Practicus are proud to be supporting the The City of London Police (CoLP) as they seek a data Scientist to join an expanding Report Fraud department. CoLP are the designated National Lead Force for fraud and the National Police Chiefs Council Portfolio Lead for economic and cyber-crime and is responsible for Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. The City of London Police’s mission is to protect the public by preventing and disrupting fraud, economic and cyber-crime through capable, coordinated and effective policing.

The City of London Police is responsible for:

• Setting the national fraud policing strategy and leading and coordinating the police response to fraud
• Co-ordinating national fraud reporting, including through Fraud Report
• National triaging and allocation of fraud cases and intelligence
• Provide Intelligence support to investigation of nationally significant, serious and complex fraud
• Workforce development, including training, continuous professional development and dissemination of good practice across police forces
• Collation, interpretation and reporting of national fraud policing performance

About the role

This is a new and exciting that role has been created to improve City of London Police’s data science provision. This role provides an excellent opportunity to join the City of London Police, who lead the UK’s policing’s response to fraud and cybercrime whilst also supporting the overall force performance.

This post will be situated within Report Fraud Intelligence Services team which leads on the analysis and production of national fraud and cybercrime intelligence products. The intelligence team is split into three desks which analyse all the Home Office Crime Recording (HOCR) codes reported to Action Fraud. The role will work alongside intelligence analysts, researchers and crime reviewers to enable comprehensive understanding of the Report Fraud system and the requirements of those that are using it. The post will report to the Head of Intelligence Services for Report Fraud.

The role will include detangling data from a number of different policing sources and working in the areas of Intelligence and Performance. In order to improve the policing response to “big data,” this role recognises a need to organise data more efficiently. Data scientists with specific skillsets will allow policing to more accurately collate, structure and analyse large datasets. This is a semi-autonomous role which will require the candidate to work independently. This role will support analytical functions but not replace them by providing analysts and researchers with additional functionality. The role is not a strategic role but a technical one supporting wider strategic objectives. Key responsibilities include:

• Inventing, building and maintaining data models and tools that can be used to solve national strategic and operational Economic Crime problems deriving quality information from large datasets
• Identifying business problems and resolving them through innovative analytical techniques
• Working collaboratively with stakeholders, teams and departments to reach innovative solutions, meeting the forces needs and strategic/operational objectives

Requirements

Essential:

• Degree in relevant subject (e.g. applied maths, statistics, computer science) or proven work experience as a data scientist.
• Proven ability to select and use appropriate statistical and analytical techniques to help draw insight from a wide range of data applications including data mining, AI/ machine learning, algorithm building, automation and predictive modelling.
• Proven experience in the use of statistical modelling techniques such as regression, decision trees, neural networks, K-Means clustering, etc.
• A strong SQL background in querying and manipulating data is essential, including creating materialised views, functions, packages and stored procedures.
• Demonstrable coding and programming skills in additional languages such as R or Python.

Desirable:

• A postgraduate qualification in a relevant discipline, preferably with a statistical, mathematical or analytical focus.
• In-depth knowledge of police processes, systems and data
• Ability to design robust classification algorithms that can meet a business requirement using machine learning techniques.
• Experience in use of R or Python to enhance the analytics capability of Power BI.
• Experience of utilising AI and machine learning in Microsoft Azure.

The City of London Police is keen to promote flexible working and will, subject to operational policing requirements, proactively consider all applications to work flexibly.

The City of London Police is committed to equality of opportunities and continuously strive for inclusivity within our Force. We welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly from those with disabilities and long-term conditions, those with Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic backgrounds, female candidates, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.