The role will be based at our offices at 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5BS, in central London. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Informal hybrid working arrangements apply and there is an expectation that staff will attend the office regularly. Work pattern and office attendance will be agreed with successful candidates.
Job Summary
There is 1 position available as a Fixed Term Contract until April 2026. The Division has plans to expand from April, and a permanent position may become available, subject to business need.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates and prosecutes serious and complex financial crime, delivering justice for victims and enhancing the reputation of the UK as a safe place to do business. We also pursue criminals for recovery of unlawful financial gains. The SFO is a non-ministerial government department, which is accountable to the Attorney General and employs about 500 civil servants.
We tackle top-tier fraud, bribery and corruption – crimes that are often high-profile and cover many international jurisdictions - combining the skills of lawyers, investigators, forensic accountants, specialist counsel and other experts. These teams work collaboratively with one another and with law enforcement agencies throughout the world.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the SFO as an Executive Assistant (EA). You will be responsible for providing comprehensive EA and administrative support to the Intelligence Development Teams to enable those Teams to undertake their duties efficiently.
Successful candidates will be resourceful and have excellent planning and organisation skills. You must be a clear and confident communicator in writing, in person and over the phone. You must also be able to exercise discretion due to the sensitive nature of the issues you will have sight of on a daily basis.
Job Description
As an Executive Team Assistant you will be responsible for:
* Providing full administrative support, to the Intelligence Division's Intelligence Development Teams: Managing the central email inbox – dealing with incoming emails to ensure that tasks are prioritised and dealt with in a timely manner. Where appropriate, preparing responses or taking forward actions from emails on their behalf.
* Dealing with incoming correspondence, enquiries and requests - managing them where appropriate.
* Organising and attending meetings and taking minutes where necessary.
* Producing documents, briefing materials, reports and presentations as necessary.
* Operating flexibly to complete other duties as required to assist colleagues and Senior Managers.
* Arranging the relevant Induction of new staff within the Division.
As an Executive Team Assistant you will be responsible for:
* Providing full administrative support, to the Intelligence Division's Intelligence Development Teams: Managing the central email inbox – dealing with incoming emails to ensure that tasks are prioritised and dealt with in a timely manner. Where appropriate, preparing responses or taking forward actions from emails on their behalf.
* Dealing with incoming correspondence, enquiries and requests - managing them where appropriate.
* Organising and attending meetings and taking minutes where necessary.
* Producing documents, briefing materials, reports and presentations as necessary.
* Operating flexibly to complete other duties as required to assist colleagues and Senior Managers.
* Arranging the relevant Induction of new staff within the Division.
Person specification
See above and attached Job Pack.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Working Together
* Making Effective Decisions
* Communicating and Influencing
* Delivering at Pace
Alongside your salary of £28,506, Serious Fraud Office contributes £8,258 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Option to join the Civil Service pension scheme. For further details, click here
Generous annual leave provision of 25 days which increases to 30 days after five years' service plus an additional day in recognition of the King's Birthday and the option to buy or sell up to five days' leave per year. Different terms may apply if you are already a Civil Servant.
Discretionary performance-related bonus scheme.
Interest-free season travel ticket, bicycle loan and cycle to work scheme.
Access to the Rental Deposit Salary Advance Scheme which assists employees in meeting the costs of deposits for privately rented homes.
Opportunities for learning and development.
Flexible working arrangements and family-friendly policies.
Voucher for eye care and discounted spectacles.
Access to a range of discounts through membership of the Civil Service Sports and Social Club, CSSC Sports and Leisure.
Maternity and paternity leave provision over and above the statutory entitlements.
Access to My CPS Rewards Gateway. My CPS Rewards offers staff a range of rewards and savings including:
* Discounts with high street retailers
* Savings on grocery shopping at a range of supermarkets
* Special salary sacrifice and recognition schemes
* Reloadable gift cards and e-cards
* Instant vouchers
Any move to the Serious Fraud Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Application stage
As part of the application process you will be required to provide:
* A personal statement of no more than 500 words that explains how your skills and experience meet each of the essential and desirable experience criteria as listed in the job pack.
The following experience is a lead criteria; this experience will be assessed first and candidates who do not meet the required standard will not have the remainder of their application considered.
* Experience of effectively managing competing priorities, such as triaging time-critical shared mailboxes along side other duties
Please note, desirable experience will only be taken into account if there is a large volume of applications and there is a need for further shortlisting for interview.
It will not be possible to provide feedback to applicants who are unsuccessful at the application stage.
Interview stage
Behaviours and experience criteria as outlined in the job pack will be tested at interview.
Full details of the interview process will be made available to shortlisted candidates in the invite to interview.
Sift to take place from 2nd October 2025.
Interviews are expected to take place in person at the SFO offices on 8th October.
All dates are indicative and subject to change.
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
This is a fixed-term appointment until April 2026. The Division has plans to expand from April, and a permanent position may become available, subject to business need.
For permanent civil servants joining the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on a Fixed-term Appointment:
Please note if you accept a Fixed-term Appointment with the SFO the preferred option is for you to transfer from your home department on a loan basis to ensure you can return to your home department at the end of the Fixed-term Appointment. Exceptionally, if a transfer on a loan basis cannot be agreed by your home department, you would transfer to the SFO on the basis that you would lose your permanent Civil Service status but retain your continuity of employment. However, if you face a redundancy situation at the end of the Fixed-term Appointment you will be treated as a permanent civil servant for redundancy and redeployment purposes only. You must have two years' service to be eligible for redundancy benefits under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
Therefore You Should Be Aware That When Your Fixed-term Appointment At The SFO Comes To An End, Your Employment In The Civil Service Will End, Unless
* an extension to your Fixed-term Appointment has been agreed by the SFO.
* a conversion to permanent status has been agreed by the SFO.
* you are successfully redeployed into a suitable alternative post
* you secure another Civil Service post through a recruitment process.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Security
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
* UK nationals
* nationals of the Republic of Ireland
* nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
* individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
* Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact
* Name : People and Culture
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
For external competitions there is no appeal against the selection decision. However, individuals have a right to appeal if they feel that the principle of appointment on merit through fair and open competition and the Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment principles have not been met. Individuals who want to appeal should do this by setting out their grounds for appeal in an email for the attention of Head of People to If, after an internal appeal, you still believe that the Civil Service Commissioners' Principles have not been met, then you can contact the Commission directly: Complaints should be sent in writing to: Civil Service Commission, Room G08 ,1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ. Email