Fraud Investigator

Job summary

Do you have an interest in dealing with investigations and/or law enforcement? Are you interested in helping vulnerable people by tackling unlawful activity? Are you motivated to deliver the right outcomes in challenging situations?

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could be the place for you.

This is a hugely important public service, and our challenge is bigger than ever. DWPs Economic, Serious and Organised Crime (ESOC) team is the arm of DWP’s Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt (CFCD) Directorate that deals with complex and sophisticated attacks on DWP benefits and grant payments – usually by organised crime groups.

DWP are looking for people with experience in investigations and able to analyse complex data to help tackle organised criminality against DWP through prosecution and/or disruption activities.

This is an exciting opportunity to join CFCD on a team committed to tackling fraud, encountered through our ESOC team. You will be at the forefront of tackling serious and organised crimes against DWP, which often has links into wider criminality of modern slavery, human trafficking, and identity fraud.

You will work across multiple law enforcement agencies, on high profile and serious fraud operations involving many suspects in multi-million-pound criminality. Financial Investigator skills will be used to conduct confiscation and civil investigations on behalf of DWP. Specialist training and support will be provided to help you attain a nationally recognised qualification within this field.

Financial Investigators are responsible for undertaking Financial Investigations using the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002 legislation, (amended by Criminal Finance Act (CFA) 2017) and Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 1988. They are also responsible for supporting CFCD through providing trained criminal analysts.

Additionally, as work streams change and DWP reacts to the changing behaviours in criminal activity, investigators must keep pace with modern methods of criminality: this includes the increase in money laundering activity and the use of crypto currencies to mask monies derived from fraudulent activity.

Any person undertaking Financial Investigation work must be accredited at the appropriate level via the National Crime Agency (NCA), to carry out their duties. In doing so they must attain and evidence knowledge in relation to the legislative requirements as detailed above. Training and Support will be given to obtain this accreditation.

Job description

Your role will be varied with no two days being the same, and you will be empowered to make decisions working alongside multiple agencies.

What will you be doing as either a Criminal or Financial Investigator?

• Lead criminal investigations or financial investigations (criminal and civil) into serious and organised crime against DWP to a successful outcome.
• Engage and collaborate with colleagues, law enforcement agencies and partners across DWP and Government, on joint operations into organised crime.
• Conduct formal briefings with law enforcement agencies, including senior police officers and leaders on the likely impact of operations. This includes press interest notifications and accurate and timely completion of Advanced Warning Reports.
• Organise and participate in arrest, search, and seizure procedures in accordance with warrant legislation and departmental guidance.
• Undertake advanced interviews under caution in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).
• Make informed decisions, as to the appropriate legislation and powers to be used and timelines to be imposed on investigations.
• Work closely with Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to develop evidence requirements. Prepare all submissions in relation to prosecution, confiscation, and civil actions for court.
• Carry out the role of the Disclosure Officer and be able to produce accurate Disclosure Schedules and adhere to the requirements of an Exhibits Officer as required.
• Confidently use expert knowledge of the case, engage with lawyers and barristers in investigations, including understanding and progressing directions from counsel and the courts at pace.
• Give evidence in Magistrates and/or Crown Court and manage witnesses and victims during the investigation and prosecution process.
• Work with DWP colleagues to reduce and stop further benefit loss.

Due to the nature of this role, it will require occasional travel and overnight stays.

Person specification

What we are looking for in our Investigators:

• You will have previous experience and/or a qualification from another government body or organisation in investigations or law enforcement.
• You have the skills to gather, interpret and analyse complex information and data from various sources, at pace, challenging where appropriate, to reach sound conclusions demonstrating clear decision making, while protecting the public purse and victims.
• You are a confident, inspirational and driven leader, able to take charge of situations and provide direction to those around you, to achieve results ensuring the best use of resources.
• You have the ability to work closely as part of a team, with key partners and stakeholders within and outside of the organisation, navigating complex situations, policies and procedures.
• You can present complex information in a clear and concise manner, drawing conclusions and presenting recommendations where appropriate, outlining the considerations you have made.
• You are proactive in developing and maintaining positive and professional working relationships with diverse groups of people and organisations, prioritising the needs of the business while negotiating best outcomes for all stakeholders.
• You can interpret and work within set rules and processes, setting and monitoring progress against milestones whilst still being able to innovate in an ever-changing environment.
• You have a focus on building your own and others capability, continually reviewing learning needs and development to ensure changing business requirements can be delivered professionally at pace.
• Be flexible and positively embrace creative thinking to prosecute and disrupt criminal activity with good presentation and communication ability with excellent written and drafting skills.
• Have the confidence and ability to deliver strategic operational briefings to large teams of partners e.g. Police, National Crime Agency (NCA) and Immigration colleagues.

Key Criteria

Candidates will be able to demonstrate the following Key criteria:

• Experience of leading complex investigations, your decision-making process and how you’ve involved others to consider the wider impact (Lead Criteria).
• Highly developed people management skills, demonstrating how you set clear strategic direction, whilst building an inclusive coaching environment (Second Lead Criteria).
• Experience of working collaboratively with internal and external partners, demonstrating your ability to build relationships to agree common objectives, and sharing resources and information.

Essential Criteria

Please note that the role that you are applying requires National Security Vetting (NSV) to the level – Security Check (SC). You can find more information at United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . If you are successful in your application, you will need to attain SC clearance before you can take up post. This is mandatory and is in addition to completion of Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS).

The purpose of the NSV process is to provide a level of assurance about an individual’s trustworthiness, integrity and reliability, and other factors that increase their vulnerability to corruption or risk of committing a security breach. It involves the investigation of an individual’s background and circumstances to achieve this aim.

To be eligible to apply, you must have lived in the UK for at least 5 years across your lifetime and at least 3 of the last 5 years. If you do not meet these conditions, we will not be able to proceed with your application, because you will be unable to obtain Security Clearance. This does not apply to people based overseas in the UK military or working for HMG.

The application process will ask for personal details about you, your address history, previous relationships, your parents, your employment history, your financial circumstances, and details of any pending, spent or unspent convictions. This list is not exhaustive. Please view the Vetting explained - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information.

If you require any further information, please contact the vacancy holder – the details are on the jobs portal through which you made your application.

If you are successful in your application, we recommend that you familiarise yourself with the NSV process and advise that you collate as much information as you can prior to starting your Vetting application.

If you go on to attain Security Clearance, then you should be aware of the following:

Behaviours expected of you to maintain clearance

Keeping your clearance is dependent upon maintaining good security behaviours. You must:

• Not take any illegal drugs.
• Always act with honesty and integrity and, if you are a Civil Servant, adhere to the Civil Service Code.
• Always act in a way that will not put you at risk of being unduly influenced, exploited or blackmailed by people such as criminals and journalists.

Candidate Integrity Declaration

In addition to the above 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 candidate’s credibility if questioned in court.

What checks are Involved?

• Successful completion of the Baseline Personnel Security Standard.
• Completion, by the individual, of a security questionnaire.
• A departmental/company records check which will include, for example personal files, staff reports, sick leave returns and security records.
• A check of both spent and unspent criminal records.
• A check of credit and financial history with a credit reference agency.
• A check of Security Service (MI5) records.
• Exceptionally, if there are any unresolved security concerns about the individual, or if recommended by the Security Service, the individual may also be interviewed.
• In the event of any unresolved financial concerns, the individual may also be required to complete a separate financial questionnaire so that a full review of personal finances can be carried out.
• Checks may extend to third parties included on the security questionnaire.

Learning requirements

To apply for this post all candidates must be willing to attain, or already hold at least one of the following:

1. Accredited Counter Fraud Investigations Program (ACFIP).
2. Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA).
3. An equivalent such as PINs (Professionalism in Security).
4. SAO accreditation via the National Crime Agency.

DWP endorses the use of apprenticeships and successful candidates meeting the Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship (CFIA) eligibility criteria will be required to complete this learning programme and achieve the level 4 award (as a condition of their appointment).

CFIA includes face to face learning elements which the applicant needs to be aware could require them to travel outside of daily travelling times and incur overnight stays away from home.

More details on what is involved in this learning can be found in the link below:

Counter fraud investigator / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

Candidates are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the requirements of this learning.

You must be willing to attain the appropriate accreditation to undertake the technical functions of the role. This may be attained through completion of a qualification or apprenticeship.

Where a qualification is not achieved, it would not be possible to fulfil the role requirements and candidates will be redeployed, within CFCD where possible, following Workforce Management Policy and Procedures. If you have questions about equivalent qualifications, please contact the vacancy holder.

Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP)

The DWP is committed to investing in people and ensuring their teams are a professional workforce. It is a requirement of counter fraud post holders within DWP to attain, and retain, membership of the Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP) at Practitioner level. This means if you are successful in applying for this role you will need to undertake an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience within your role to attain and retain practitioner level membership. We provide post holders with a learning routeway to support them in achieving as well as any workplace adjustments they may require. Failure to attain membership of the GCFP at practitioner level may result in DWP seeking an alternative role for you.

In applying you will have indicated that you have read and fully understood the professional requirements for this Counter Fraud Investigator role.

Travel requirements

You will be required to attend:

• Briefings and operational planning with external stakeholders such as Police, Lawyers, Barristers.
• Interviews under Caution.
• Attendance at Court as required.
• Business and private addresses to obtain witness statements.

Successful candidates will need to be able to travel, retrieve evidence and be available at short notice. Due to the nature of the role this could be at any location nationally and during unsociable hours (both night/day and weekends). A departmental vehicle OR hire car may be made available if you hold a full UK driving license.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Benefits

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.

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.

**The deadline for your full application is 23:55 on 10th February 2026**

Stage 1 - Application Form

Please complete the first stage short application form, which includes your personal details, eligibility to apply and any reasonable adjustments required.

Stage 2 – Written Application and Sift

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a personal statement in no more than 1250 words detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role, based on the key criteria listed. Please pay particular attention to the lead criteria and second lead criteria as if you do not demonstrate these on your application, you will not progress to the interview stage.

When completing your personal statement, please read and understand the key criteria thoroughly, as this is what your written evidence will be assessed against. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. You may choose to address each criteria separately, however, one narrative example may cover and evidence several key criteria. You may not be able to meet all the key criteria, but please ensure you evidence the key personal requirements, what have you done that’s relatable to the requirements. You don’t 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.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criteria or lead and second lead criteria. If so, we will sift on:

• Experience of leading complex investigations, your decision-making process and how you’ve involved others to consider the wider impact (Lead Criteria).
• Highly developed people management skills, demonstrating how you set clear strategic direction, whilst building an inclusive coaching environment (Second Lead Criteria).

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to an interview.

CV

You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your job history, full qualification details, previous skills and experience.

In the previous skills/experience section you should detail your employment and/or education history relevant to this vacancy (we recommend a maximum of 500 words).

The CV will also cover your work history (we recommend you include up to the last 3 roles of employment history, plus any others that you feel are relevant) and qualifications.

Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement.

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 DCS candidates who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

In the event we don’t 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.

**Please note the closing date for your full application is 23:55 on 10/02/2026**

The sift is scheduled to be held from 11/02/2026 to 27/02/2026. These dates may be subject to change.

Stage 3 - Interview

If you pass the written application sift with the required score you will be invited to a blended interview and will receive an electronic notification to your Civil Service Jobs account.

The interviews will be conducted face to face. Where possible the interviews will take place at the locations listed in the Candidate Pack (slide 2), 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 06/04/2026, please note that 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 40 minutes and will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions.

A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation offering a more inclusive approach. The behaviour and strength-based questioning explores what you, the candidate, can and have done, but also your potential.

Behaviours

You will be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours listed at 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 - 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?

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 withdraw your application at any stage, it will not be progressed any further.

Stage 4 – Offer

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. 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 and security checks, which is likely to be during August / September 2026.

Important information

Candidate pack

It is important that you take time to read the candidate pack which can be found at the bottom of this job advert. This provides further information about the role and working in DWP.

Location

Please see slide 2 in the candidate pack for list of possible locations. 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.

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​

Part-time, part-year, term-time compressed hours and job-sharing working patterns within working hours 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 will be required to work full time for specific periods to complete all training and consolidation. Currently initial training can last for 2 to 4 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 applicants within these business hours and review these as appropriate. You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule.

Learning and Development

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, such as 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; your failure to participate fully in the professional programme, once appointed, may be a breach of your employment contract.

If DWP decides that it is no longer a requirement for you to undertake and attain a work-based qualification, it will release you from this obligation. Any decision to release you from this obligation will not be a breach of contract by DWP.

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.

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 12 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 Go