recommendations as well as Departmental requirements.
• On occasions, lead the activities of the Surveillance Team, as an OIC (Officer in Charge), providing direction to the team as the dynamic and evolving circumstances demand and to achieve the operationalobjectives.
• Undertake Risk assessments.
• Manage your team in producing evidential packages to a high standard that are professional andaccurate. Including, writing/obtaining witness statements to evidencewitnessedactivities, exhibit evidence obtained, including editing and compiling video/audio evidence and to account for the continuity of exhibits including preparing disclosure schedulesin accordance withlegislation.
• Ensure you adhere strictly to the DWPs surveillance standards, and general instructions set out in the Fraud Procedures / Instructions Manual, and other user manuals and follow the processes to ensure peoplecomply withthe legal and policy requirements.
• Undertake and successfully complete a demanding suite of learning events to support you in undertaking this role. These events are assessed and successful completion isrequiredfor this role. Please also note some of these events may be residential.
• Promote professional standards at all times.
• As required, appear as a witness in court.
• On occasions, activelyparticipatein surveillance operations, often requiring regular attendance in unsocial hours and travel., Candidates who are successful will be asked about the following before we offer them a position. Candidates must declare to the best of their knowledge:
• Any disciplinary finding of guilt / failure to meet the appropriate standard of conduct relating to their employment they have ever had.
• Any charge of a disciplinary offence / notification of a failure to meet the appropriate standards they have ever had where the case has not yet been concluded.
• Any past convictions, criminal findings, or police cautions, regardless of whether they are spent, they have ever had.
The disclosure of this information will not automatically disbar the candidate from this role, but we need to be aware of any event or issue which could impinge on the candidates credibility if questioned in court. Licences Current full driving licence for manual vehicles, As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a personal statement detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role. In no more than 1000 words, please carefully consider the statements below. You should address these when constructing your personal statement. You do not need to answer each individually as one example of evidence may cover both statements. You should also consider both the job description and person specification details above when providing your evidence.
• Tell us about a time when you have led a team-based surveillance or investigation operation. Within your answer you should cover the whole life of a referral with a focus on how you led your team and the decision making you undertook to achieve outcomes, including any considerations you made relating to allocation and resourcing of the operation (Lead Statement).
• Can you explain a time when you have displayed strong leadership and communication skills to achieve required outcomes while changing priorities at short notice to meet business requirements.
Please ensure no confidential/sensitive information is included in your answers. Your personal statement needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You dont have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead statement. If so, we will sift on:
• Tell us about a time when you have led a team-based surveillance or investigation operation. Within your answer you should cover the whole life of a referral with a focus on how you led your team and the decision making you undertook to achieve outcomes, including any considerations you made relating to allocation and resourcing of the operation (Lead Statement).
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to an interview. Disability Confident Scheme If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards. In the event we dont receive a high number of applications we may not undertake a sift and progress all candidate to interview.For these reasons, the timeline is subject to change depending on the approach we take., We'llassess you against these technical skills during the interview process:
• Surveillance Skills
• Surveillance LeadershipSkills
Behaviours You will be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours listed at Higher Executive Officer Level 3. An example of a behavioural question would be How did you lead by example to inspire and motivate your teams?. It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:
• WHO - Whatit was?Howyou approached the work/situation? What theOutcomeswere, what did youachieve? or
• STAR - What was theSituation? What were theTasks? WhatActiondid you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Strengths It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role.While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this. If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.


• A confident, inspirational, driven leader. Able to take charge of situations and provide direction to the team to achieve results.
• Able to work effectively as part of a team. Fostering an environment of inclusivity and respect.
• Be proactive in developing andmaintainingpositive and professional working relationships with a variety of people and organisations.
• Able to interpret and work within set rules and processes in an ever-changing environment.
• Able to make effective decisions in a pressurised environment with a focus on value for money.
• A focus on customer service. Ability to place the customer at the heart of all we do.
Essential Criteria
• Experience of leading team-based surveillance or investigations.
It is essential that a Covert Surveillance Team Leader undertakes the whole suite of learning that a Covert Surveillance Officer undertakes and therefore the below applies:
• Candidates must hold acurrent full driving licence for manual vehicles. Officers are expected to drive the full range of vehicles covered by a full driving licence.
• The role requiresa good levelof fitness. Officers need to be able to walk significant distances at varying paces and for prolonged periods.
• The role requires good vision/observational skills. Officersare required toobserveactivities and describe these as they happen whilst also remembering details in environments where it may be difficult to make notes.
• The role requiresa good levelof hearing. Officersare required towear covert audio equipment as well as take verbal information/instruction from multiple sources.
• Must be flexible as you maybe requiredto deploy at short notice. This may involve working unsocial hours and may on occasion require you to stay away from home.
Learning Requirements An accredited Surveillance qualification is desirable but not essential and will not form part of the sift criteria. Successful candidates willbe requiredto complete a demanding suite of learning. Some of these events are residential and may require you to be away from home (excluding weekends) for 2 weeks. They are also assessed events that require you to pass them to undertake this role. Successful candidatesmustbe willing toattainthe mandatory learning as follows:
• RoSPA (Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents) Defensive driving L2.
• Foot surveillance tactics.
• Mobile surveillance tactics.
These qualifications are essential to undertake the technical functions of the role., To apply for this post all candidates must hold at least one of the following: Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA) Accredited Counter Fraud Investigations Program (ACFIP) NCA accreditation in Financial Investigations OR an equivalent such as PiNS (Professionalism in Security) or PIP2 You will be asked to provide confirmation of your accreditation during the selection process., DWP takes development seriously. Our aim is for our colleagues in these roles to be appropriately skilled and qualified as determined by the business. To support this aim you may be required to undertake a work-based qualification, which may be in the form of an apprenticeship, which will support you in further developing your professional knowledge and skills for this role and your future career development. The qualification can be undertaken in work time, you agree to take this job on the basis that you may be required to undertake a work-based qualification; a candidates failure to participate fully in the professional programme, once appointed, may be a breach of their employment contract. Important: If you hold a level 3 qualification (2 A levels or equivalent) then please bring your certificates with you to the interview if you have them.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
• Surveillance Skills
• Surveillance Leadership Skills, Alongside your salary of 38,772, Department for Work and Pensions contributes 11,232 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:
• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (prorata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 years continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Womens Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.
Things you need to know Artificial intelligence 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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use., Part-time, part-year, term-time compressed hours and job-sharing working patterns within working hours will be considered but must meet business needs. Wewill do our best to let people with existing part time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line withcurrent business needs. Please note that successful candidates with agreed alternative working patterns will be required to work full timefor specific periods to complete all training and consolidation., The full-time working week in DWP is 37 hours. You may be required to work at any time between the hours of:
• 7:45am and 8:00pm on any day between Monday to Friday, and
• 8:45am to 5:00pm on Saturday.
Managers will agree working patterns with successful applicants within these business hours and review these asappropriate. You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule., New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. If you are a current employee and are successful you must be able to be released from your current post within four weeks. Those on protected TUPE/ COSoP terms and conditions applying on promotion or voluntary permanent level move will adopt DWPs Terms and Conditions and this may have a different impact on pay and allowances. Please review this prior to acceptance of a role. Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing. Accepting a post will be taken to mean acceptance of revised terms & conditions. Civil Servants applying on promotion will usually be appointed to the salary minimum or within 10% of existing salary. Any move to DWP from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may, however, be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at the Childcare Choices Website. Find out more about working for DWP on the DWP Careers Hub . Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new wind