Head of Civil Asset Recovery

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.

Investigation and Enforcement Services (IES) directorate aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities, both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes, and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community.

The Proceeds of Crime team sits within IES. Its plays a critical role in enforcing financial justice by pursuing confiscation investigations, recovering illicit assets, and employing account / crypto freezing orders, all under the framework of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and its subsequent additions.

With the expansion of the Proceeds of Crime Team, The Insolvency Service is recruiting for a Head of Civil Asset Recovery. This new leadership role will focus on developing and managing civil recovery capabilities, including the use of Account Freezing and Crypto Freezing Powers to target recoverable property held in corporate, personal, and digital accounts.

The successful candidate will also lead a Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) workstream, ensuring robust processes for identifying and recovering assets linked to financial crime. You will work alongside the Head of Asset Recovery for Confiscation and Restraint, fostering collaborative leadership and mutual support to deliver a high-quality, independent asset recovery service across both criminal and civil proceedings.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 9 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally.

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people.

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career!

Job description

The postholder will lead and develop units specialising in civil asset recovery, with a particular focus on utilising Account Freezing and Crypto Freezing Powers to target and recover assets from corporate, personal and digital accounts. They will oversee the DAML unit, driving best practices in anti-money laundering and asset recovery, and collaborate closely with the Head of Asset Recovery for Confiscation and Restraint to deliver a comprehensive, high-quality asset recovery service across both criminal and civil proceedings.

Responsibilities

You will be required to:

• lead on supporting vacancy holders, advising them through the recruitment process
• collaborate with colleagues to support the people agenda including diversity and inclusion initiatives and engagement
• be responsible for assurance of monthly people data
• lead and develop the agency’s expanded Asset Recovery Teams, with a particular emphasis on Civil Recovery under Summary Proceedings, aligning to our Enforcement Strategy
• utilise Account Freezing and Crypto Freezing Powers to recover assets from a range of sources, including digital currencies
• lead the DAML unit, driving innovation and best practice in anti-money laundering and asset recovery
• work in close partnership with the Head of Asset Recovery for Confiscation and Restraint, fostering a culture of collaborative leadership and shared expertise
• oversee the management of Accredited Financial Investigators, providing both restraint and confiscation services to Criminal Investigation Teams, and civil recovery services to the wider agency
• lead and support colleagues with technical, operational, and strategic advice on asset recovery using the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and associated legislation
• line-manage deputies who each lead an asset recovery unit
• collaborate closely with IES colleagues in Criminal Investigation and Intelligence and other agency colleagues to contribute to the strategic direction of the agency

Please note: This post is available on a part‑time basis, with a minimum requirement of 30 hours per week.

Person specification

Applicants should be able to demonstrate:

• experience in civil asset recovery, including the practical use of Account Freezing, Forfeiture, and Crypto Freezing powers
• strong working knowledge of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (and subsequent amendments), and its application in investigations
• leadership of complex financial, criminal, or civil investigations, evidencing sound judgement, and the delivery of high-quality outcomes
• experience implementing or overseeing anti-money laundering processes, and DAML related workflows
• the ability to lead and develop multidisciplinary investigation or asset recovery teams
• evidence of improving operational performance or introducing good practice
• strong stakeholder engagement skills and ability to influence senior leaders
• sound analytical and decision-making capability using financial intelligence

Essential Criteria

To be successful in this role, you must demonstrate:

• recent experience of leading and investigating under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (and subsequent additions 2017) including Section 5 Powers
• expertise in providing high‑quality leadership to large, diverse, and evolving teams of financial investigation experts, spanning early talent through to highly experienced specialists, and a proven track record of driving performance within the field of Proceeds of Crime
• knowledge of the end‑to‑end enforcement process under the Proceeds of Crime Act, including confiscation orders, asset restraint, freezing, forfeiture, and realisation mechanisms

Further Information

From 1st April 2026, applicants will be required to meet nationality and residency requirements so that National Security Vetting (NSV) checks can be conducted. If you want to learn more, visit NSV national requirements (opens in a new window). United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• Interview candidate will be asked to outline the end‑to‑end enforcement process under the Proceeds of Crime Act, including confiscation orders, asset restraint, freezing, forfeiture, and realisation mechanisms.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,367, Insolvency Service contributes £16,619 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want you to have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do, so we offer a great benefits package including:

• flexible working arrangements and flexi-time
• full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service
• in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• a Cycle to work scheme
• staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and 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. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.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, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the sift process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV
• Personal Statement
• Behaviours
  • Behaviour 1- Leadership

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 Personal Statement, assessing candidates against the essential criteria. Only those who meet the essential criteria at this stage will proceed to a full assessment of their application. If a candidate does not meet the minimum requirements during the initial sift, the remainder of their application will not be reviewed. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

CV Guidance

Your CV should provide a clear overview of your employment history, key responsibilities, relevant qualifications, and the skills and experience you’ve gained throughout your career including any notable achievements.

Note: Your CV will not be scored as part of the assessment process and will only be used for reference purposes.

Personal Statement Guidance

Your personal statement should be no more than 1000 words and must demonstrate how your personal skills, qualities, and experience align with the requirements of the role. Please ensure your statement references the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.

If successful at the sift stage, at interview, you will be assessed on the following:

• Experience
• Behaviours- assessed through:
  • Behaviour 1- Leadership
  • Behaviour 2– Making Effective Decisions
  • Behaviour 3– Changing and Improving
  • Behaviour 4 –Delivering at Pace
• Technical Skills

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Sift – week commencing 16th March 2026

Interview – week commencing 6th April 2026

Location – North West Regional Centre: 2nd Floor, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN

Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of this if you are selected for interview. Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Visa Applicants

To sponsor a candidate under the Skilled Worker visa, a sponsorship licence is required. The Insolvency Service does not currently hold this licence and therefore, cannot legally sponsor Skilled Worker visa applicants.

Hybrid Working

Insolvency Service operates a hybrid working policy subject to business need, giving people the flexibility to choose when and where they work and collaborate with others.

Individuals are expected to work from one of the office locations stated in the advert to connect with their colleagues, as required by their role and business team needs. There is flexibility to split the working week, spending a minimum of 60% in the workplace, which includes the office, site visits, court etc.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Insolvency Service 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

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

In order 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.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

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 via InsolvencyRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ 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.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : IES WorkForce Planning
• Email : IES_WorkForcePlanning@insolvency.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

If you feel there have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process or that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact hr.recruitment@insolvency.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Applying for a Job - A Candidate Guide Opens in new window (pdf, 3061kB)Insolvency Service Candidate Information Pack (Sept 2025) Opens in new window (pdf, 6459kB)