Investigator

LGSCO; Coventry; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Working

Job summary

LGSCO is recruiting an Investigator in a role that involves assessing and investigating complaints from the public. The position operates in a hybrid environment, with offices in Coventry or York and options for home-based work as required for team meetings and training.

The Investigator will handle complex cases, require strong analytical and communication skills, and work under pressure to meet deadlines while maintaining impartiality and high professional standards.

Qualifications

• Ability to assess and investigate complaints with impartiality.
• Strong written and spoken communication in plain English.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Assess and investigate complaints made to the LGSCO, acting with delegated authority.
• Collaborate with team members and contribute to group and project work.
• Communicate decisions clearly in plain English and maintain high standards of performance.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Resilience under pressure

Prioritisation

Job description

Assess and investigate complaints made by the public

• Hybrid Working

About Our Client

For over 50 years we have been the voice of the public. Our free and impartial service helps people put things right with their local council or adult social care provider. We use what we learn from complaints to improve local public services and independent adult social care provision. We act with impartiality and make fair decisions after listening to both sides of the story and weighing up all the evidence.

So, if you want to make a difference and have the perspective we're looking for, please get in touch.

Job Description

Acting with the delegated authority on behalf of the Ombudsman, Investigators assess and investigate complaints made to the LGSCO by the public. This covers failings in services by local authorities, and social care providers. Our investigators look at complaints about most services organisations within our remit offer, with a large proportion of our work involving complaints about children's services and special educational needs.

The role operates in a collaborative environment where individuals contribute to their team's objectives and are involved in group and project work, and various outreach activities (for example external training for bodies in jurisdiction). However, Investigators are also personally responsible for their own case work and for maintaining high standards of performance and professional practice. Investigators are expected to operate with minimal supervision once experienced, demonstrate a high degree of resilience and confidence in their work within a highly pressurised and supportive environment.

The Successful Applicant

The successful Investigator will need to establish trust and confidence with customers and service users. You will be dealing with a diverse range of people, some of whom may require additional support in making their complaint to us, and some of whom can display challenging behaviours.

The role will require Investigators to be able to deal with complex problem solving, analysis of complex written material, identification of key issues and able to communicate decisions in plain English. You will need to maintain high levels of resilience to work under pressure and to deadlines, with effective prioritisation skills.

Managing competing priorities and deliver against challenging targets within agreed time-frames is a key expectation of this position.

What's on Offer

A salary ranging from £44,980 to £53,780, please note, appointment will be made at the beginning of the scale. There is an increment on satisfactory completion of the probationary period and thereafter annually on 1 April until the top of scale is reached.

We offer hybrid working and, subject to manager approval, investigators can choose to work mostly from home. Individuals will be allocated to either our Coventry or York office and be expected to attend the office as and when required in person for team meetings, training and other occasions.

The closing date for applications is 9:00am Monday 12 October 2026.

Assessments will be held during October with interviews being held virtually via MS Teams week commencing 23 November 2026. See the job pack for more details.

Please note that candidates who have applied to the LGSCO for the post of Investigator within the past twelve months will not be considered.