Investigator

Job summary

We are currently recruiting Investigators to work in our Assessment function, where Investigators assess complaints made to the LGSCO, making early decisions on cases and looking for opportunities to resolve them without the need for a full investigation.

Investigators will deal with complaints about a wide range of different topics covering the span of local authority services and private adult social care. No two cases are the same, and no two days are the same in terms of the complaints you will consider. The role provides real challenge, requiring you to get up to speed quickly on a diverse range of subjects, from children's social care to rights of way, and homelessness to waste collections.

Job description

Investigators operate in a highly pressurised and collaborative environment where individuals contribute to the work of the team and the wider organisation. They are
also personally responsible for their own case work and for maintaining high standards of performance and professional practice, meeting challenging objectives
around quantity, quality, timeliness and impact. Once inducted and fully trained, Investigators are expected to operate with minimal guidance and supervision, demonstrating a high degree of resilience and confidence in their work. As we receive high volumes of complaints, Investigators are expected to demonstrate effective workload management skills and proportionate decision making at all times. Both skilled judgment and confident decision making are essential aspects of the role.

There is an opportunity to get involved in subject-specific forums, where you will have a chance to share your knowledge and discuss cases, as well as inform the Ombudsman's policy positions on key issues. These forums play a key role in our external communications work, and have supported recent focus reports and practitioner guides on subjects such as end-of-life care, council tax appeal rights and planning enforcement.

There is also the opportunity to get involved in other projects. Recently, Investigators have worked alongside colleagues in other parts of the organisation to look at developing our use of artificial intelligence.

Click the link to apply for more details.

Person specification

• Establish trust and confidence with customers and service users.
• Deal with a diverse range of people, some of whom may require additional support in making their complaint to us, and some of whom can display challenging behaviours.
• Be able to deal with complex problem solving, analysis of complex written material, identification of key issues and able to communicate decisions in plain English.
• Maintain high levels of resilience to work under pressure and to deadlines, with effective prioritisation skills.
• Manage competing priorities and deliver against challenging targets within agreed timeframes.

See the job description for further details

Benefits

• Local Government Pension Scheme
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• 3 concessionary days between Christmas and New Year
• Flexi-time and hybrid working arrangements

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

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to take an online verbal reasoning assessment. Invites will be sent on or around Friday 23 October and applicants will have roughly a week to complete it.

If successful, you will be invited to complete an online case study exercise taking place around 30 October and again applicants will have roughly a week to complete it.

Following this, interviews are planned to be held online via MS Teams, between Tuesday 8 December and Tuesday 15 December.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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.

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

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 : recruitment@lgo.org.uk
• Email : recruitment@lgo.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@lgo.org.uk

Further information

https://www.lgo.org.uk/