Role:
Salary: £33,222 - £36,369
A rare opportunity has arisen to undertake the position of Technical Surveillance Unit (TSU) Supervisor for a team of specialist staff operating within the North East Regional Special Operations Unit (NERSOU). You will join Northumbria Police and lead the TSU based in the Newcastle area, covering operational activity within the force, region and wider UK as required.
Applications are invited from candidates who can demonstrate enthusiasm, resilience and leadership qualities to lead and manage a team of specialists to provide support and technical assistance with covert and overt surveillance operations working with the Region’s police forces and other regional and national Law Enforcement in the pursuit and prevention of Serious and Organised
Crime.
You will be expected to Deliver Expert level Technical and Operational guidance, knowledge and key overall decision making to support Operational Policing across the region. Provide tactical management and knowhow on service deliverables and manage Regional technical capability.
Previous experience working within a Proactive/Covert policing or intelligence environment or Armed Forces Junior Commander/Team Leader. Electronic Counter Measures/Electronic Warfare/Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance or Special Reconnaissance Regiment is desirable, but not essential, if comparable relevant technical and managerial experience can be demonstrated. Applicants must be able to demonstrate the highest levels of integrity and ethical decision making.
Key responsibilities include:
We are looking for a proven leader and manager, responsible for the leadership and development of a specialist team. You will be responsible for supervising, performance managing and motivating team members on a daily basis. You will be responsible for writing appraisals and first level capability/disciplinary issues. As a team leader, you will be the point of contact for internal and external operational leads and provide guidance to all team members, so your communication and time management skills should be excellent. You should also be able to act proactively to ensure smooth team operations and effective collaboration. You will lead by setting a good example and engaging the team to achieve goals.
Manage the operational deployment of staff and the tactics they use to ensure competing demands are appropriately prioritised and staff effectively deployed whilst managing customer expectations in order to provide a flexible, efficient and effective technical surveillance service in accordance with the current relevant legislative, regulatory and procedural guidance.
Provide tactical advice and policy guidance to Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs), operational leads, partners and internal managers based on national and regional policy, procedure and legislation. Oversee the maintenance, development and implementation of up to date and detailed records and policy of covert techniques deployed by the unit, in line with legislation and national and local requirements.
Lead, Develop and Design key technical surveillance infrastructure including Datacentre capability / blueprints, Specialist Operations Room and Regional Operational setup. Act as Technical Lead and provide expert level technical capability, within Region. Anticipate evolutionary requirements both in technical and operational arenas and take ownership of such requirements.
Lead and Manage Secure Storage capabilities including capturing Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans. Manage and identify security risks both internal and external. Take ownership and provide Technical Lead capability in the management of the Wireless infrastructure including Radio Spectrum band planning and meeting statutory and legal obligations with Ofcom, Ministry of Defence and Home Office.
Research and lead technical and infrastructure projects, with legal and regulatory requirements, in response to emerging technical surveillance advances, capabilities and new equipment to provide technical solutions or make recommendations to resolve issues, ensuring best value within Force budgets and presenting findings in an appropriate format to inform decision making.
Lead, develop and encourage a continuous improvement, quality assurance and best practice culture within the TSU to encourage and facilitate the identification and implementation of ideas and improvements to enhance service delivery, whilst ensuring all standards are met, in order to create best practice and support the overall achievement of the regional TSU objectives.
As Technical lead and Accountable Manager ensure that required standards around Information Security are maintained and that any threats and risks are identified and actioned upon. Ensure any disclosures of data / information are appropriate, compliant with Force policy, are current and adhere to applicable legislation. Manage and safeguard data integrity and maintain encryption standards across data storage hardware.
Maintain professional license status and develop technical knowledge by undertaking continuous professional development through liaison with external agencies/partners, attending meetings, courses and completing qualifications, as required, in order to keep up to date with legislative changes and contribute to the overall achievement of the TSU and Force objectives.
Manage and approve Health & Safety Risk Assessments, ensuring accurate and relevant examination has been completed. Aspects of all work carried out and risk involved that could cause harm has to be signed off by the Technical Manager and implement appropriate risk reduction measures. Take ownership of Risk Assessments making sure they are accurately recorded and any changes are captured throughout the lifetime of the Risk Assessment.
Financial Responsibility – Manage revenue spends in respect of equipment and consumable requirements for operational needs. Identify value for money on key Capital expenditure with a focus on long term planning. Manage and maintain Supplier relationships both at Revenue and Capital expenditure levels, identifying and advising on Return on investment including technical capability and of specialist equipment.
Lead and coordinate the maintenance, development and implementation of up to date and detailed records and policies around covert techniques deployed by the unit, in accordance with legislative, regulatory and national and local requirements and to ensure that up to date management information can be produced. Ensure that any intelligence product that may be required as evidence in court is treated and handled following the correct evidential procedures/guidelines so ensuring that it is admissible in court.
Eligible candidates will already hold an HND/City and Guilds (QCF Level 5 or above) in a relevant discipline or College of Policing TSU/Tech Ops qualification.
Project Management, Health and Safety (IOSH Managing Safely or equivalent) or formal training experience are desirable.
Physically fit and no medical conditions which would prevent outside working, working at heights, in confined spaces or working under pressure.
In addition, you must hold a current and full UK/European driving licence and must have a flexible approach to working patterns and occasionally be prepared to work unsociable hours, sometimes at short notice across the United Kingdom. Any requests will be in line with police regulations.
Shift Pattern: Mon – Fri 0800 hrs – 1600 hrs (On-call and overtime as required)
Vetting level:
Management Vetting (MV) and Security Check (SC)
Applicants must be a resident of the UK for a minimum period of 5 years to ensure vetting checks can be successfully performed. A job offer will be dependent upon vetting clearance, medical information and references and the role is subject to a 6 month probationary period.
If you have any queries with regard to the application process please contact the Talent Acquisition Team by email at careers@northumbria.pnn.police.uk
Northumbria Police are currently undertaking a role and reward project in respect of all police staff posts. For further information please contact the Talent Acquisition team.
Vacancy Contact:
To discuss the position in more detail please email nersourecruitment@durham.police.uk providing your contact details.
This vacancy has been advertised to all staff including those with priority status and therefore applications will be considered in the order outlined in the Redeployment Procedure.
Northumbria Police fully supports a policy of equal opportunities and we welcome applications from suitably qualified people from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.