Digital Forensics Technical Manager
| Posting date: | 19 June 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £37,497 to £43,646 per year |
| Additional salary information: | National £37,497 - £38,373 Outer London £41,170 - £43,646 |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 01 July 2025 |
| Location: | Liverpool |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 411596/2 |
Summary
Then DWP may be the place for you. This is an exciting opportunity to join our Counter Fraud and Compliance Directorate (CFCD) on a team committed to tackling fraud encountered through our Economic, Serious, and Organised Crime team.
We are seeking a Digital Forensics Technical Manager to contribute to the technical development, maintenance, and improvement of the Quality Management System (QMS) for Digital Forensics (DF). You will support the DF Quality Manager and DF Operations Manager achieve and maintain accreditation to ISO 17025 and compliance with the Forensic Science Regulator (FSR) Statutory Code of Practice. A key component will be supporting annual visits by UKAS and playing an active role in UKAS assessments. You will also support implementation & compliance with other relevant legislation and regulations. You will be expected to support the delivery of training on quality principles, hold briefings on quality, and disseminate technical information and best practice.
You will be at the forefront of tackling serious and organised crimes against DWP which often has links into wider criminality of modern slavery, human trafficking, and identity fraud. You will work with senior leaders across multi law enforcement agencies on high profile and serious fraud operations involving many suspects in multi-million-pound criminality.
CFCD is a great place to work where the leadership team are passionate about attracting the best talent whilst nurturing and valuing new and existing colleagues to be the best they can be. We are looking for people who can demonstrate our values and commitment to leadership which are based around collaboration, resilience, and inclusivity.
We look for emotionally aware leaders who enable teams to be innovative, adaptable, and flexible. We want you to be comfortable challenging the norm and finding daring and dynamic solutions that support our values and enable colleagues to shine in whatever role they do.
The role of the Technical Manager is integral to the development, maintenance, and quality assurance of Digital Forensic services provided by DWP. The DWP Digital Forensics unit conducts forensic activities within laboratory environments, and scenes of crime, including overseeing practices for the forensic examination of a range of digital devices, ensuring that standards are always upheld, and that policies and procedures are correctly followed in accordance with relevant regulations.
This role will support the appropriate use of Quality Management Systems currently in place, alongside the development Quality Management structures and activities, to ensure the Digital Forensics unit can attain, and retain, its accreditation to ISO 17025, and that systems in place meet regulatory, legislative, and criminal justice requirements (e.g. Forensic Science Regulator, Health and Safety, EU, Home Office).
You will support the Quality Manager to ensure compliance and continuous improvement in Digital Forensic activities, and act as the technical subject matter expert for Digital Forensic practitioners. This will involve planning and conducting validation testing (including the escalation of non-conformities) and involvement in vertical and horizontal audits. You will be responsible for setting and verifying corrective actions and conducting effectiveness reviews of action taken.
Responsibilities
As a Technical Manager, you will be responsible for:
- Helping to deliver a technically assured Digital Forensic service across DWP.
- Being the point of contact for Digital Forensic technical advice and guidance to key stakeholders (both internal and external) in addition to providing professional and technical advice on all aspects of Digital Forensic quality, including whether operatives are operating safely within relevant legislation, the FSR Code of Practice and/or ISO 17025.
- Providing technical oversight to the Quality Manager and wider Digital Forensics unit to prepare for and facilitate UKAS Assessment visits, obtaining, expanding, and maintaining the scope of accreditation, as required.
- Coordination of resources and activities to ensure mandatory requirements of accreditation and other legislative strands and extensions to scope are delivered.
- Overseeing the investigation of quality related reports and incidents, ensuring robust investigation, extent and root cause analysis is carried out, identifying appropriate corrective and preventive actions.
- Evaluating the risk of non-conformances within Digital Forensic capabilities and making recommendations of suspending or resuming technical operations as appropriate.
- Maintaining a comprehensive understanding and written record of internal policies and technical procedures of the Digital Forensics unit.
- Supporting development of the Digital Forensic learning journey, ensuring baseline competency is established and ongoing competency is maintained and appropriately documented. Identifying to the Quality Manager any knowledge gaps or training needs.
- Participating in horizon scanning to maintain awareness of changes in legislation and market developments, to advise on changes to policy, guidance, procedures, and protocols that have a direct impact upon Digital Forensics and help foster a culture of continuous improvement.
- Assessing complex techniques and outcomes, and making recommendations from your analysis, as you encounter new or novel practices.
- Reviewing quality management and technical 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.
- Supporting the Quality Manager in ensuring all elements of quality management are adhered to by staff participating in Digital Forensic activities.
- Effectively prioritising your workload within moving deadlines to meet key deliverable objectives.
- Developing and maintaining SOPs and/or work instructions, technical procedures and other relevant documentation associated with the delivery of Digital Forensic excellence.
- Developing and maintaining detailed validation and calibration testing processes and testing schedules critical to the hardware and software used to deliver Digital Forensic activities.
- Creating, retaining and updating a variety of seeded reference devices relevant to the validation testing activities of the unit and reflective of operational activity and end-user requirements.
- Designing and conducting competency testing and quality checking processes, which will require development of a variety of techniques, for example the creation of blind trials or simulations, peer reviews and dip sampling, to ensure the unit has robust quality assurance processes.
- Coordinating the participation of Inter-Laboratory Comparisons (ILC) and/or Proficiency Testing (PT), preparing the material as required. Reviewing, reporting, and investigating findings as required.
- Investigating anomalies and discrepancies arising from forensic tools and methods. Liaising with vendors/ software providers where necessary to identify root cause and potential implications for evidential findings. Completing risk analyses related to this area.
- Supporting the Quality Manager with the internal audit programme, comprising of auditing, and reporting of both the quality management system and technical/forensic processes, to ensure compliance with ISO 17025, and Forensic Science Regulator (FSR) Codes of Practice.
- Engaging with colleagues across the Operations Leadership teams, Digital Forensics unit and both internal and external stakeholders and partners, to ensure understanding, co-operation, and compliance with the Quality Management framework and understand best practice.
- Providing written and verbal reports to meet the needs of a range of stakeholders.
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