Quality Manager

Location Stratford Regional Centre About The Job Job summary HMRC is the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority and we have a vital purpose: we collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support. Covert Operations, Digital Exploitation (CODE) sits within HMRC’s wider Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) responsible for the department’s civil and criminal investigation work. FIS ensures that HMRC has an effective approach to taking on the most serious tax evasion and fraud. Working across Law Enforcement and government, CODE provides investigative tools and covert techniques to front-line investigations and works with key partners to develop and provide access to new technology and systems to enable investigators to respond to serious and complex tax evasion and crime. See what it’s like to work at HMRC : find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question . Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert. Job Description Your role as Quality Manager will see you act as an ambassador for quality within Cybercrime & Forensic Services and the wider forensic unit, overseeing the delivery of digital and traditional forensic services to ensure all work is conducted in adherence to Statutory requirements, as well as internal and external quality standards and regulations. The role of the Quality Manager is vital for the development, maintenance, and assurance of forensic services provided to HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service. HMRCs forensic unit conducts forensic activities within office and laboratory environments, as well as at the scene of crime. Reporting to the Senior Quality Manager, in this role you will lead and develop an effective quality of service within the forensic unit, which will align business objectives to the strict requirements of specific ISO quality standards, and the Forensic Science Regulator’s Code of Practice. You will be responsible for understanding, maintaining, and actively promoting adherence to the internal quality management system, as well as driving continuous improvement to enable efficiencies and ensure quality standards are upheld. Person specification Your role as Quality Manager will see you act as an ambassador for quality within Cybercrime & Forensic Services and the wider forensic unit, overseeing methods and practices for forensic examinations; ensuring that standards are upheld at all times, and that policies and procedures are correctly followed in accordance with ISO regulations. Evidential data obtained by the forensic unit may be used by analysts, investigators, prosecution and defence teams, as well as juries, for informed decision making within the criminal justice system. As Quality Manager, you will support the Quality Assurance team in the ultimate objective of assuring that such evidence is obtained by competent, impartial personnel, using forensically sound methods. In order to achieve this, the duties of the successful candidate will include but not be limited to:

• Ascertaining and maintaining a comprehensive understanding of internal policies and procedures across the services provided by the forensic unit.
• Supporting Technical Management in the creation, review, and distribution of documentation and records for specific business areas.
• The ongoing maintenance and control of documentation within the quality management system.
• Engaging with personnel across the C&FS team to ensure understanding, co-operation, and compliance with the management system.
• Planning and delivery of the internal audit programme, comprising of horizontal, vertical, and method witness audit of both the quality management system and technical/forensic processes, to ensure compliance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017, ISO/IEC 17020:2012, and Forensic Science Regulator (FSR) Code of Practice.
• Supervise, train and mentor new and trainee internal auditors, and personally undertake audits of key areas.
• Investigating and identifying root causes for non-conformances and complaints; accurately recording corrective action, procedural updates, and checks for effectiveness to maintain traceability as required by external assessors to meet ISO, FSR and ILAC requirements.
• Working with the wider Quality Assurance team to prepare for and facilitate UKAS Assessment visits during the course of maintaining and expanding HMRC’s scope of accreditation.
• Reviewing quality management and operational data to assess performance and conduct trend analysis, providing assurance to both internal senior management and external bodies (e.g. UKAS) that business objectives and all regulatory requirements are being met.

In addition, you will adopt a continuous improvement approach, ensuring the service remains consistent, fit for purpose, and meets the demands of both internal and external requirements. Maintaining an awareness of existing legislation and responding to any updates, changes, and/or introductions of new regulatory requirements will be essential. Essential Criteria

• Experience in Quality Assurance, conducting internal audit/governance of policies and procedures against legislation or similar requirement(s).
• To have the ability to work well under pressure and in stressful situations, as an individual or part of a small specialised team, and to organise and prioritise the workload to meet given deadlines and objectives.
• Confident with technology; ability to quickly adapt to new/bespoke systems and solutions, and proficient in the use of Microsoft Office applications (especially O365/cloud-based services and tools).
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (verbal and written), with the ability to deliver information using a wide variety of formats and to a diverse range of audiences.
• Experience of negotiating and influencing discussions, decisions and change with internal and external partners and agencies. With the ability to plan, organise and prioritise resources effectively in order to deliver a quality service.
• This role requires National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level and you must hold SC vetting or be willing to apply for SC vetting. If you do not hold SC but are willing to go through the process, any job offer would be conditional and may be withdrawn should you fail to achieve the vetting.

Desirable Criteria

• Sound knowledge and understanding of the principles of Quality Management, quality standards (specifically ISO/IEC 17025:2017, ISO/IEC 17020:2012, and/or FSR Code of Practice) and pertinence of statutory requirements.
• Experience of working within digital forensics, traditional forensics, a laboratory, and/or other working environments subject to operating to quality standards.
• The ability to communicate, guide and advise on the importance and specifics of working to statutory requirements.
• Ability to think critically on processes and procedures and be able to manage and implement improvements.
• Understand risks, nonconformities and their importance, and have experience managing and handling sensitive and challenging issues.

Training Requirements Depending on existing experience, the successful candidate will be expected to undertake the following or equivalent training courses:

• ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Awareness
• ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Awareness
• Laboratory Management/Quality Management
• Internal Audit (ISO/IEC 17025:2017)

Additional information: This role requires security clearance to SC. Any job offer is conditional to the attainment of the security clearance to SCand thus, the security clearance is mandatory. Please be aware that those who do not attain the required security clearance will not be allowed to carry on in this particular post. Applicants who wish to work alternative working patterns are welcome to apply. The preferred working pattern may or may not be available, agreement will be subject to business need, and any request to work an alternative working pattern should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer. Appointment will be conditional upon satisfactory conduct and discipline checks and security vetting. Candidates must live within reasonable daily travel, of an HMRC Regional Centre. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits Alongside your salary of £39,893, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £10,771 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 average employer contribution of 27%

Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience. How To Apply As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, Personal Statement and 3 separate 250-word statements. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. You are required to complete a CV outlining your relevant skills and experience, a Personal Statement, and 3 separate 250-word statements addressing the specified behaviours CV – Please Complete The Qualifications, Career History And Skills/experience. Personal Statement - please explain in no more than 500 words why you are suitable for this role and include an example of where you have worked with others to consider and implement changes in working process. The CV, Personal Statement and behaviours will be scored at sift. Those who are successful at sift will be invited to interview and further tested against behaviours and strengths. There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. As part of the interview we will test your experience by way of a 10 minute presentation delivered at interview. The presentation brief will be sent out to those invited for interview. Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of tied candidate scores. We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers. Interviews will be held either by video or face-to-face Sift and Interview will take place within 5 weeks of the advert closing date. Interview dates to be confirmed. A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account. Eligibility To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role. Reasonable Adjustments We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments , and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible. Diversity and Inclusion We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC. For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer. Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process. The Civil Service runs 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. Locations HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations . Security Update For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post. For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page Further Information The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process. Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn. Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk Problems during the application process If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application. Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 345985 & vacancy closing date 09/04/2024 . Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment. For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above. 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. 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 : Sarah Montague
• Email : sarah.montague@hmrc.gov.uk
• Telephone : 03000 578165

Recruitment team

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

Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via complaints.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here