Director of Forensic Operations

Director of Forensic Operations

The role will attract a salary in the range of £86,000 to £107,000 depending on the strength of job related skills, knowledge and experience

Lambeth HQ

We are seeking a Director of Forensic Operations to join our senior leadership team and play a pivotal role in supporting the Met’s mission of delivering More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards for the people of London. The capital’s rich history, vibrancy and diversity present unique challenges and opportunities.

Founded on the principles of policing by consent, the Met is focused on rebuilding trust and delivering on its commitment to London. As the Director of Forensic Operations, you will have a once in a generation opportunity to lead vital forensic services.

The Role

As the Director of Forensic Operations, you will oversee a team of over 1,200 forensic professionals across multiple disciplines, including biometrics, digital forensics, front-line forensics and physical forensics. You will be responsible for ensuring that forensic services support high-profile and critical investigations such as homicide and counter-terrorism, while also driving improvements in public protection and crime reduction.

Your leadership will be instrumental in shaping the forensic strategy of the Met, delivering innovation and ensuring that forensic science remains at the heart of crime prevention. You will work closely with senior leaders, both within the Met and across national and international law enforcement agencies, to ensure that our forensic services are world-class and fit for the future.

You’ll specifically deliver on operational ‘A New Met for London’ priorities:

• increase our intervention.
• contribution and speed in support of public protection investigations.
• deliver proactive and enhanced services to reduce harm caused by target offenders.
• maintain and improve critical services to homicide and counter-terrorism investigations.
• increase our contribution to acquisitive crime investigations where this leads to positive outcomes.
• maintain the high quality and reliability of our activities and our findings.

You’ll ensure that forensics are at the heart of how we reduce and prevent crime; how we build trust amongst Londoners and supporting our officers use their powers precisely based on data and technology. Innovation and bringing outside thinking in will help make even further progress against our priorities of community crime fighting; culture change and fixing our own foundations.

Use your skills to protect Londoners, keep the capital safe and set the people of the Met up to succeed for London.

Who we are looking for

Professional Qualifications

• degree-level qualification or equivalent experience.

Knowledge

• awareness of:
• forensic services.
• Science.
• criminal justice.

Skills

• Detailed understanding of the contribution of forensic services to tackling all types of crime including the most complex demand (homicide and terrorism offences), and the various specialist skills that are required to deliver an effective service.
• Knowledge of statutory Forensic Science Regulation and ISO 17025 and ISO accreditation standards.
• Detailed understanding of the effective use of multi-disciplined resources and the wide-ranging demands on these resources, and the opportunities and challenges of enabling systems and technology required to support activities.
• A high degree of personal motivation, resilience and visibility, and experience and ability, with results obtained through effective management of direct reports and leadership of forensic staff in general.
• The ability to make judgments on the operational deployment of resources to meet varying, demanding and competing requirements, and to oversee and direct policy, priorities and negotiate Service Level Agreements in respect of operational forensic activities.

Experience

• A senior Leader with experience in the delivery of forensic services or a science or technology related industry.
• Track record of delivering effective operational performance against end-user requirements.
• Experience in managing large-scale budgets.

How to apply

If you are interested in finding out more about this role please email HR to request a candidate information pack

To apply for this post, you will need to submit the following documentation:

• your current CV
• a personal statement of no more than two pages. This must set out a summary of your evidence of experience and your suitability for and interest in the role
• a completed additional information form
• a completed diversity monitoring form. All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest of confidence and will not affect your application in any way

Completed applications must be submitted by 11:55pm, 5 November 2024.

The Met is committed to being an inclusive employer with a diverse and representative workforce at all levels. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible range of backgrounds, cultures and experiences. We particularly welcome applications from ethnic minority groups and females.

As a Disability Confident employer, the Met has committed to making disability equality part of our everyday practice. We ensure that people with disabilities and those with long term health conditions have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

If you consider yourself to have access, workplace or reasonable adjustment requirements that need to be accommodated, we ask that you include this information within your application form. All matters will be treated in strict confidence and will not affect any recruitment decisions.