SFO Investigating Lawyer - Auckland or Wellington

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

Investigating Lawyer – Auckland or Wellington

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a highly specialised government department whose mission is to disrupt and deter serious complex fraud through prevention, investigation, and prosecution. We take pride in the work we do to keep New Zealand safe from fraud and corruption.

We employ a clever team of lawyers, accountants, investigators, and electronic forensic, counter fraud and policy experts to do just that and, importantly, we have a small support team that enables them to focus on their work. Numbering eighty, we are a cohesive team with a strong sense of justice and a vibrant culture.

The SFO seeks an Investigating Lawyer to join our team based in Commercial Bay, Auckland, or The Terrace, Wellington. The SFO is recruiting this role to increase the capacity of our team to manage additional investigations and prosecutions. This is a role for a criminal law specialist and is a full-time permanent employment status role.

In this role you will report to a Principal leader and work in a multi-disciplinary team with Electronic Forensic Investigators, Investigators, and Forensic Accountants.  You will contribute to the investigation strategy of a case, undertake legal analysis, and provide legal opinions to the investigation team, participate in investigation tasks including interviews, and draft case reports. You will work productively with leading criminal prosecutors on the conduct of SFO prosecutions.  You will assist with the preparation of court documents, and you may appear, as required, in Court on preliminary matters and support prosecution panel members at trial.

To be successful in this role you will have a current practicing certificate, have four years or more years of practicing experience, and specialise in criminal law. Previous experience in investigations and litigation of financial crime matters, including investment fraud, procurement fraud, large scale mortgage fraud, as well as bribery and corruption, is highly beneficial. You will be collaborative, have excellent research and analysis skills and an ability to quickly understand facts and complexities to form sound advice. 

At the SFO we value a ‘growth mindset' and explore this attribute during our recruitment process and in our development discussions.  We believe possessing a growth mindset is a key contributor to success in the SFO environment.  We are a close and motivated team with a strong workplace culture. We recognise that diversity and inclusion is important to our work. We value the unique abilities and perspectives of our employees which allows us to continue to create a supportive environment that meets the needs of our people, our business, and the communities where we work.  We are a flexible organisation, guided by our Flexible Working Policy. We offer an additional week of annual leave that covers the three usual workdays between Christmas and New Year plus two days to use at our discretion. Each year we are allocated 20 days of sick leave, with no initial stand-down period, which can be accumulated to a maximum balance of 260 days.

The position description for this role is here… https://sfo.govt.nz/assets/Position-Descriptions/SFO-Investigating-Lawyer-Position-Description.pdf

If you would like further information about this role, you are welcome to call Emma Reid – Recruiter with the SFO on 021 199 0985.

If you wish to apply for this role, please submit your CV and cover letter (attachments titled ‘First Name Last Name – CV or Cover Letter') via this link… https://sfo.bamboohr.com/careers/34

In this role you may be privy to information of national significance. It is important that you are eligible to obtain and maintain the required level of NZ Government security clearance for this position. The SFO, other government agencies, and specialist probity providers will complete comprehensive background checks.

Applications close 10am Tuesday 29 October 2024