Overview

We are seeking an Intelligence Research Officer to join the National Environmental Crime Unit (NECU) in a dynamic part of the business. The Environment Agency’s ambition is to be an intelligence-led organisation, so managing intelligence professionally and in line with current guidance is essential to ensuring threat, risk and harm are appropriately assessed and managed. Environmental crime is a strategic priority, attracting high profile attention from the public, media, national and international stakeholders. This role provides an exciting opportunity to support investigations and help prioritise and drive forward interventions to remove unlawful operators from the waste regimes. You will help deliver our response by pro-actively developing and accessing intelligence from a range of sources to inform decision making and provide actionable intelligence products for our customers.

We are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for our vacancies, including job share, so please clearly include any information regarding your preferred working arrangements on your application.

Responding to incidents is a central part of what we do. You will be required to have an incident role and make yourself available to respond to incidents or provide business continuity support during an incident. This may attract an additional payment and full training and alternative working arrangements will be available to support you with your incident role.

Any future recruitment will be taken from the reserve list.

Team and role context

NECU supports the Environment Agency’s enforcement community, spread across 14 geographical areas and national services – tackling around 40,000 suspected and alleged offences each year. We help to protect and improve the environment by regulating industry, ensuring compliance, and eliminating illegal activities including Organised Crime Groups. You will be part of our Intelligence & Partnerships department, working with intelligence professionals to provide intelligence products and assessments to support colleagues.

Responsibilities

You will help deliver our response by pro-actively developing and accessing intelligence from a range of sources to inform decision making and provide actionable intelligence products for our customers. You will collect and evaluate data and information from a wide variety of sources and, where appropriate, prepare and deliver research summaries. You should be able to interrogate IT systems and databases and have an enthusiasm and curiosity for finding information.

Qualifications and Skills

• Good communication skills with the ability to listen to others and transmit information effectively
• Ability to represent the Environment Agency professionally with a variety of partners
• Ability to use own initiative and identify when a change in approach is needed
• Skills in using standard IT packages with the ability to retrieve information effectively and accurately
• Good team working skills and a supportive approach that is inclusive to everyone you work with
• Ability to flex between tasks and juggle various administrative activities to support colleagues and customers
• Experience of interrogating IT systems and databases and producing intelligence products or research summaries

Competencies

1. Achieves Results

   Description
   Tell us about a time when you undertook work requiring you to alternate between several activities in a short space of time. How did you ensure you were able to deliver everything that was asked of you?

2. Data and Information Management

   Description
   Tell us about an occasion when you had to gather detailed information from a variety of sources in order to inform a decision. How did you go about it?

3. Builds and Sustains Relationships

   Description
   Tell us about a time when you had to establish a rapport with an important customer or partner. What did you do to develop your relationship with them?

Working arrangements and eligibility

Location is flexible with a mix of home and office working; travel to Birmingham and Sheffield offices will be required on occasions. Interviews are expected to be conducted via Microsoft Teams in September 2025. The Environment Agency welcomes applications from groups that are under-represented across our workforce and has flexible working arrangements, including job share. Note: security vetting checks (SC and NPPV3) will be required.

Contact

For informal discussion please contact the vacancy managers at pete.booth@environment-agency.gov.uk or sam.morrison@environment-agency.gov.uk