Fraud Officer Home Counties
Department for Work and Pensions
Apply before 11:55 pm on Tuesday 7th May 2024
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About the job
Job summary
Do you have an inquisitive mind? Do you enjoy engaging with customers? If so, we need you!
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy and is responsible for helping people move into employment, supporting pensioners and protecting some of the most vulnerable in our society. Counter Fraud Compliance and Debt (CFCD) aim is to drive down the level of fraud, error and debt within the benefit system, to protect the public purse.
As part of Counter Fraud and Compliance Directorate (CFCD) you will be at the heart of DWP’s efforts to reduce fraud and error in the benefit system. This is a hugely important public service, and our challenge is bigger than ever.
If you want to join somewhere that recognises the importance of work-life balance, where you can learn new skills and progress your career, then CFCD is the place for you.
Job description
What will you be doing?
Your work will involve different aspects subject to changing business priorities, therefore we need people who are very adaptable and flexible.
The job may include a range of duties, with the following provided as examples (what duties you do will depend on which area of work you are posted to):
- Review claims through a variety of means e.g. telephony interviews; ensuring declarations and changes have been reported at the right time and taking appropriate corrective action if errors are found.
- Ensure quality standards are maintained through adherence to all DWP policy and procedures & CFCD operational instructions.
- Work collaboratively, effectively and flexibly within a team and contribute towards team expectations.
- Promote fraud awareness within DWP and to wider external business partners.
- Conduct robust and challenging interviews with customers by telephone or in person, pursuing all reasonable lines of enquiry.
- Gather, verify, and assess all available information to submit to the appropriate Decision Maker to enable accurate benefit reassessment and overpayment calculation.
- Maintain accurate records and retain relevant evidence, redacting and annotating sensitive material when appropriate.
Person specification
What we are looking for:
- Demonstrate effective leadership and communication skills.
- Have excellent organisational and planning capabilities.
- Demonstrate strong judgement and decision-making skills.
- Present information to internal and external audiences in a professional and credible manner.
- Be able to work effectively as an individual and as part of a team.
- Deal appropriately with challenging and vulnerable individuals.
- Inspire others through positivity, drive and energy in order to achieve outcomes and deliver change.
- Have a flexible and adaptable leadership style with an ability to reach a diverse audience and be prepared to engage effectively with our partners.
- Have a desire to showcase public service at its best.
- Be willing to travel between sites if required depending on business needs.
- Have the ability to work in a demanding and complex environment with changing priorities.
Learning Requirements
The DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) is committed to investing in people and ensuring their teams are a professional workforce. It is a requirement of Counter Fraud post holders within DWP to attain, and retain, membership of the GCFP (Government Counter Fraud Profession) at Practitioner level. This means if you are successful in applying for this role you will need to undertake an annual self-assessment to evidence your knowledge, skills, and experience within your role to attain and retain practitioner level membership. We provide post holders with a learning routeway to support them in achieving as well as any workplace adjustments they may require. Failure to attain membership of the GCFP at Practitioner level may result in DWP seeking an alternative role for you.
In applying you will have indicated that you have read and fully understood the professional requirements for this Counter Fraud Officer role.
Microsoft Teams Live Event
We will be holding two Microsoft Teams Live events to let you know more about the roles. These will take place on two days between Monday 29th April and Friday 3rd May.
Attendance to this event is by invitation only. To register your initial interest, please contact cfcd.ssclvacancies@dwp.gov.uk typing in the subject line EO Fraud Officer Home Counties MS Teams event
You will be sent an invite to the event with a link to join.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
Benefits
Benefits including:
- Generous annual leave - 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus bank holidays and one day of leave for the King’s Birthday. The exact number of days of annual leave will be determined by any current years of service.
- Competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave we also recognise the importance of a good work-life balance and offer flexible working and a family friendly approach to work.
- Training and apprenticeships and up to 5 days’ personal development & learning allowance
- Flexible/hybrid working
- Employee discount schemes
- Free wellbeing support
- Opportunities to make a real difference through joining forums, initiatives & charities
- Interest free travel loans
- Vodafone advantage discount scheme
- Highly sought after civil service pension- your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where:
- The employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension.
- Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and
- Your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire.
- For more information, visit civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk
Location
Applicants should apply for suitable posts where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.
Hybrid Working
This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Stage 1 - Application and Sift
As part of the application process, you will be asked to you will be asked to complete a Personal Statement in no more than 750 words detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role, based on the following question.
- Please tell us how you have delivered a quality service to stakeholders or partners so that all their needs were met and demonstrate how you gathered information to inform your decision on the best course of action.
Your personal statement needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirement set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirement needed. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable, and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role. If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
**Please note the closing date for your full application is 23:55 on 07/05/2024**
Sift to be held 13/05/2024 to 17/05/2024. These dates made be subject to change.
Candidate Pack
It is important that you take time to read the Candidate Pack which can be found at the bottom of this job advert. This provides further information about the role and working in DWP.
Stage 2 - Interview
Those who pass the Written Application Sift with the required score will be invited to an interview and will receive an electronic notification to your Civil Service Jobs account.
Please note that interviews will be Face-to-Face at either of our Basildon, Folkestone or St Albans offices. You will receive a invite with the relevant details to attend the office at the appointed time through the email account you provide us with on your application.
Interviews are scheduled to take place from 03/06/2024 to 14/06/2024, please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. Interviews will be scheduled Monday to Friday, between 09:00 to 17:00.
Communications will be electronic and/or by telephone therefore it is vitally important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder. Telephone calls may show as a withheld number, it is important that you answer so that your interview can be confirmed.
Preparing for the interview
The interview will take approximately 45 minutes and will consist of a Presentation plus Behaviour and Strength-based questions. You will be provided with an interview pack at the interview invite booking stage detailing the requirements of the presentation.
Behaviours
You will be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours listed above at Level 2.
To help you prepare and settle into the interview you will be sent the behavioural questions in advance of the interview. These questions should be treated as confidential and should not be shared. The interview panel may ask you other questions which will not be shared in advance, including follow-up questions, and those about your strengths.
An example of a Behavioural question would be “Tell me about a time when you’ve had to deal with a difficult customer.”
It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model above to explain:
- WHO - What it was, How you approached the work/situation and what the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or
- STAR - What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Strengths
It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role.
While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.
If you withdraw your application at any stage, it will not be progressed any further.
Stage 3 – Offer
Once all interviews have been completed, candidates will be notified of the outcome by email. Successful candidates will be posted in merit order based on your location preferences, where appropriate, and the geographical requirements of the business. Dependent on your position on the merit list, if none of your location preferences remain at the point we make a job offer DWP may offer you a role at an alternative advertised location. If we are unable to offer you a role in any of your preferred locations, and you are unable to accept a role at an alternative advertised location, we will add you to the reserve list.
The successful candidate(s) will be notified of a start date following successful security checks, which is likely to be during July/August 2024.
Important information.
Working Pattern
Part-time and job-sharing working patterns within working hours will be considered but must meet business needs. We will do our best to let people with existing part time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line with current business needs. Please note that successful part time and job share candidates will be required to work full time for specific periods to complete all training and consolidation.
Hours of Work
The full-time working week in DWP is 37 hours. You may be required to work at any time between the hours of:
- 7:45am and 8:00pm on any day between Monday to Friday, and
- 8:45am to 5:00pm on Saturday.
Managers will agree working patterns with successful applicants within these business hours and review these as appropriate.
You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule.
Please note:
- If you are offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances*.
- If DWP makes an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.
*Note - Exceptional circumstances could be when a candidate has requested a contractual Part Time Working Pattern and this pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered, or in cases of serious ill health.
Candidates should also note that if successful in this campaign, you will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before applying for any other lateral moves within DWP.
Further information
Find out more about Working for DWP
A reserve list may be held for a period of 3 months from which further appointments can be made.
Any move to DWP from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
DWP takes development seriously. Our aim is for our colleagues in these roles to be appropriately skilled and qualified – as determined by the business. To support this aim you may be required to undertake a work based qualification, which may be in the form of an apprenticeship, which will support you in further developing your professional knowledge and skills for this role and your future career development. The qualification can be undertaken in work time, you agree to take this job on the basis that you may be required to undertake a work based qualification; a candidate’s failure to participate fully in the professional programme, once appointed, may be a breach of their employment contract.
Important
If you hold a level 3 qualification (2 A levels or equivalent) then please bring your certificates with you to the interview if you have them.
Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing.
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Reasonable Adjustments
At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.
We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dwprecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : CFCD Recruitment Team
- Email : cfcd.recruitmentinbox@dwp.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : dwprecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission. Click here to visit the Civil Service Commission.
