In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, the NCA require certain personal details about you on submission of your application. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application.
As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a diversity monitoring form. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select ‘prefer not to say’. All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be provided to the selection panel. The information you provide when submitting your application will help us monitor our progress towards the Civil Service becoming the most inclusive employer.
Your application will be acknowledged within 48 hours of receipt.
Should you encounter any issues with your application please get in touch with our recruitment partner at the following email address: Richard.Grayling@green-park.co.uk
The NCA is also currently advertising for a Director Strategy. Candidates may apply for both vacancies but must submit two separate applications.
Complaints
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles or you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, please raise it with James.Greengrass@green-park.co.uk
Location
The roles are expected to be based in London, Warrington, Bristol and Birmingham. Please ensure you are only selecting locations you are willing to work in as you may be offered a post in any of your location preferences.
Longlisting
The longlisting will be conducted against your submitted CV and Statement of Suitability.
If required, Longlist interviews will be conducted in xxx.
Shortlist
A shortlisting meeting will be held in the week commencing w/c 7th September 2026.
Shortlisted candidates will be offered informal one to one chats with the vacancy holder.
Assessment
A Staff Engagement Exercise which will be delivered virtually on MS Teams during w/c 14th or 21st September 2026. In addition, you will be asked to undertake some occupational psychological assessments.
Final Panel Interview
The interview will be held in London w/c 28th September 2026.
The panel will assess your previous experience and professional competence, aligned to the Civil Service behaviours cited on page 10 of the Candidate Information Pack. You will also be asked to respond to a scenario which will be shared 45 minutes prior to the time of your final panel interview.
Full details of the requirements will be given to shortlisted candidates ahead of their interview.
Selection Panel
The panel will be chaired by Sarah Pittam, Civil Service Commissioner and will include, but not limited to:
- Rob Jones, NCA Director General Operations.
Offer
Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible.
If your application is successful and we are unable to offer you a post immediately, you will be invited to join our reserve list so that we can continue to communicate with you regarding your employment with the Agency, and the incredible work that we do. If over the next 12 months we are able to offer you a position, we will contact you as soon as possible.
If you are found appointable at the higher grade but there are no positions available you may be offered an appointment at the lower grade.
If you are not found appointable at the advertised grade you may be offered the lower grade role if you are considered to meet the skills, experience and behaviours for the lower level. The benchmark for appointing to the lower grade is set at the start of each campaign. All offers will be made in merit.
Appointments will be made in adherence to the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and in strict merit order with the highest scoring candidates being appointed first.
The NCA is a law enforcement agency and as such we are part of the Criminal Justice System. Therefore, if you are going into an operational role we need to be aware if any of our officers have, either before they join us or afterwards, any of the following:
- Any criminal conviction (including by Court Martial), or caution or fixed penalty notice for disorder or theft;
- Any adverse judicial findings;
- Any charges or summonses where the proceedings are not complete;
- Any misconduct or gross misconduct findings or where proceedings are not complete.
You will be asked to complete a declaration form covering the above if offered a role with the NCA.
Each case will be considered on its merits and a positive declaration does not automatically mean that your application will not be progressed. However, should you fail to disclose a relevant matter then your application or employment will be adversely affected. If in doubt, please declare it at this stage.
Pre-Employment checks
Pre-employment checks take on average 16 weeks from the point of offer to arranging a start date. This includes vetting, occupational health assessments, employment history checks and substance misuse tests. This is an approximate time frame and is to be taken as a guideline only as this can very between candidates. This is dependent on when all requested documentation is provided.
Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, which may be likely to some change, and are asked to exercise flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.
Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
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 developed vetting.
See our vetting charter.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.
Nationality requirements
Open to UK nationals only.
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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.
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 the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Please submit your application with your personal email address to ensure you receive acknowledgement of receipt.
Please note, to ensure confidentiality, applications submitted under a work email address will not receive acknowledgement of receipt.
