Compliance Officer Apprentice

Job summary

Do you have an inquisitive mind? Do you enjoy engaging with customers? If so, we need you!

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy, and is responsible for helping people move into employment, supporting pensioners and protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Counter Fraud Compliance and Debt (CFCD) aims to reduce fraud, error and debt within the benefit system, to protect the public purse.

As part of CFCD, you will be at the heart of DWP’s efforts to reduce fraud and error in the benefit system. This is a hugely important public service, and our challenge is greater than ever.

If you want to join an organisation that recognises the importance of work-life balance, where you can develop new skills and progress your career, then CFCD is the place for you.

Job description

Your work as an Apprentice Compliance Officer will involve different aspects subject to changing business priorities, therefore we need people who are adaptable and flexible.

The job may include a range of duties, with the following provided as examples:

• Conduct robust and challenging interviews by telephone or in person in accordance with all legal and policy requirements, pursuing all reasonable lines of enquiry. Ensuring declarations and changes have been reported at the right time and taking appropriate corrective action if errors are found.

• Ensure quality standards are maintained through adherence to all DWP policy and procedures, and CFCD operational instructions.

• Work collaboratively, effectively and flexibly within a team and contribute towards team expectations.

• Promote fraud awareness within DWP and to wider external business partners.

• Gather, verify, and assess all available information to submit to the appropriate Decision Maker to enable accurate benefit reassessment and overpayment calculation.

• Maintain accurate records and retain relevant evidence, redacting and annotating sensitive material when appropriate.

• Liaise with other departments/organisations within the framework of any existing partnership agreements.

• Prioritise workload in line with conflicting and changing priorities.

Due to the nature of this role, there will be occasional travel and overnight stays.

Person specification

Key criteria

• Demonstrate effective, flexible leadership and communication skills with an ability to reach a diverse audience and be prepared to engage effectively with our partners.

• Have excellent organisational and planning capabilities.

• Demonstrate strong judgement and decision-making skills.

• Present information to internal and external audiences in a professional and credible manner.

• Be able to work effectively as an individual and as part of a team.

• Deal appropriately with challenging and vulnerable individuals through effective use of interview techniques and strong communication skills.

• Inspire others through positivity, drive and energy to achieve outcomes and deliver change.

• Be willing to travel between sites if required depending on business needs.

• Have the ability to work in a demanding and complex environment with changing priorities.

Webinar event

We will be holding a webinar event to let you know more about these roles. This will take place on 05/10/2026 between 1-2pm. Please follow the link to register for the session. 482532 - Compliance Officer Apprentice

** If the webinar page does not open, please check that pop-ups are enabled on your browser**.

Those who attend may be contacted following the event for evaluation purposes to improve our service.

Learning requirements

The DWP is committed to investing in people and developing a professional workforce. It is a requirement for people working within DWP counter fraud to attain, and retain, membership of the Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP) at Practitioner level

During your apprenticeship you will be asked to produce a portfolio of work demonstrating your learning and use of different compliance tools and techniques which may include:

• Interview techniques and questions

• GDPR – what it is, why it’s important

• Legislation relevant to the role

The Public Sector Compliance Investigation and Officer Apprenticeship is expected to take up to 22 months to complete, however the full learning journey for this role will take up to 25 months. You will be given time out from your role to work on your apprenticeship. You must be committed to seeing through the apprenticeship and completing the qualification within the appropriate time period.

You will be supported by your line manager, skills coach, fellow apprentices, DWP Apprenticeship Team and the Government Counter Fraud Profession team within CFCD. You will have access to a variety of sources of encouragement to help you succeed. There is a lot to learn and do, so you need to be proactive, work hard and participate in the many opportunities you will be given to showcase your skills.

Please Note - Successful appointments to this role will be subject to completion of the apprenticeship programme. Failure to comply or failure to achieve the required apprenticeship may be dealt with under disciplinary or poor performance procedures and may lead to termination of the employment contract or exceptionally, redeployment into another DWP role

The apprenticeship for the Apprentice Compliance Officer role is designed to work towards achieving Category A Investigator practitioner level membership of the Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP). On achievement of the apprenticeship, you will be required to complete an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience.

Further information on the Public Sector Compliance Investigation and Officer Apprenticeship can be found attached at the bottom of this advert.

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible for this appointment and the apprenticeship funding, there are a number of eligibility criteria set out by the DWP. Full details can be found at Apprenticeship funding rules: 2026 to 2027 . Candidates should ensure that they can meet these before applying. Some key points are listed below:

• Have the right to live and work in the UK valid for the full 22-month duration of the apprenticeship and associated learning journey.

• Must have lived in the UK and/or EEA for 3 years prior to apprenticeship start date or hold some form of exemption see DWP funding rules Annex A

• Not be in full-time education or be already undertaking another apprenticeship by the apprenticeship start date. If you are 16 or 17 you are required to stay in full time education or training until you are 18 – commencing this apprenticeship will allow you to meet this requirement.

• You must not hold an existing qualification at the same or higher level in a similar subject to the apprenticeship. A qualification in a non-related subject would be acceptable.

• You must not already have significant previous work experience covering the knowledge, skills and behaviours demonstrated in the apprenticeship standard Public sector compliance investigator and officer. If you have already worked in a similar field such as fraud, compliance or debt management, you should consider applying for other vacancies that do not require you to complete the apprenticeship, as too much relevant experience will make you ineligible and we would need to withdraw the offer in these circumstances.

• If you do not possess Maths and English GCSE A-C and can evidence that, you may choose to do so or be required to complete and pass a level 2 functional skills exam for which support will be provided.

• Apprentices aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship that do not already hold a relevant English or Maths qualification will be required to complete the appropriate functional skills qualifications to pass their apprenticeship.

• Adult learners over the age of 19 who still wish to work towards a Level 2 Functional Skills qualification voluntarily can draw upon Government funding to do so, either during their apprenticeship, or through a separate standalone qualification at another time.

• Please list your qualifications in the qualification section. Failure to meet any of the eligibility criteria or not listing your qualifications may result in you being withdrawn.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,137, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £9,310 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 (pro–rata 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 year’s 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 Women’s 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.

Selection process details

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

**Ensure that you read the full information about the selection process thoroughly before starting your application**.

Please note the closing date for your Application Form is 23:55 on 8th October 2026**

Stage 1 – Application Form

Please complete the application form with your basic information, which includes your personal details, eligibility to apply and any reasonable adjustments required.

Stage 2- Strengths / Experience Assessment (online sift)

This stage will consist of a short online Strengths and Experience assessment delivered via a video platform called Vidcruiter and be referred to as 'interview 1'. You will watch pre‑recorded questions and record your responses within the allocated time. Responses will be assessed against the Strengths and Experience elements of the Success Profiles framework.

You will be sent an email on Friday 09/10/2026 containing your video link and instructions. Please do not forward this email to an alternative email account to complete as it will not record correctly. You will have five days to complete the assessment. Your individual deadline will be Tuesday 13/10/2026, please check your email for the time of your deadline. Failure to complete the assessment by the stated deadline will result in withdrawal from the process.

Preparing for the Assessment

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 (see Behaviours below), the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.

Where work‑based examples are not available, you may draw on experience from education, volunteering or other activities.

The sift is scheduled to be held from 14/10/2026 to 23/10/2026. These dates may be subject to change.

**The closing date for your application is 23:55 on 08/10/2026. If you fail to complete this before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn**
Following completion of the sifting period above, results will be collated, and candidates will receive confirmation of the outcome. Those candidates who have met the agreed pass mark will be invited to interview.

No feedback will be provided at this stage.

Stage 3 - Apprenticeship Eligibility and Skills Check

Candidates who reach the required pass mark at sift will progress to ‘Interview 2’ and their details will be passed to our external apprenticeship provider Central Training.

Central training will contact each candidate and undertake a check of the following.

• Qualifications

• Eligibility

• Skills Scan

The Eligibility and Skills check is scheduled to be held from 09/11/26 to 04/12/2026.

These dates may be subject to change.

Please ensure you engage with Central Training to enable this check to take place as failure to do so may result in us being unable to progress your application.

Stage 4 - Interview

If you pass the video recording sift with the required score and are eligible for the apprenticeship pathway, you will be invited to a blended interview 'Interview 3' and will receive an electronic notification to your Civil Service Jobs account. If high application volumes are received, the benchmark / score for candidates to proceed to the interview stage may be raised.

The interviews will be conducted face to face. Where possible the interviews will take place at Widnes, however candidates may be expected to travel to an alternative location as required.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend a face-to-face interview, please ensure you state those on your application form when asked to do so.

Interviews are scheduled to take place from 07/12/2026 to 18/12/2026, please note that this date is / these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. Interviews will be scheduled Monday to Friday, between 09:00 to 17:00.

Communications will be electronic and/or by SMS/telephone; therefore, it is important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder. Telephone calls may show as a withheld number, it is important that you answer so that your interview can be confirmed. If you wish to opt out of SMS messages, please email this address, including the vacancy reference and your candidate ID CFCD.RECRUITMENTINBOX@DWP.GOV.UK. As part of our commitment to improving the candidate experience, you may be contacted during the recruitment process to provide feedback.

Preparing for the Interview

The interview will take approximately 30 to 40 minutes and will consist of behaviour-based questions. A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation offering a more inclusive approach. The questions explore what you, the candidate, can and have done, but also your potential.

Behaviours

You will be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours listed at Executive Officer – Level 2.

An example of a behavioural question would be “Tell me about a time when you have had to deal with a difficult customer.”

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 - What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or

• STAR - What was the ituation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?

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.

If you withdraw your application at any stage, it will not progress further.

Stage 5– Offer

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Our current plan is that this will be week commencing 11/01/2026, but this may be subject to change. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first.

The successful candidates will be notified of a start date following successful pre-employment checks, which is likely to be during January/February 2027.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that these vacancies are not currently eligible for new applications for Visa Sponsorship on the Skilled Worker route, for any candidates who do not currently have permission to be in the UK as a Skilled Worker where they were sponsored before 4 April 2024, even if relying on tradeable points (including the new entrant tradeable points option) as they are not included in the published Immigration Salary List. This information is offered as guidance only, and we recommend that candidates seek specialist advice on their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship (if applicable) when considering whether to apply for any role.

We can never guarantee sponsorship; requests will be considered in line with the relevant DWP guidance and Home Office policy in place at the time.

Location

The roles available will be based in the following location subject to space availability at the time of posting:

Widnes Kingsway House, Oaks Place, Widnes, WA8 7EA

You should only apply for suitable posts where you can travel to and from your home office location daily within a reasonable time. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed. Make sure the location works for you before applying!

Hybrid working​

This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office. If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert. Hybrid working will not commence until any training and consolidation period has been successfully completed.

Working pattern​

Alternative working patterns will be considered but must meet business needs. We will do our best to let people with existing part-time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line with current business needs. Please note that successful candidates with agreed alternative working patterns may be required to work full time for specific periods to complete all training and consolidation. Currently initial training can last for up to 12 weeks.

​​Hours of work ​

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 candidates within these business hours and review these as appropriate. You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule.

Political Impartiality​

Due to the nature of our role, DWP is required to ensure that the political impartiality of its employees cannot be brought into question. The role you are applying for is classed by DWP as a ‘sensitive’ role because it involves contact with the public, so permission cannot be given to anyone in such a role to engage or remain politically active in any kind of local councillor role. There may also be restrictions applied to other political activities which are set out in the Department’s Standards of Behaviour Policy which is underpinned by the Civil Service Management Code. You may therefore wish to decide at application stage whether, if your job application was successful, there would be a conflict of interest with any political activity role you have and whether, knowing the restrictions we necessarily apply as an employer, you wish to pursue your application with DWP. If you have any questions about this or need further information about the restrictions, please contact CFCD.RECRUITMENTINBOX@DWP.GOV.UK.​

Further Information​

At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

Find out more about working for DWP on the DWP Careers Hub.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 3 months from which further appointments can be made.

If you are placed on a reserve list but we cannot immediately offer you a post, please note:

• If you are later offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a contractual Part Time Working Pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered or in cases of serious ill health).
• If DWP makes an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.

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.

Reasonable Adjustments

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the Government Recruitment Service via DWPRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” 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.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Integrity, plagiarism and Civil Service Principles

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles.

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words.

Examples of plagiarism can include:

- Presenting the work, ideas and experience of others as your own

- Copying content or answers from an online or published source that is not your own

Disclosure and Barring Service and Internal Fraud Database Checks

To process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

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.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check will be carried out.

Important

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 DWP’s 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 el