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Ofsted is strengthening its approach to tackling unregistered children’s social care by creating a centralised Unregistered Social Care (USC) team. The USC team will take responsibility for all aspects of our response to unregistered social care, from the point when information of potential unregistered social care first comes to Ofsted, through to case management and issuing warning letters, conducting criminal investigations, issuing fines, and assisting the legal team with prosecutions.

Working as part of a team of criminal investigators, you will support investigations into providers suspected of operating unregistered social care services. You will assist with securing and evaluating evidence, preparing case files to prosecution standard, and supporting cases through legal review.

Reporting to the Senior Criminal Investigator (SCI) – USC and working closely with Ofsted's legal team, you will contribute to high-quality criminal investigatory practice and help ensure compliance with relevant legislation and procedures.

The successful candidate will have experience supporting criminal investigations, including gathering, recording and retaining evidence, and completing disclosure schedules in line with prosecution requirements. Knowledge of Disclosure Manuals, the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA) and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) is desirable.

You will be confident, adaptable and able to work on your own initiative. The role requires the ability to quickly understand and apply legislation relevant to the investigation of unregistered social care provision, while working collaboratively with colleagues to achieve positive outcomes.

This is a fantastic opportunity to further your experience in Ofsted’s well-established team. The post holder will work with high-achieving professionals at all levels, surrounded by a friendly and supportive team. They will have access to amazing benefits, such as flexible working hours, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and 32.5 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays. We offer a hybrid working model, so you may also choose to spend a proportion of time working from home.

Job description

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Person specification

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Qualifications

Qualified to level 1 Professionalising Investigations Programme (PIP), active within the last three years. (Essential)

Qualified to level 2 Professionalising Investigations Programme (PIP). (Desirable)

Holds a relevant degree-level qualification (for example, Social Work, Criminal Justice, or a related field) or has equivalent relevant professional experience. (Desirable)

Please indicate on your application form the actual qualification you hold.

Behaviours

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

Communicating and Influencing
Making Effective Decisions
Delivering at Pace
Working Together

Technical skills

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

Experience of conducting investigations. (Essential)
Experience in preparing case files to include disclosure schedules, including to a prosecution standard. (Essential)
Experience working to Disclosure Manual standards, the Criminal Procedure & Investigations Act 1996 , & Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 , including recording & retaining admissible evidence to support investigations and prosecutions. (Essential)
Knowledge of Criminal Procedure Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA). (Essential)
Understanding of the law relating to unregistered social care and relevant social care frameworks and legislation. (Desirable)
Able to communicate effectively in writing, demonstrating clarity and influence. Expresses judgements precisely and persuasively. (Essential)
Strong IT skills, including the ability to access information, reports and templates electronically, update databases and produce statements, reports, letters and instructions in electronic format and to a high standard. (Essential)

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

Experience of conducting investigations. (Essential)
Experience in preparing case files to include disclosure schedules, including to a prosecution standard. (Essential)
Experience working to Disclosure Manual standards, the Criminal Procedure & Investigations Act 1996 , & Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 , including recording & retaining admissible evidence to support investigations and prosecutions. (Essential)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,524, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills contributes £10,870 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).

Full details of the benefits available can be found in our Ofsted Offer brochure.

Ofsted is devoted to equality, diversity and inclusion. Within our Ofsted Strategy 2023-2027 we have stated that we will improve the representation of under-represented groups across the organisation and publish our progress on this annually. We are always looking to expand on our diverse workforce by recruiting candidates from varied backgrounds and differing experiences. We are proud to be a Disability Confident – Leader, we continually engage with our 5 staff networks for protected characteristics, and highlight the work of our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Group. We ensure all candidates are treated with fair and open competition, with all appointments being made on merit and we use our Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) to provide assurance to all candidates of this.

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.

Application and shortlisting

The selection panel will assess your application based on your evidence you have provided against the essential criteria as set out in the person specification.

You will also be asked to provide information within the “Employer/Activity History” section of the application form. This information is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV setting out your career history (this may be used in the sifting process).

Assessment and Interview

Candidates who pass the benchmark at the shortlisting stage will be invited to an assessment and interview where you will be assessed against a combination of the the Civil Service behaviours and the technical/experience skills set out in section 3 of the job specification.

Assessment and interview's will be held during the Wednesday 16 September and Thursday 17 September 2026 at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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

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 Services Delivery Team
Email : jobs@ofsted.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : jobs@ofsted.gov.uk

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles, which can be found at:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/20…

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email Ofsted recruitment at jobs@ofsted.gov.uk in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilserv…

Attachments

Job specification - Assistant Criminal Investigator Opens in new window (pdf, 212kB)

Salary range

£37,524 - £41,368 per year