Digital Forensics Analyst

Senior eDiscovery Practitioner - Nottingham - HMRC

£45,544 - £49,523 plus flexibility payment

HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for the department's civil and criminal investigations.

Covert Operations, Digital Exploitation (CODE) sits within FIS. Working across Law Enforcement and government, CODE provides investigative tools and covert techniques to front-line investigations and works with key partners to develop and provide access to new technology and systems to enable investigators to respond to serious and complex tax evasion and crime.

HMRC's Cybercrime & Forensic Services (C&FS) has a vital role to play in supporting His Majesty's Government's fight against serious and organised crime, supporting investigations totalling hundreds of millions of pounds each year. Our forensic services practitioners are a key part of the UK Law Enforcement community, working on a variety of cases, from corporate criminality to tobacco smuggling.

Cybercrime & Forensic Services (C&FS) provides critical support to FIS investigations nationally through the provision of important forensic services, supporting the preservation and analysis of digital evidence.

Job description

C&FS are building a high-performing eDiscovery function to be led by our new G7 role of 'Digital Evidence Review Lead'. This will see eDiscovery become the default review solution for HMRC FIS case teams and all supported by a new eDiscovery team.

The service will sit within our existing Forensic Services team as part of CODE and under Fraud Investigation Services (FIS).

The role will therefore include working with the current Forensic Services practitioners to deliver a quality service. As an eDiscovery practitioner you will engage with our forensic practitioners to understand how the data has been forensically captured and processed. Unifying under one strategy, you will then continue the journey of the data on into an eDiscovery platform where you will effectively project manage reviews with case teams and their available resources. It will be your responsibility to ensure the data is in a readily viewable format, fulfils the criteria of review strategies and satisfies the remit of representing relevant data to each case.

Further processing within the eDiscovery platform will be one of your tasks and include (but not limited to) such processes as email threading, batching data and preparing the material for assisted review technologies and workflows.

You will work closely with the FIS investigators and disclosure officers to identify all their digital review needs and in turn feedback to forensic practitioners where additional work is required on the source data/device. Acting as the bridge between case teams and forensic practitioners you will ensure efficient use of all stakeholder's time.

Liaison with legal bodies such as CPS and the HMRC Solicitors office, advising them on the approach to review will also form a vital part of your engagement.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with FIS case teams and Forensic practitioners alike within a forensic/eDiscovery strategy and operational framework.
• Take responsibility for project managing digital reviews for your remit of cases. Ensure resources are in place and that deadlines are being met.
• Engage with Legal, IT, Security, and Investigation units to support criminal and civil investigations, communicating progress and understanding a wide range of stakeholder needs.
• Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements for data preservation, processing, review, and production.
• Work to a G7 Digital Evidence Review lead to help build internal policies, workflows, and documentation to standardize eDiscovery practices.
• Act as an eDiscovery subject matter expert and senior point of contact for designated FIS cases reporting to the G7 Digital Evidence Review lead.

Essential Criteria

• Experience of an enterprise-level eDiscovery function.
• Deep knowledge of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), litigation support, and information governance OR previous experience of delivering complex digital reviews through legal proceedings as an investigator.
• Base understanding of digital forensics, legal and regulatory frameworks, and data privacy laws (e.g., CPIA and GDPR).
• Experience of using eDiscovery tools (e.g., Relativity, Nuix, FTK, etc.).
• Strong team working, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong experience of working with large and complex data sets examining them for evidence and bringing data into a criminal court arena.

Training

Depending on existing experience, you will be expected to undertake eDiscovery based and criminal justice skills training ranging from in-house training to external courses.