Investigation Manager - Office for Students

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England. We regulate higher education on behalf of all students, ensuring that every student, regardless of their background, has a fulfilling experience that enriches their lives and careers.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our new and expanding Investigation and Enforcement team undertaking investigations of higher education providers that may be failing to comply with our conditions of registration, and devising appropriate responses, including considering enforcement action.

The Role

The role will be based in the core Investigations and Enforcement team, and will involve working across the range of investigative activity the OfS undertakes including working with the Head of Interventions and the Head of Enforcement on the following activities:

• managing specific investigations and enforcement work, including project management and planning activities;
• managing regular reporting requirements and briefing across the OfS including deputising for the Heads of Enforcement and Interventions as necessary;
• overseeing the deployment of individual team members and staff management for individual team members;
• leading on specific policy and guidance activities; and
• managing some stakeholder relationships.

Within specific investigation and enforcement projects, the role involves:

• setting the scope, seeking decisions, planning and project management;
• transforming the scope into practical ways to obtain information and test compliance;
• planning and carrying out analysis; and
• drafting high quality written investigation outputs.

The Investigations and Enforcement team is developing and expanding and there will be opportunities to work on high profile cases as well as get involved in the development of policy and guidance for higher education providers.

Person Specification

We are looking for people with detailed knowledge, experience and skills from regulatory, criminal, civil and/or public sector investigations and an ability to apply this to the higher education sector. This is a specialist role, and we are looking for someone with the following specific knowledge, skills and experience:

Essential criteria:

• Proven track record of investigating complex regulatory, competition, criminal or civil compliance matters within a specialist investigation environment, including working closely and collaboratively with legal advisors and taking major cases from inception to resolution;
• Demonstrable sound judgement in making case related decisions and in aligning operational casework with broader organisational risk, harm, and strategic priorities, as well as effectively prioritising between competing demands and deliver effectively to tight timescales;
• Experience of leading and managing multi-disciplinary teams, working effectively together to set investigative direction, manage operational risks, and deliver high quality, accurate and efficient written outputs, advice, and decisions;
• Practical knowledge of investigations processes, procedures, frameworks and relevant legislation including Human Rights Act 1998, General Data Protection Regulation 2016, UK Data Protection Act 2018;
• Strong analytical skills including an ability to analyse large quantities of both qualitative and quantitative information effectively and extract valuable information, including general trends and specific evidence from such analysis;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including generating clear reports and documents concerning investigations that are clear, well-articulated and can be tailored to be understood effectively by a wide variety of audiences;
• Strong relationship management skills to build and maintain effective working relationships within the team, across the OfS, and with external bodies.

Desirable criteria:

• Knowledge of the English Higher Education system and its regulatory regime; and
• Understanding of different types of regulation including principles-based regulation.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £68,720, Office for Students contributes £19,908 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 employer contribution of 28.97%