City of London Police – Chief Inspector Promotion Opportunity and Substantive Lateral Transfer
Lead with integrity. Deliver with impact. Shape the future of policing in the Square Mile.
The City of London Police invite applications for the role of Chief Inspector for internal candidates on promotion and external candidates on lateral transfer, offering a unique opportunity to lead within one of the most dynamic and high-profile policing environments in the UK. Serving the UK’s financial centre, our officers operate at the forefront of economic crime investigation, public protection, and operational policing excellence.
This promotion process is open to both uniform and detective officers, reflecting the diverse leadership required to meet the demands set out in the City of London Police Policing Plan and aligned with the College of Policing’s Competency and Values Framework (CVF).
The Opportunity
As a Chief Inspector, you will play a pivotal leadership role in delivering operational performance, driving organisational change, and ensuring the highest standards of professionalism. You will lead with confidence in complex environments, balancing operational demands with strategic priorities across local, national, and international contexts.
Whether in a Uniform leadership role or as a Detective leader tackling serious and complex crime, you will be instrumental in delivering outcomes that reinforce public confidence and protect the
City.
Please note, this role is only open to external lateral transfer candidates who are already substantive in the rank of Chief Inspector.
Role Pathways
Uniform Chief Inspector
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Lead large operational teams across response, neighbourhood policing, public order and specialist policing functions.
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Deliver high-visibility policing, maintaining safety and reassurance in a globally significant location.
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Drive performance aligned to the Policing Plan priorities, including community confidence, vulnerability, and counter-terrorism readiness.
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Provide visible and inspirational leadership, developing people, promoting wellbeing and creating high-performing teams.
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Build and maintain effective partnerships with local communities, businesses, statutory agencies and key stakeholders to address emerging threats and community concerns.
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Lead organisational change and continuous improvement initiatives, ensuring services remain effective, efficient and responsive to public need.
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Command critical incidents and major events with professionalism, sound judgement and composure, providing clear direction in complex and fast-moving environments.
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Ensure the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and operational delivery, maintaining public confidence in policing.
Detective Chief Inspector
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Lead complex investigations, particularly in fraud, cybercrime, and serious organised crime.
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Oversee national lead-force responsibilities in economic crime.
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Drive investigative excellence, safeguarding victims and ensuring robust case outcomes.
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Build strong partnerships with national and international agencies.
Competency and Values Framework (CVF)
This promotion process is underpinned by the College of Policing’s CVF, and candidates will be assessed against Level 2 of the following core competencies and values:
Values
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Courage
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Public Service
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Respect and Empathy
Competencies (Senior Leadership Level)
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We are Emotionally Aware
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We Take Ownership
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We Collaborate
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We Support and Inspire
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We Analyse Critically
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We are Innovative and Open-minded
Candidates should demonstrate strong evidence of these behaviours in leadership contexts, particularly in delivering outcomes aligned with organisational
priorities.
Alignment to the City of London Police Policing Plan
Successful candidates will clearly demonstrate how they have contributed to, and can further deliver against, key priorities, including:
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Keep people in the City safe and feeling safe
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Put victims at the heart of everything we do
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Improve the national policing response to fraud, economic and cyber crime
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Be one of the most inclusive and trusted police services in the country
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Be an employer of choice
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Improve our productivity
What We’re Looking For
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Proven leadership experience at Inspector level or Chief Inspector for those on lateral transfer.
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A clear track record of delivering performance and driving improvement.
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Strong decision-making skills in complex and high-pressure environments.
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Ability to lead diverse teams and foster an inclusive culture.
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Commitment to continuous professional development and organisational learning.
Why Join Us?
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Policing at the heart of the UK’s financial centre.
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Unique exposure to national and international policing challenges.
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An inclusive culture that values innovation, professionalism, and leadership development.
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Opportunities to shape the future direction of policing in a globally significant environment.
Selection Process
The promotion process has been designed to assess candidates fairly, transparently, and in line with the CVF and organisational priorities. All applications will be assessed on merit through a fair and transparent process. We are committed to ensuring our selection processes are free from bias and accessible to all candidates.
Stage 1: Application Form
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Candidates will complete a detailed application form demonstrating evidence of their experience and competence against the Competency and Values Framework. The candidates most recent Professional Development Review must be attached with their application.
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If you are an internal candidate, you will also be required to submit an endorsement form with verified proof of evidence from your line manager, alongside support from your directorate head.
Submissions should clearly show:
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Leadership impact at Chief Inspector level
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Delivery of operational and strategic outcomes
Stage 2: Professional Conversation
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Assessment and delivery of a briefing to the panel to assess the candidates’ ability to deal with operational issues at Chief Inspector level.
Stage 3: CVF-Based Interview
Candidates will attend a formal interview assessing performance. Questions will explore:
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Evidence of past behaviour demonstrating CVF competencies
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Decision-making in complex and high-risk environments
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Leadership style, inclusion, and ethical practice
Interview Panel
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Chair: Chief Superintendent Sanjay Andersen
Head of Professionalism and Trust
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Panel Member: Detective Superintendent Jim Halkett
Head of the Domestic Corruption Unit
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Panel Member: Ruth Johnson
Head of HR Strategic Workforce Planning and Recruitment
Key Dates
Panel lead webinars: Wednesday 8th July, 17:30 – 18:30 / Thursday 16th July, 12:30 - 1:30pm
If you would like to attend one of these webinars, please contact HRServices@cityoflondon.police.uk.
Closing date: Sunday 26th July, 5pm
Shortlisting results: week commencing 14th September
Pertemps Professional Conversation input [shortlisted candidates only]: week commencing 14th September via teams.
Interviews: Monday 21st September – Friday 9th October
For internal CoLP candidates a cadre of substantive Chief Inspectors, Supt, Chief Supts and Police Staff Equivalent grades has been created to support applicants. Please contact DC Jack Lemon (Staff Officer to DCS Bradford and DCS Wolf) to register your request for support.
We strive to ensure all our information and services are accessible to and useable by everyone. If you would like to receive any information in a different way or would like us to do anything differently to help you apply for our roles, please get in touch with HRservices@cityoflondon.police.uk
A diverse workforce improves the service we provide to our public by making us more approachable and relevant within our communities. This is why it’s vitally important that we recruit people from a wide range of communities and backgrounds with an understanding of cultural issues and a wide range of skills. We are committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented at senior ranks, including women and colleagues from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
The way we work is changing. With a few exceptions most roles will be able to accommodate part time, job share and flexible working patterns. We can also offer hybrid working patterns of home and office-based shift patterns. Feel free to speak to us about any flexible working requirements.
Benefits:
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We offer a number of benefits including a generous pension scheme, a free Oyster card for London (TFL) travel and subsidised national rail travel, which allows you to travel within a 70 mile radius.
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The ATOC Rail Travel Concession allows regular serving police officers to travel on National Rail services within a 70 mile radius of London for a small monthly cost. This is a taxable benefit that the City of London Police negotiates and Officers make a contribution to the cost of the scheme. If you wish to confirm if your journey would be covered under this scheme, please contact HR Services directly as the 70 miles is an approximation.
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The Force has a number of active Staff Support Networks which provide peer support, insight and advocacy. Applicants are warmly encouraged to connect with these networks to learn more about the organisation and seek support through the process.
