Submissions and Biometrics Officer

About the role

The West Midlands Police Forensic Services Department is committed to delivering a consistent and high quality service from a purpose built facility just outside the city centre. Ridgepoint House contains all forensic disciplines from traditional to digital and strong relationships between teams exist. The Forensic Investigation Research Submissions Team (FIRST) are looking for a committed, motivated and enthusiastic individual to fill the role of Submissions and Biometrics Officer.

• The purpose of the role is to contribute to Force and Departmental objectives and Quality Standards.
• The successful applicant will be responsible for providing a customer focused service within the Forensic Investigation Resource Submissions Team (FIRST), evaluating forensic work requests, providing advice to police officers on forensic submissions, coordinating the movement of exhibits within force and to external forensic service providers, supporting exhibit logistic services and associated continuity and ensuring compliance to legislative regulations that govern adherence to biometric practices within the forensic field on behalf of West Midlands Police, Warwickshire Police and their wider stakeholders.
• The successful candidate must demonstrate a methodical and accurate approach to work and be able to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure the continuity and integrity of exhibits and compliance with ISO
  17025 and the Forensic Science Regulator Codes of Practice.
• The position requires the individual to be able to work in a busy environment on a variety of tasks and have excellent interpersonal and organisational skills. The applicant must also be able to work well as part of a team and on their own in order to build effective relationships with a range of stakeholders and must be able to demonstrate effective communication skills, both written and verbally.

• Proven experience or knowledge of forensic science and its use to support police investigations, evidence awareness of the various types of forensic evidence and demonstrate a basic understanding of forensic procedures.
• Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills with people at all levels within an organisation and experience of working with a variety of customers demonstrating the ability to handle issues in an objective and if required assertive manner.
• Experience of working to multiple deadlines and delivering results through effective planning and organising; the ability to prioritise own time and workload and work methodically and accurately even under pressure, and with minimal supervision.
• Ability to deal with sensitive, distressing and confidential material in a professional and objective manner; having previous experience of working with confidential and/or sensitive information and an awareness of GDPR and its implications.

• Strong understanding of biometric technologies, including fingerprint identification, DNA profiling and other relevant modalities.
• Proven experience of working competently with IT systems or force systems (i.e. PNC, CONNECT, SOCRATES)
• Knowledge of ISO 17025, ISO 17020 and Forensic Science Regulator Statutory Codes and their application within a Forensic environment.

Location for this role will be Birmingham, Ridgepoint House.

If candidates require any other information - Thomas Bradbury - thomas.bra and Mick Killeen - mick.ki

Successful applicants will be required to pass Recruitment Vetting and Counter Terrorism Clearance scrutiny prior to commencing their role, this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process.

Appointment to this role may be dependent upon successfully completing medical checks, which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test.

• By choosing to join West Midlands Police you will receive an enhanced benefits package including:
• Fair remuneration with progression opportunities and access to a very competitive pension scheme.
• Enhanced annual leave in addition to public holiday entitlements.
• Discounts across travel, parking, daily costs of living and leisure activities.
• A comprehensive wellbeing package including 24/7 support, free eye tests and flu jabs.

West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of our commitment we operate a 'Disability Confident Interview Scheme' - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered…