Innovation, Science and Technology Manager

Job summary

Threat & Risk Assessment, Capability Exploration and Research (TRACER) plays a critical role in supporting the National Crime Agency’s mission to protect the public from serious and organised crime. TRACER is a collaborative function that leads the NCA’s science and technology innovation activity, ensuring capabilities remain current, effective, and relevant in an increasingly digital landscape. It also provides threat and opportunity management for digital communications capabilities on behalf of the Home Office’s Digital Communications Capabilities partnership.

The team is creative and forward‑thinking, applying design‑thinking approaches to understand and address user and customer needs. The Innovation, Science and Technology function supports the development of new capabilities by working with stakeholders to define problems and opportunities, identify requirements, develop user cases, and conduct discovery activity. This includes piloting concepts, running experiments, assessing customer benefits, and translating insights into outline business cases and clear stakeholder communications, demonstrating how innovation enables law enforcement to adapt and remain effective.

To support this work, TRACER has established the Enabling Innovation and Experimentation Environment (EIEE). EIEE is a cloud‑based platform that enables the testing and evaluation of potential solutions to digital threats and opportunities, supporting informed investment decisions. Innovation is delivered through a range of approaches, including proofs of concept, technical demonstrators, testing activity, and desktop‑based exercises, drawing on both internal and external expertise.

TRACER is seeking Innovation, Science and Technology Managers to deliver impactful innovation across the NCA and the Home Office partnership.

This role sits within the Government science and engineering: career framework - GOV.UK

Job description

The Innovation, Science and Technology (IS&T) team works across the Agency and in close partnership with law enforcement and national security organisations to understand how adversaries exploit emerging technologies for criminal purposes, and to apply science and technology to counter those threats. The team also supports the development of new operational capabilities and drives the responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

A typical day in TRACER may involve engaging with operational teams to understand their challenges, conducting discovery work to develop a deep understanding of complex problems, commissioning research, and designing experiments or prototypes. The role also includes consulting with industry partners, collaborating with academia and other government science and technology teams, and presenting evidence‑based options to strategic governance boards to inform and shape investment decisions.

This breadth of activity demands a diverse and inclusive workforce. We therefore welcome candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, with different perspectives and ways of thinking, to ensure we continue to operate with creativity, ingenuity and impact.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Research, design and deliver innovative solutions to complex problems by leading discovery activity, designing experiments, and translating insight into practical, testable outcomes.
• Clearly communicate complex problems and solutions to a wide range of stakeholders, including operational teams, technical specialists, and senior decision‑makers.
• Lead and manage multiple workstreams, ensuring delivery to agreed standards, timelines and budgets, while continuously identifying opportunities to improve processes and ways of working.
• Provide effective project oversight, coordinating activity across teams and partners to ensure successful delivery of innovation initiatives.
• Work closely with NCA Commercial to identify, secure and manage commercial arrangements with leading private‑sector specialists and subject matter experts.
• Support the creation of commercial contracts that enable innovation activity to proceed at pace, ensuring open and fair competition and value for money.
• Develop evidence‑based recommendations by synthesising research findings, experimentation results and operational insight to inform future priorities and investment decisions.
• Support the development of key artefacts, including outline and strategic business cases, and contribute to communications strategies to engage and influence key stakeholders.
• Produce clear, high‑quality documentation that captures analysis, decisions and rationale, supporting transparency and governance.
• Manage innovation resources on a day‑to‑day basis, including subcontractors, ensuring appropriate tasking, performance management and capability development.
• Provide support to Innovation, Science and Technology Leads, contributing flexibly to team priorities and project delivery as required.
• Manage and oversee a responsive cloud‑based experimentation environment, including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics and intelligence capabilities.
• Develop workplans and task team members to deliver prototyping, alpha and beta deployments, overseeing testing, experimentation and cost modelling to support informed decision‑making.

Person specification

• Proven experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams, setting clear direction and applying project management principles to translate innovation into operational delivery, ensuring outcomes are achieved on time and within budget.

• Ability to work effectively across diverse specialisms, confidently discussing complex concepts with technical and non‑technical stakeholders and coordinating delivery through structured planning and governance.

• Strong prioritisation and stakeholder management skills, with experience securing buy‑in from senior stakeholders and product sponsors, resolving conflicts, and balancing competing demands.

• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build consensus, negotiate compromise, and bring stakeholders on board with decisions.

• Strong written and verbal communication capability, including experience of conveying complex or technical information clearly and persuasively to non‑technical audiences, ensuring messages are understood and acted upon.

• Demonstrable ability to identify, assess and integrate emerging science and technologies to drive innovation, operational effectiveness and efficiency.

• Experience designing and delivering scientific experiments or discovery activity, with a clear focus on outcomes, evidence generation and learning to address defined problems.

Desirable Criteria (to be used in the event of a tie-break)

• Post-18 qualification in STEM subject relevant to innovation, science and/or technology.
• Experience working in a law enforcement or national security environment.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,575, National Crime Agency contributes £16,100 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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.

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

Behaviours

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Leadership

Experience

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

• Delivering Complex Projects [Lead Criteria]
• Driving Innovation
• Communication Skills

Full advert details for this vacancy can found on the advert on the NCA Recruitment Portal. Please follow the link to apply at advertisers' site.

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 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.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

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 : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk
• Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk
• Telephone : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk

Further information

If you believe your application has not been treated fairly, email: Central.Recruitment@nca.gov.uk (quoting the vacancy reference).
If unresolved, you may escalate your complaint to the Civil Service Commission.