Senior Investigator

Supporting colleagues and customers across the M&S network by helping the Crime and Intelligence Analyst (CIA) team deliver ethical, proportionate, and outcome-focused investigations to a consistently high standard.

The Senior Investigator will work alongside analysts and the CIA Supervisor to identify viable investigations, develop investigation plans, test the evidence against the relevant offence and points to prove, and ensure every reasonable line of enquiry is considered. The postholder will provide hands-on support with complex, cross-border, repeat and organised offending, including violence, theft, burglary, robbery, handling stolen goods, fraud and public-order matters.

The role is expected to bring practical investigation experience from policing or another law enforcement environment. It will translate criminal-investigation standards into clear, proportionate direction for analysts, while maintaining accurate case records, disclosure awareness, evidential continuity, and appropriate handling of personal information. It is a senior practitioner role rather than the formal owner of analyst allocation, 7-day and 28-day supervisory reviews or final package authorisation, which remain with the CIA Supervisor under the SOP.

• Support analysts in assessing referrals from agreed routes and identifying where central investigation adds value.
• Help establish links across incidents, stores, offenders, vehicles, methods, resale activity and organised groups.
• Apply professional judgement to viability, threat, harm, risk, statutory time limits and CCTV retention risks, escalating urgent cases promptly.
• Support harm-led prioritisation using violence, velocity, volume and value, alongside the risk tier of affected stores.
• Ensure declined or locally managed matters still generate appropriate intelligence where relevant.
• Guide analysts in opening and maintaining investigation plans based on the offence, points to prove, mode of trial and statutory time limit.
• Support the completion and refresh of THRIVE+ assessments, including immediate prevention and longer-term harm reduction.
• Identify and test reasonable lines of enquiry, including CCTV, body-worn video, witnesses, Auror records, digital opportunities, ANPR where governed by policy, forensics, online resale and partner intelligence.
• Ensure enquiries are pursued whether they support or undermine the suspected case, and that decisions not to pursue an enquiry are clearly reasoned and recorded.
• Provide investigative direction on complex, multi-store, cross-force, repeat and organised offending.
• Advise analysts on securing time-sensitive evidence during the golden hour and before retention or statutory deadlines expire.
• Check that original material is preserved, exhibits are uniquely referenced and continuity records show who produced, stored and accessed the material.
• Support the preparation of CCTV and body-worn video production statements, exhibit lists and schedules of linked offences.
• Promote secure, least-privilege handling of case material and compliance with approved storage, classification, retention and sharing requirements.
• Ensure material that may be relevant is recorded and retained, including material that undermines the case or points away from a suspect.
• Support analysts in selecting the offence best supported by the evidence and building a clear, chronological case theory around its points to prove.
• Help prepare police-ready packages, including an MG5-style case summary, MG11 witness statements, MG12-style exhibit list, Impact Statement for Business, victim wishes, linked-offence schedules and relevant offender intelligence.
• Carry out practitioner checks and provide feedback before packages are presented to the CIA Supervisor for formal quality assurance.
• Help identify the correct referral route, including local-force routes and Opal for qualifying cross-border or organised acquisitive crime.
• Support effective liaison and structured chasing with police, recording contact, responses, crime references, officers in charge and outcomes.
• Identify cases that may warrant challenge, escalation, a review of a police decision, or evidence to support an order on conviction.
• Support analysts in developing and submitting accurate, factual intelligence on offenders, methods, vehicles, resale and organised activity.
• Ensure intelligence is separated from opinion and, where submitted through police channels, is appropriately graded using the 3x5x2 system.
• Promote the recording of intelligence from declined and closed cases so patterns can be identified across the business and partner network.
• Help identify intelligence gaps and opportunities for circulation to police, Opal and relevant crime-reduction partners.
• Ensure colleague details and sensitive information are handled in line with consent, safeguarding, lawful-processing and data-protection requirements.
• Support proportionate, lawful and auditable open-source enquiries by appropriately trained analysts using approved devices, accounts and tools.
• Review search rationale, parameters, capture methods and logs, ensuring evidential material displays the relevant URL, date and time and is preserved in its original form.
• Ensure analysts do not use false identities, interact with subjects, access private content, use another person's credentials or rely on leaked or hacked material.
• Escalate police-directed OSINT requests to the CIA Supervisor where police authorisation may be required.
• Provide practical coaching to analysts on investigation plans, reasonable lines of enquiry, offence selection, points to prove, statements, exhibits, disclosure and case-file construction.
• Review work constructively, identify evidential or procedural gaps and provide clear actions that improve the quality and pace of investigations.
• Support analysts with complex decision-making without replacing their ownership of allocated cases.
• Share learning from outcomes, screened-out cases, successful referrals and partner feedback at tasking and development sessions.
• Help develop templates, guidance, worked examples and training that embed consistent investigative standards across the team.
• Escalate capacity, wellbeing, safeguarding, legal, data-protection or serious quality concerns to the CIA Supervisor.
• Build effective working relationships with the CIA Supervisor, analysts, Security Operations Centre, store leadership, Store Protection Officers, Store Detectives, Police and Partnerships Lead, fraud colleagues, police forces, Opal and crime-reduction partners.
• Communicate investigative requirements clearly to operational colleagues and support timely witness, CCTV and evidence collection.
• Present complex case issues in a concise and accessible way to both investigative and non-investigative audiences.
• Represent a professional, evidence-led and victim-focused approach in all partner engagement.

• Calm, credible and confident when providing investigative direction.
• Objective and evidence-led, with the integrity to pursue material that supports or undermines a case.
• Naturally curious and persistent, while remaining proportionate and focused on the best outcome.
• Clear and decisive, but willing to test assumptions and adapt the investigation plan when new information emerges.
• Supportive and approachable, with the ability to improve analyst capability through practical coaching.
• Highly organised, resilient and comfortable managing several complex priorities.
• Committed to colleague safety, victim care, fairness, continuous learning and professional standards.