Department Overview

The Secretary’s Department sits at the heart of the Bank of England, and carries out three main purposes:

• First, we contribute to effective decision-making and the smooth running of the Bank. We do this by providing the Bank’s central secretariat to the Bank’s Court of Directors, the Executive and subsidiaries; co-ordinating senior appointments; promoting good corporate governance throughout the organisation; and providing advice to Governors on national security issues.
• Second, we help protect the integrity and impartiality of the Bank and its officials. We do this by maintaining and promoting Our Code and advising all levels of the organisation advising all levels of the organisation on conflicts of interest; maintaining the Bank’s public register of interests for its senior officials; handling internal whistleblowing matters; and carrying out internal investigations into any suspected misconduct involving Bank staff and contractors.
• Third, we manage archives, records and knowledge services for the benefit of all Bank colleagues. We do this by preserving and making available the Bank’s historic records to colleagues and external researchers; being responsible for the Bank’s records to meet internal business needs; and maintaining a business library of a range of physical and online publications relevant to the mission and activities of the Bank.

The Department is led by the Secretary of the Bank, Sebastian Walsh, who is supported by the Deputy Secretary, Michael Salib.

Job Description

The Bank’s ability to achieve its mission relies on public trust, and the Bank is committed to promoting the highest standards of integrity and ethical behaviour within the organisation.

The Secretary’s Department supports by helping to protect the integrity and impartiality of the Bank and its officials, and the Investigations and Monitoring Team (IMT) is responsible for conducting internal investigations into suspected misconduct involving members of Bank staff. IMT’s day-to-day responsibilities mainly concern three main areas of work.

• Internal investigations. IMT, with the authorisation of the Head of IMT, undertake independent investigations into suspected misconduct involving members of Bank staff, which generally concern suspected breaches of Our Code, Bank policies and/or the Bank’s Staff Handbook. Investigations can be undertaken in relation to any business area within the Bank or member of Bank staff. Examples of misconduct that might be investigated by IMT include: failure to adhere to disclosure requirements; privileged user access abuse; inappropriate access and mishandling of Bank data; misuse or misappropriation of Bank property and resources.
• Priority and enhanced monitoring. In line with the Bank’s Monitoring notice IMT may undertake monitoring of digital activity linked to a member of staff. This could be following a request from a business area as part of the leavers’ process when an individual may be placed on restricted duties during a notice period, or during the course of an investigation in order to mitigate specific risks. Periods of priority and enhanced monitoring are time bound and regularly reviewed to assess for proportionality, necessity, and privacy impact.
• Data loss incident management. IMT manage the Bank’s Data loss incident response function on behalf of the risk custodian for information security, the Chief Information Security Officer. All incidents are assessed with specialists from Privacy and Legal. IMT likewise work with the Cyber Security Division to monitor for unreported data losses, which can often be linked to an investigation being undertaken by the team.

We are advertising for a new Head of the Investigations and Monitoring Team, who will be responsible for:

• Providing strategic leadership on internal investigations across the entire investigations life cycle, including methodology and tactics, and responsibility for upward reporting to seniors on findings.
• Deploying case management tools, investigative analytical tools and open sources to support and supervise complex and protracted investigations.
• Advising the Bank’s seniors during critical Bank-wide incidents where appropriate where matters relate to the work of IMT.
• Managing a multi-disciplinary team at a range of scales.
• Setting standards and policies for internal investigations, and also reviewing them to ensure they are in step with best practice, and implementing any audit findings relating to the work of IMT.
• Liaising and building strong relationships with key stakeholders within Secretary’s Department (including the Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Conflicts teams) and across wider Bank (including the Bank the Bank’s Head of Security, Chief Information Security Officer, and the Bank’s People, Legal and Risk & Compliance Directorates).
• Representing IMT and Secretary’s Department at senior governance fora within the Bank in relation to matters within IMT’s remit.
• Preparing and presenting papers to senior committees within the Bank (including the Executive Risk Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee) where these relate to IMT matters, including regular reports and critical risk metrics.
• Act as point of contact for outside agencies investigating Bank staff or on behalf of the Bank.
• A key and active member of the Secretary’s Department Management Team.

This role includes people management via line management within IMT. You will be responsible for defining roles and responsibilities. You will develop your team through sharing information effectively, coaching and communicating a clear vision to ensure that your staff are productive, engaged and motivated to deliver the area’s aims. This will include setting clear goals and smart stretching objectives that are aligned to those of the team and directorate. You will also be responsible for managing all staff-related matters that may arise including performance, absence and sickness.

Number of direct reports: Two

Minimum Criteria

• Extensive experience in internal investigations and management experience (ideally within Government, central bank or finance industry environment).
• Ability to supervise and act as subject-matter expert on complex, sensitive and protracted investigations.
• A broad knowledge of the Bank of England and its operation.
• Strong managerial skills and the ability to lead a multi-disciplinary team or work streams.

Essential Criteria

• Confident managing often sensitive, and high-risk incidents with discretion and diplomacy to ensure the needs of the individual are balanced appropriately against the wider needs of the organisation.
• Excellent communications skills, both orally and in writing; ability to articulate case outcomes to senior audiences including translating often technical and complex investigative outcomes to a non-technical audience.
• Ability to juggle a number of tasks.
• Self-starter with strong organisational skills.
• Sound judgement, grounded in common sense, and high levels of ethical behaviour, sensitivity and discretion.
• Strong self-awareness, with a willingness to accept and learn from feedback and proactively identify areas for personal development.

Desirable Criteria

• Relevant accreditation in the field of investigations, Insider Risk and/or Incident Management.
• Proven ability to work across boundaries effectively and engage collaboratively with staff at all levels, across the breadth of the Bank.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

Salary and Benefits Information

We offer a salary as follows:

Leeds circa £76,240 - £85,770

London circa £84,720 - £95,310

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/80th of your annual salary for every year worked.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• An 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.