34831 - Investigations & Casefile Officer (Water Industry) - Thames

Are you ready to take on a role that makes a real difference? Join the Environment Agency's water industry regulation teams and help lead the fight against environmental crime.

We regulate water companies, ensuring compliance with environmental law and that their crucial role in managing the water cycle - collecting, treating and returning water to the environment - takes place without harm.

Our work includes preventing pollution, sewage treatment works, storm overflows and ensuring compliance across the sewerage network. We are focused on raising standards and improving environmental outcomes.

We're recruiting now because the work is urgent.

We're looking for a confident professional with experience in criminal investigations, case management and disclosure processes to support regulation and enforcement officers. You'll also mentor less experienced officers.

You will:

Work closely with officers to ensure investigations progress in a timely and outcome-focused manner, in line with our enforcement and compliance policies.

Focus on moderate/significant investigations, where penalties may include civil or criminal sanctions.

Gather information and evidence from compliance and enforcement teams, preparing casefiles and disclosure schedules, acting as a Disclosure Officer where necessary.

Ensure all evidence and documentation is managed in line with best practice and complies with the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and relevant legislation.

Support Water Industry Senior Environmental Crime Officers on our most serious offences.

Provide advice on witness management, manage third-party material, and liaise with legal teams where needed.

Attend court and give evidence as required.

Liaise with Team Leaders, investigators, and colleagues across intelligence and evidence functions to maintain the integrity of material throughout the investigation and court process.

Ensure investigation records are updated in enforcement IT systems and provide timely reporting to the Water Industry Senior Enforcement Officer.

Build and maintain strong relationships with regulatory teams and stakeholders across a broad geographic region.

The team

The Water Industry Enforcement team is dedicated to addressing serious and complex performance issues within the water industry, driving improvements in compliance and environmental standards.

Based in our South East enforcement hub, facing Thames Water, your team will work closely with one or more water companies to achieve these goals. You will mostly be office based with occasional travel to deliver work on investigations and enforcement across your hub.

To succeed in this role, you must be able to demonstrate capability in investigating offences, casefile management, and disclosure processes. You will support enforcement officers by coordinating casefiles, contributing to investigations, and ensuring sanctions within water industry regulation are taken., Ability to work accurately with minimal supervision, both independently and collaboratively across teams, while adapting to changing priorities.
Strong organisational skills to manage, record, and present evidence.
Knowledge of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act-1996, Police and Criminal Evidence Act-1984, and Criminal Procedure Rules.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Take ownership of cases management, including escalation when required.
Full UK driving licence - the role involves travel across a wide geographic area.
Desirable:

Knowledge of environmental legislation and enforcement policies.
Understanding of environmental regulation within the water industry or similar sectors.
Experience in using IT systems for case management and intelligence recording.