Investigator (hybrid)

About this role

We are recruiting experienced investigators (known internally as Investigation Officers) in our General Investigations Team, our Assessment and Early Resolution Team (AERT) and our Enhanced Case Management (ECM) Team.

We are recruiting for our offices in London, Birmingham and Cardiff. These are full-time hybrid roles and will require you to attend the office one to two days per week.

We receive thousands of reports every year raising allegations of misconduct and regulatory breaches against those we regulate.

AERT

AERT undertakes a detailed assessment and analysis of reports, make enquiries, gathers information, identifies risks and potential breaches of our rules, ensuring that high-risk cases are prioritised. A proportionate assessment of the strength and quality of evidence available may lead to early-stage resolution of cases where we can guide the firm/solicitor to become compliant or change their processes for the future. AERT will refer reports where regulatory investigation is required to the General Investigations or ECM teams for further investigation. The work is high volume and fast paced; we need confident decision makers with a keen eye for detail, who are adept at identifying risks and themes with an analytical and curious mindset as every case is different.

You can read more about how reports are assessed here.

General Investigations Team

Matters assessed as serious are passed to our Investigation teams. The Investigation teams manage caseloads of varying complexity, across a multitude of legal areas. They will analyse detailed information to get to the heart of the matter and identify and promptly obtain a range of documentary evidence, including witness statements. The Investigation teams will make use of formal powers to control risk and impose sanctions where the conduct is serious. The most serious cases will result in enforcement action being taken to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

ECM Team

The ECM Team is one of our specialist investigation teams and they consider our highest risk, highest profile and complex cases referred by AERT. These cases include cohorts of investigations in areas such as abuse of the immigration system, concerning practices/operations in the handling of high-volume consumer claims, economic crime, misuse of generative AI and sexual misconduct. Making use of a range of formal powers to control risk and impose sanctions, these cohorts of cases involve substantial, cross-organisation collaboration and regular media and public attention.

You can read more about our approach to enforcement here.

Our mission

At the heart of what we do through the important work in all of our teams is:

• upholding public trust and confidence in legal services and
• delivering work that is timely, efficient, high quality and customer focused.

What we are looking for

Applications are welcome from individuals with a wide range of experience and expertise including those with experience of working in the legal profession, other regulators, casework or investigation roles.

Those applying for a role in the AERT, General Investigations or ECM teams will need to show evidence of the following:

• Candidates should:
• be a qualified legal professional with relevant practice experience; and/or
• have a law enforcement background (PIP 2 accredited or above), and/or
• have significant experience in a range of different complexity investigations/ regulatory casework.
• Experience of working in a comparable regulatory, compliance and/or enforcement environment with knowledge of evidence gathering through various sources - intelligence led, desk based, online/digital investigations, medical and/or technical expert reports and witness interviews.
• Experience of gathering and analysing information, identifying risks and assessing mitigating and aggravating factors to make sound decisions; proven experience of applying legislation, rules, principles, professional standards or other decision-making frameworks.
• Experience of managing time, a high and constant casework flow and competing priorities.
• Experience of, or the ability to conduct a range of different complexity and challenging investigations/regulatory casework, whilst demonstrating a high level of skill, and professional judgement, particularly when dealing with sensitive or confidential matters.
• Demonstrate proven research or analytical skills, including the ability to identify risks, report on data/evidence, summarise findings, draft recommendations for case direction supported by clear arguments.
• Demonstrate strong written and verbal communication skills, presenting findings in a clear and coherent way, adapting as needed according to your audience.
• Ability to co-ordinate and quality assure the production of relevant material and bundles of evidence for experts, adjudicators, tribunals so that decision making is facilitated in line with the legal framework, operational guidance/policy and best practice; liaising with all relevant stakeholders for each case as necessary to ensure deadlines are met and all are appropriately advised about case progression, delays, hearings and outcomes.
• Ability to act strategically, identify policy ideas or new initiatives, and develop practical innovative and creative solutions to case progression and management.

What's in it for you?

• Protect the public and enforce high professional standards by engaging with regulated firms and individuals as well as members of the public.
• Variety of case holding. No one case is the same.
• Work collaboratively with other areas of our organisation such as the Legal and Enforcement, Authorisation, Intelligence and Forensic Investigation teams.
• A rolling in-depth training programme where you can develop and refine your analysis and investigation skills

Useful and additional information

There is a Role Profile and 'Day in the life of' an Investigation Officer 'attached at the bottom of the advert on our website.

The starting salary for Investigation Officers in AERT and General Investigations team is £38,671 per annum (plus 10% London weighting if applicable) and for Investigation Officers in the ECM Team is £42,633 per annum (plus 10% London weighting where applicable).

Candidates who successfully demonstrate the required Investigation Officer competencies may be considered for vacancies across the AERT, General Investigations and ECM Teams. While the core Investigation Officer role profile is consistent across all three teams, each team requires slightly different skills and strengths. Final team allocation will be determined based on business need and a candidate's performance and demonstration of skills throughout the recruitment process.

The recruitment process will consist of

• An application which will include a CV submission and answering the details of which are outlined on the online application form.
• Should your application meet our shortlisting requirements, you will be invited to attend a half-day, in-person assessment and interview session at our Birmingham office. The assessment will include an and a competency-based interview. We anticipate that in-person assessments and interviews will take place on 11, 18 and/or 25 September, and shortlisted candidates will be contacted with further details in early September. Please only apply if you can commit to attending one of the in-person assessment and interview sessions outlined above.

We are recruiting for this role working on a hybrid basis from our Birmingham, Cardiff, and London offices. You will be based in the office nearest to your location, with the expectation of working 1-2 days a week in the office and the remainder of the week from home. This is a full-time role working 35 hours per week. Working hours are normally Monday to Friday and will be scheduled between our core business hours of 8:00 am and 6:00 pm.

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