Digital Forensic Specialist (Headquarters, Chelmsford)

Location of Role: Chelmsford

Advert Closing Date: 29/05/2025

Starting Salary: £40,890.00 (pro-rata for part-time vacancies)

Part/Full Time: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Mon-Fri

Weekend/Evening Working: Yes

Kent Police and Essex Police Forensic Services have recently transformed their Digital Forensic service to adapt and take advantage of the latest technology and infrastructure available. An exciting opportunity has arisen for an individual to undertake the role of Digital Forensic Specialist within the Essex Digital Forensic Operations Team, based at Essex Police Headquarters, Chelmsford.

The new Digital Forensic Services’ structure has been designed to provide the best possible career progression and CPD framework to ensure you will have the tools and necessary experience to carry out first class digital forensic investigations.

Digital devices and information communication technology are present in almost every investigation the Police Service undertakes. These range from complex computer platforms to mobile phone handsets, games consoles, digital CCTV systems and satellite navigation. As digital devices continue to evolve it will be critical that you are able to adapt and learn new emerging technologies to meet the requirements of the role.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic individual who can demonstrate advanced technical ability, including knowledge of computer and/or mobile phone hardware, software and operating systems. You will have been educated to degree level in a relevant subject or have at least 3 years’ recent experience within a Digital Forensic service provider (law enforcement or private sector), to include experience of the leading digital forensic tools currently employed nationally. You will also have experience of writing technical statements/reports and may have given evidence at court.

The role involves the collection, extraction, interpretation, and presentation of digital evidence in support of criminal investigations. This encompasses many technical and non-technical disciplines such as forensic data recovery, analysis of digital evidence and composition of technical reports. You will also be required to provide early advice to assist in the formation of digital strategies ensuring the Digital Forensic processes taken are justified, proportionate and necessary.

Specifically, the Operations Team provides on-scene services including the triage of digital devices, capture of live and volatile data, vehicle infotainment system extractions and cloud account downloads alongside laboratory based forensic analysis of seized exhibits.

You will have an understanding of the quality standard ISO 17025 and how this affects the role. You will be required to develop and maintain your competence under these requirements ensuring best practice is shared amongst colleagues. It is expected that you will update your technical knowledge of specialised Digital Forensic procedures and advancements within the digital forensic field.

To balance these technical attributes, you will need to be a highly motivated team player with good interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing. You will have the ability to manage a high caseload and be able to utilise coaching methods to provide an environment that is both supportive and constructive to other members of the team.

In this role you will be dealing with highly sensitive and distressing information which requires you to have a high degree of emotional resilience. You will also be required to work to tight deadlines and be able to multi-task, dealing with competing demand and court requests.

Within your reason for application please evidence the following skills and knowledge:

Advanced technical ability, including knowledge of computer and/or mobile phone hardware, software and operating systems.
Experience of writing technical statements, which could be used at court.
An understanding of ISO 17025.
Education to degree level in a relevant subject or equivalent and/or at least 3 years’ experience within a digital forensic environment.

The core working hours are Monday – Friday 0800–1600hrs with 1 in 6 weekends and Bank Holidays on-call.

This recruitment process consists of 2 stages which involves a technical knowledge check and competency-based interview with presentation.

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Henry Mann (Digital Forensic Coordinator) for further information regarding the role on 01622 654754 or 07814 225704, or Andrew Richards (Digital Forensics Delivery Manager) on 07971 901921.

Essex Police offer incremental increases within this salary band, therefore the salary for this position will rise to a maximum of £43,920.00.

For the full Essex job description please click here.

For the full Kent job description please click here.

Kent Police and Essex Police have separate salary grading systems therefore the salary for this position will be dependent on which home office force you are appointed to. This will be discussed with the successful applicant before a final offer is made.

Your application for this role will be shortlisted on the content you provide within the “reason for application” question, within the application form itself. CV’s, covering letters or attachments are not included in the shortlist. Within your “reason for application” answer, please refer to any experience, skills, and abilities you feel you have that will make you suitable for this role, based on the role criteria stated in the job advert or job description. Please provide as much detail as possible as insufficient content may mean you do not meet the shortlisting criteria, however please note this question is limited to 9000 characters and this system will count spaces and blank lines as characters. This count may differ from the Microsoft Word word count function therefore you may wish to use a different online character counter to check the characters used.

All of our posts require a level of vetting and security clearance. During the recruitment process you will be sent vetting information forms to complete.

Kent Police and Essex Police welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex, or employment status.

Please let us know if you require extra support at any stage of the application process, or for further information regarding this position, please email us at recruitment.business.services@ecis.police.uk stating ‘Application Support and Adjustments’ in the title of your email. Alternatively, you can call us on 01245 452833. Where appropriate we will make adjustments to the selection process, working arrangements and/or the working environment provided it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.

If you’re not from the UK, you must be a resident in the UK and have lived here continuously for the last three years. You must also be free from restrictions with indefinite leave to remain. If you’re from the UK you must have lived here continuously for the last three years. This doesn’t apply to those serving abroad in the British Armed Forces.

Essex Police and Kent Police are an equal opportunities employer. Communications may be recorded for monitoring purposes.

Essex Police is a Disability Confident Leader, we:

have subjected our Disability Confident self-assessment to external challenge and validation
are taking an active leadership role in encouraging and helping other employers on their journey to becoming Disability Confident.

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are central to the values of our organisation. At Essex Police we value and embrace the unique experiences, identities and abilities that each of us bring to our roles. We strive to empower everyone to bring their authentic self openly and safely to work.

Through the dedicated commitment of our support networks, DE&I team and wider HR departments, we are on a journey to embed our DE&I commitments, ensuring Essex Police is an employer of choice; where everyone feels included.