Document Reviewer

Job summary

The Serious Fraud Office (the ‘SFO’) is a specialist investigation and prosecuting authority tackling the top level of serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption. It is part of the UK criminal justice system covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The SFO is unique in that it both investigates and prosecutes through multi-disciplinary teams comprising forensic accountants, investigators and lawyers. The SFO uses its legislative powers to obtain evidence needed to build cases and bring financial criminals to justice and so help maintain confidence in the UK’s business and financial institutions. It also assists overseas jurisdictions with their investigations into serious and complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases.

Further information can be found at www.sfo.gov.uk.

You will work within a team of dedicated document reviewers, working closely with the core investigation team, Disclosure Officer, Deputy Disclosure Officer(s) and Senior Document Reviewers review material obtained on digital review platforms, as part of criminal investigations. You will be reviewing documents in order to:

• Identify potential evidence for the investigation team.
• Identify relevant, potentially disclosable and sensitive material to assist the SFO in discharging disclosure obligations in line with the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA) and the Attorney General Guidelines.

Your contractual place of work will be based in the London offices of the SFO, and the current expectation is that two days per week will be worked from the office.

Please note this role does not meet the requirements for visa sponsorship. Please follow this link for further details.

Job description

As a document reviewer, you will be responsible for:

• Reading into the case and attending team meetings as required. This includes being able to read, understand and assimilate complex and technical information and provide meaningful feedback to the team on the content.
• Undertake a review of material on eDiscovery digital review platforms (namely Axcelerate), identifying relevant and sensitive material, as well as identifying material capable of meeting the test for disclosure.
• To review large volumes of material accurately and consistently, whilst meeting daily targets. To describe the material in accordance with Criminal Procedure and Investigation Act 1996(CPIA), associated codes of practice and Attorney General Guidelines on Disclosure 2022.
• To identify material which undermines the prosecution case and/or supports the defence case, and to bring this material to the attention of the Disclosure Officer or Prosecutor.
• To demonstrate attention to detail. For example, be able to cross reference disparate documents on a document review system into a complete set and accurately describe large volumes of information in respect of an email review.
• To have a practical understanding of the use of Excel and be able to deploy this in managing large quantities of data.
• To be able to recognise potentially Legal Professional Privilege material and refer it to the appropriate team members.
• Any other specific tasks as required by the case team.

For more information about the role and for a full list of key responsibilities, please see attached Job Pack.

Person specification

See above and attached Job Pack.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,646, Serious Fraud Office contributes £8,298 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).

Option to join the Civil Service pension scheme. For further details, click here http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/pensions

Generous annual leave provision of 25 days which increases to 30 days after five years’ service plus an additional day in recognition of the King’s Birthday and the option to buy or sell up to five days’ leave per year. Different terms may apply if you are already a Civil Servant.

Discretionary performance-related bonus scheme.

Interest-free season travel ticket, bicycle loan and cycle to work scheme.

Access to the Rental Deposit Salary Advance Scheme which assists employees in meeting the costs of deposits for privately rented homes.

Opportunities for learning and development.

Flexible working arrangements and family-friendly policies.

Voucher for eye care and discounted spectacles.

Access to a range of discounts through membership of the Civil Service Sports and Social Club, CSSC Sports and Leisure. http://www.cssc.co.uk/

Maternity and paternity leave provision over and above the statutory entitlements.

Access to My CPS Rewards Gateway. My CPS Rewards offers staff a range of rewards and savings including:

• Discounts with high street retailers
• Savings on grocery shopping at a range of supermarkets
• Special salary sacrifice and recognition schemes
• Reloadable gift cards and e-cards
• Instant vouchers

Any move to the Serious Fraud Office 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 https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

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 and Experience.

Application stage

You will first need to successfully complete the Civil Service Verbal test. Following this,

As part of the application process you will be required to providea personal statement of no more than 500 words to demonstrate how you meet the following criteria:

• • A degree level qualification or demonstrable experience of interpreting and analysing complex and/or technical information from multiple sources.
  • Ability to interpret, analyse and accurately describe complex and technical information.
  • Ability to prioritise, multi-task and work independently within a multi-disciplinary team

It will not be possible to provide feedback to applicants who are unsuccessful at the application stage.

Assessment Stage

Candidates who are successful at the sift stage will be invited to complete an in person assessment at our offices in Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5BS w/c 20th July 2026. This exercise is designed to test your ability to interpret and analyse complex information while working quickly and accurately. Due to the nature of the assessment, we are unable to accommodate requests for remote adjustments.

To support you in preparing for the in person assessment, we are offering all candidates the opportunity to join an optional, MS Teams session where we will provide you with details about what to expect during the assessment.

Candidates who are successful at the assessment stage will be invited to a final interview via MS Teams where the following behaviours will be assessed:

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

Full details of the assessment and interview process will be made available to shortlisted candidates in the invite to each stage.

Timeline

Vacancy closes midday Friday 3rd July.

Optional MS Teams session about what to expect at the assessment will be held at 2pm on Tuesday 14th July.

In person assessments to be held at SFO offices (SW1Y 5BS) w/c 20th July (Please note, this will require you to work alone, viewing multiple documents using a standard laptop).

Interviews via MS Teams to be held from Wednesday 12th August.

All dates are indicative and subject to change.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. To be eligible you must meet the following residency requirements dependent of the level of security vetting required:

• SC: 5 years residency in the United Kingdom preceding this application.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

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 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 : People and Culture
• Email : People@sfo.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : People@sfo.gov.uk

Further information

For external competitions there is no appeal against the selection decision. However, individuals have a right to appeal if they feel that the principle of appointment on merit through fair and open competition and the Civil Service Commissioners’ recruitment principles have not been met. Individuals who want to appeal should do this by setting out their grounds for appeal in an email for the attention of Head of People to People@sfo.gov.uk. If, after an internal appeal, you still believe that the Civil Service Commissioners’ Principles have not been met, then you can contact the Commission directly: Complaints should be sent in writing to: Civil Service Commission, Room G08 ,1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ. Email info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

Document Reviewer Job Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 304kB)