Deputy Director International Strategy & Capabilities

Job summary

International Strategy & Capabilities is a new role within the International Directorate, demonstrating our continued commitment to building the NCA’s International impact and capabilities in the UK and overseas. Our International Strategy sets an ambition to transform and increase the impact of our Directorate, through developing and maintaining International Partnerships and investing in our people, technology and intelligence to deliver strategic change.

Job description

DD International Strategy & Capabilities is responsible for:

• Overseeing the implementation of the NCA’s International strategy, including performance monitoring and evaluation, business planning and resource allocation, using International, wider NCA and HMG governance mechanisms to drive change.

• Leading the transformation of the International Directorate’s capabilities (in particular people, partnerships, technology and data), achieving maximum impact and efficiencies.

• Leading the design and transition of the NCA international functions into the National Police Service.

• Generating a reciprocal process for capabilities and intelligence sharing internationally, ensuring we can export knowledge and experience to aligned partners with similar values.

• Fostering collaboration across the Agency and Government to identify both barriers and solutions to efficient and effective working.

• Providing strategic leadership for project workstreams, including top-level governance, risk management and communication of decisions at a senior level, SCS oversight of cross-NCA and HMG boards aligned to the International Strategy.

You will:

• Be able to operate effectively at a Deputy Director level, delivering confident oversight and leadership both within the Directorate and across the wider Agency.

• Build and deliver programmes which prioritise efficiency and impact for the Agency’s International capabilities, particularly with a technological and digital focus, garnering the appropriate investment to advance operational objectives.

• Be able to advocate for the International Directorate’s aims and capabilities across Government, building and maintaining relationships with domestic, international and national security partners.

• Champion the importance of the unique NCA International offer in a Law Enforcement context, particularly in regard to Police Reform, leading committees which oversee the development of more efficient working Internationally in preparation for the NCA’s prospective transition into the NPS.

• Be capable of providing support and resilience to the existing International Director and Deputy Director (International operations), both as a collective leadership team and in covering for each other, including operational oversight where necessary.

As a member of the NCA’s SCS team you will be expected support the overall running of the NCA by taking on further corporate responsibilities, to be agreed on appointment.

Person specification

The Civil Service use a recruitment framework called Success Profiles. Success Profiles are made up of 5 elements: Ability, Behaviours, Experience, Technical, Strengths. You will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Culture/EDI (leadership)

We ask that you write a statement of suitability no more than 1250 words (Bahnschrift 11) evidencing relevant examples of your skills relating to the criteria listed below:

You will need to demonstrate the below essential criteria:

• Demonstrate clear leadership, developing a diverse, talented workforce to drive innovation and transformation.

• Ability to lead and deliver change, ideally with large transformation projects or associated with long-term business priorities.

• Evidence of sound judgement and collaborative communication skills, demonstrating influence at a senior level and/or Internationally.

• Management of strategic corporate requirements, with proven ability to prioritise change against resourcing and operational activity.

• Evidence of extensive experience of working either in an International, Operational or law enforcement context.

• Strong people skills with a demonstrable commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

The NCA is a 24/7 organisation, and working patterns must support business requirements. SCS1 officers are expected to participate in an on-call rota (approx. 2 – 3 weeks per year).

On-call runs 1800-0800 Mon-Fri and 24 hours on weekends and bank holidays.

This is a corporate requirement and no additional remuneration is paid.

Examples for on-call include staffing incidents; building issues (flooding etc); operational incidents; cross-government liaison.

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

If successful you must hold, or be willing to obtain, security clearance Enhanced Developed Vetting (DV) on entry and STRAP once in post. More information about the NCA vetting process can be found here: NCA Enhanced Vetting explained

We want to recruit and retain the very best and broadest diversity of officers so the NCA welcomes applications from individuals from all minority backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted one location, please confirm one location only.

If you are posted to a location that you have requested and you do not accept that location, you may not be offered another role.

Successful candidates may be required to undertake a medical. If required, the medical will take place in either *London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, National Crime Agency contributes £24,914 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).

Civil Service Pension

A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire.

If you are an active police pension member immediately prior to joining the NCA, you can continue your membership throughout your employment with us.

Annual Leave

25 days annual leave on entry (plus one privilege day for the King’s Birthday), plus 8 Bank Holidays, increasing to 30 days after reaching 5 years continuous service (plus one privilege day for the King’s Birthday), plus 8 Bank Holidays.

If qualifying criteria is met new joiners to the NCA from UK Police Forces or UKIC will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for Annual Leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 30 days leave (plus 1 privilege day for the King’s Birthday).

Parental Leave

Family friendly policies including paid maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks.

Access to the government Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers.

Flexible Working

Flexible working arrangements allowing you to split your work between the office and home, subject to the nature of the role.

Alternative working patterns such as part-time and compressed hours options subject to business needs.

Support for officers who are Reservists and Special Constables.

Learning and Development

Access to a range of learning and development activities, and opportunities to support career progression.

Paid time off to facilitate continuous professional development, and access to Civil Service Learning up to 5 days per year.

Wellbeing and Inclusion

Occupational sick pay and access to occupational health services.

A network of qualified Mental Health First Aiders and Workplace Support Officers, who can provide advice, signposting and support to all our officers.

On site facilities including fitness centres and canteens (where available). Access to a variety of active staff network groups.

Employee Savings

Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket.

Access to a wide range of discounts, offers and gift cards with a number of high street and online retailers through the Blue light Scheme and EdenRed.

Cycle2work salary sacrifice scheme to hire a bicycle up to the value of £4,000 to assist in improving health and fitness and save you money.

Access to a home and technology purchase scheme, allowing you to purchase items and spread the cost over 12 months through salary sacrifice.

Key worker status, enabling access to accommodation at a discounted rate, subject to eligibility.

Access to a range of sports, leisure and health benefits at reduced prices through membership with Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC).

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

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process, outlined below. This should be completed no later than 23:55 on Tuesday 22nd September.

Enter your CV details setting out your career history, including key responsibilities and achievements. It is essential that your CV reflects the role you are applying for. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any employment gaps within the last two years.

Submit a statement of suitability (no more than 1250 words, Bahnschrift 11) with detailed evidence of your skills and experience in response to the criteria on page 13 of the Candidate Information Pack.

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, the NCA require certain personal details about you on submission of your application. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a diversity monitoring form. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select ‘prefer not to say’. All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be provided to the selection panel. The information you provide when submitting your application will help us monitor our progress towards the Civil Service becoming the most inclusive employer.

Should you encounter any issues with your application please get in touch with our recruitment partners at the following email address: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Your application will be acknowledged by our recruitment partners. If you do not receive acknowledgement of your application within 48 hours, please contact us.

The role is expected to be based in Birmingham, Bristol, London, Warrington. Please ensure you are only selecting locations you are willing to work in as you may be offered a post in any of your location preferences.

Further Information

There will be an MS Teams virtual open evening event on Thursday 10th September 2026, 18:00 to 19:00. If you would like to attend, please email scs.appointments@nca.gov.uk to request a link for the event. Please include your telephone contact number and the name of your current employer.

Complaints

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles or you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, please raise it with Civil Service Commission Info Mailbox info@csc.gov.uk

Shortlist

The shortlisting meeting will be held in the week commencing 28th September 2026.

Your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria.

Assessment Centre

A virtual Staff Engagement Exercise (SEE) will be delivered week commencing 12th October 2026. It will be a focus group format.

This stage will not result in a pass or fail decision. It is designed to support the panel’s decision-making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

More information on this assessment will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

Final Panel Interview

The interview will be held virtually in week commencing 19th October 2026. The panel will assess your previous experience and professional competence against the essential criteria, which aligns with the CS behaviours cited on page 13 of the Candidate Information Pack.

As part of the interview stage, you may be asked to deliver a 5-minute presentation to the panel.

Full details of the requirements will be given to shortlisted candidates ahead of their interview.

Offer

Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible.

If your application is successful and we are unable to offer you a post immediately, you will be invited to join our reserve list so that we can continue to communicate with you regarding your employment with the Agency, and the incredible work that we do. If over the next 12 months we are able to offer you a position, we will contact you as soon as possible.

If you are found appointable at the higher grade but there are no positions available you may be offered an appointment at the lower grade.

Appointments will be made in adherence to the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and in strict merit order with the highest scoring candidates being appointed first.

We will keep you updated throughout your application and whilst in the candidate pool, we wish you every success in this process and are excited for the journey ahead.

The NCA 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 by 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 form 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.’

Indicative Timeline

Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. If you are unable to meet these timeframes, please let us know in your application letter.

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing Date -Tuesday 22nd September 2026

Expected shortlist announcement - w/c 28th September 2026

Staff Engagement Exercise (SEE) - w/c 12th October 2026

Interviews - w/c 19th October 2026

Pre-employment checks

Pre-employment checks take on average 16 weeks from the point of offer to arranging a start date. This includes vetting, occupational health assessments, employment history checks and substance misuse tests. This is an approximate time frame and is to be taken as a guideline only as this can very between candidates. This is dependent on when all requested documentation is provided.

Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, which may be likely to some change, and are asked to exercise flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service at: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘assistance required’ section in the ‘personal information’ page of your application form to provide information we should be aware of that will enable us to support you further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further Information

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo an enhanced (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (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

Open to UK nationals only.

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 theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles or you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, please raise it with Civil Service Commission Info Mailbox info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

DD Internat Strategy Capabilities - CIP Final (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 1757kB)Deputy Director International Strategy & Capabilities Accessibility Pack (1) Opens in new window (docx, 214kB)