Investigator

Financial Ombudsman Service; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous pension

Life assurance

Critical illness cover

Income protection

Private medical insurance

Job summary

Financial Ombudsman Service in the United Kingdom seeks Investigators to join our academy, gaining training to make fair and reasonable decisions. After training, you’ll oversee your own caseload with support from an Ombudsman Manager and resolve diverse complaints about pensions, investments and insurance products.

This role demands analytical thinking, clear written communication, and empathy for customers while meeting service targets in a supportive public-sector environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in pensions, investments and insurance products.
• Ability to articulate thinking clearly when making decisions.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Experience in customer service with challenging customers.
• Strong problem solving and prioritisation.
• History of meeting targets or SLAs.

Responsibilities

• Investigate complaints about pensions, investments and insurance products.
• Manage your caseload effectively to reach targets.
• Maintain relationships with customers and financial businesses.
• Examine evidence to reach the heart of each complaint.
• Weigh up all sides and apply relevant rules and regulations to decide.
• Communicate findings clearly through written responses.

Skills

Pensions knowledge

Decision making

Communication skills

Customer service experience

Problem solving

Time management

Job description

Key responsibilities

As an Investigator new to the role, you’ll spend up to six months in our academy getting the training you need to make fair and reasonable decisions with certainty. After that, you’ll work as part of a team, supported by an Ombudsman Manager, overseeing your own caseload and prioritising your work. You’ll be responsible for:

• Investigating complaints about pensions, investments and insurance products
• Managing your caseload effectively to reach targets
• Managing relationships with our customers – both consumers and financial businesses
• Examining evidence to get to the heart of each complaint
• Weighing up all sides of a story and assessing the relevant rules and regulations to make fair and reasonable decisions
• Communicating with empathy – listening carefully to both sides, asking the right questions and using sound judgement, and
• Communicating your findings clearly, explaining what you think and why through a clear and structured written response

Person specification

You’ll be a self-starter who can prioritise tasks and work well independently. You’ll have great people skills and an analytical, problem‑solving mind. You may have experience in customer services, sales or retail, in a legal/paralegal role, or have worked in casework, claims or investigative work for another public agency.

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrable experience working in pensions, investments and insurance related products
• Expertise making fair and balanced decisions, where you must articulate your thinking clearly
• Excellent communication skills, including a talent for listening and explaining things in clear language as well as good written English
• Experience providing excellent customer service with people who may be angry or upset
• Problem solving and finding constructive solutions
• Strong administrative skills and the ability to prioritise your workload
• History of working to meet targets or service level agreements

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of financial products
• Relevant qualifications within pensions, investments and insurance
• Experience in decision making or investigative roles for example, legal, paralegal, casework or claims

Why the Financial Ombudsman Service?

We’re a UK-wide service, with strong values and a diverse workforce, where you can be your authentic self. We’re committed to being a great place to work and to recruiting people from all backgrounds. So, as well as a competitive salary, we offer a great package of benefits, including:

• Core benefits including generous pension, life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection, personal accident cover, private medical insurance, virtual GP
• Optional benefits including travel insurance, technology scheme, cycle to work scheme, dining and lifestyle memberships, dental cover
• Holiday entitlement of 25 days, with the option to buy or sell extra days (full time equivalent)
• Discounts on your everyday shopping, from groceries and petrol to household goods and gift vouchers
• An Employee Assistance Programme offering professional support with legal, health and money issues
• Opportunities for personal and career development

Find out more about our work culture on our website, where we also have a dedicated careers page. You may also find it useful to check our LinkedIn page and Instagram.

Proud to be an inclusive employer

Reflecting the communities, we serve helps us provide the best service to our customers. Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our success, so we welcome applications from women and other under-represented groups. As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter, we welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority candidates. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and, under the scheme, will progress a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria to interview.

Who we are…

With fairness at the heart of everything we do, we embrace difference and treat everyone as equals. We’re a diverse organisation, but something we all share is our values. They’re central to the way we work – and work together. We’re an independent, not-for-profit organisation that sorts out disputes between financial businesses and their customers. We do this by making decisions that are fair – and feel fair to both sides. The Financial Ombudsman Service is an equal opportunities employer. All applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner and in accordance with the law, regardless of gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. We’re committed to being a great place to work – attracting and developing people from the widest possible range of backgrounds. We want everyone to perform at their best and feel able to be themselves. We understand that if we’re diverse and inclusive, we’ll better understand different perspectives, which is fundamental to our job resolving financial complaints. You can read more about Diversity and Inclusion . We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. Disabled applicants who fulfil the minimum criteria for the role will be progressed to the next stage of the process. Do let us know of any reasonable adjustments you need. You will need to demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria in order to qualify for the Disability Confident scheme.