Financial Investigator

Job summary

The SFO is a unique law enforcement organisation which both investigates and prosecutes the top tier of fraud, bribery and corruption and related money laundering. We bring the skills of our lawyers, investigators, accountants, analysts and administrators together on every case from the outset and work closely with law enforcement and prosecution partners in the UK and overseas.

You will work in the Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance Division (POCIAD), playing a key role in delivering the SFO’s strategic objective to deliver justice for victims and recover the proceeds of financial crime.

As a Financial Investigator, you will manage a varied caseload of proceeds of crime investigations. You will use investigative and financial analysis skills to identify lines of enquiry, criminal benefit, realisable assets and recoverable property, and pursue appropriate asset recovery outcomes.

Your work may include restraint and confiscation investigations, civil recovery, cash seizure and forfeiture, account freezing and forfeiture, listed asset investigations, money laundering investigations and the enforcement of confiscation orders. You will work closely with POCIAD lawyers, SFO case teams and UK and overseas law enforcement partners.

POCIAD also includes specialist functions covering International Assistance, Enforcement, and Crypto & Digital Asset work. Depending on business need, Financial Investigators may be expected to assist with International Assistance work. Candidates may also be assigned to particular proceeds of crime, Enforcement or Crypto & Digital Asset teams having regard to business need, existing skills and experience, and development requirements. Candidate preferences will be taken into consideration where possible during the allocation process.

Successful candidates will undertake a structured six-month secondment with one of the SFO’s criminal investigation teams before commencing Financial Investigator training. This provides experience of the SFO’s wider investigative work and forms part of the development pathway towards Financial Investigator accreditation. As part of ongoing professional development, successful candidates will undertake relevant asset recovery training and achieve and maintain required external accreditation.

Job description

As a Financial Investigator you will be responsible for:

• Planning and conducting restraint and confiscation investigations, using analytical skills to identify lines of enquiry, criminal benefit and realisable assets, with the aim of obtaining and enforcing confiscation orders that may be used to compensate victims of crime.
• Conducting investigations into suspected money laundering offences, gathering evidence capable of supporting criminal proceedings, including obtaining statements from third-party witnesses and interviewing suspects under caution.
• Conducting financial intelligence enquiries, analysing information from a range of sources and developing financial profiles to identify assets, financial relationships and reasonable lines of enquiry.
• Undertaking investigations into cash seizure and forfeiture, account freezing and forfeiture, listed assets and civil recovery where appropriate.
• Taking appropriate investigative action to support the effective enforcement of confiscation orders and maximise asset recovery.
• Producing robust witness statements in a high standard of written English in support of court applications or to introduce evidence in criminal proceedings.
• Identifying and using appropriate investigative powers to acquire material, including obtaining court orders and warrants under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
• Liaising with criminal case teams, attending case conferences and providing progress reports, and working with other government departments and law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas where required.

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:

• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,151, Serious Fraud Office contributes £11,052 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

As part of the application process you will be required to provide:

• A personal statement of no more than 500 words that explains how your skills and experience meet each of the essential and desirable experience criteria as listed in the job pack.

The following experience is a lead criteria; this experience will be assessed first and candidates who do not meet the required standard will not have the remainder of their application considered.

• Experience of conducting investigations, preferably within financial crime, economic crime, asset tracing, asset recovery or another comparable investigative environment.

Please note, desirable experience will only be taken into account if there is a large volume of applications and there is a need for further shortlisting for interview.

• A supporting CV of no more than two A4 sides, outlining your job history and qualifications.

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

Interview stage

Behaviours and experience criteria as outlined in the job pack will be tested at interview. You will also be required to complete an assessment assessing essential experience.

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

Sift to take place from 29 October

Interviews to take place from 09 November

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

Sept 2026 HO Job Description Opens in new window (pdf, 251kB)