Investigations Manager

Role Purpose

The Fraud and Financial Crime Investigations Manager is responsible for identifying and investigating suspected criminal, fraudulent and dishonest activity affecting the business, its customers and colleagues.

The role will manage investigations from initial identification through to conclusion, seeking, gathering and assessing evidence, identifying patterns of offending, conducting interviews where appropriate and producing clear investigation reports. The Investigations Manager will work closely with store teams, Loss Prevention, Employee Relations and other internal stakeholders, as well as external agencies where required.

A key focus of the position is moving beyond individual incidents to identify repeat offenders, organised activity, emerging crime trends and weaknesses in processes or controls that may expose the business to further loss.

Key Responsibilities

Investigations

· Conduct thorough investigations into suspected internal and external retail crime, fraud and dishonest activity which may include theft and attempted theft, employee dishonesty and internal fraud, refund, return and exchange abuse, discount, loyalty or promotional abuse and abuse of company processes or systems for financial gain

· Manage investigations from initial allegation or intelligence through to conclusion

· Review available evidence including CCTV, transaction records, till activity, payment information, access records, delivery information and relevant business records

· Establish clear investigation timelines and identify links between incidents, individuals, transactions and locations

· Conduct investigative interviews and obtain relevant accounts or statements in line with company procedures

· Maintain clear, accurate and professional investigation records

· Produce concise investigation reports setting out the evidence, findings and recommended next steps

· Ensure investigations are proportionate, objective and evidence led

Evidence & Case Management

· Gather, assess and preserve evidence appropriately

· Maintain comprehensive investigation files and clear audit trails

· Ensure case records accurately document investigative decisions and actions

· Handle sensitive information with appropriate confidentiality

· Prepare investigation material suitable for internal disciplinary or criminal justice processes where required

· Support requests for evidence from law enforcement or other authorised external bodies in accordance with company procedures

Intelligence & Crime Prevention

· Use internal systems to identify suspicious transactions and behaviour that require further investigation

· Identify repeat offenders, linked incidents and emerging methods of offending

· Analyse investigation information to identify trends, vulnerabilities and potential control weaknesses

· Share relevant intelligence with operational teams and other appropriate stakeholders

· Identify opportunities to prevent recurrence and recommend improvements to processes or controls

Stakeholder & External Partnership

· Build effective working relationships with store management, Loss Prevention, Employee Relations, Legal, Security and operational teams

· Liaise professionally with police and other relevant external agencies where appropriate.

· Provide investigative advice and guidance to colleagues

· Communicate complex investigation findings clearly to both operational and senior stakeholders

· Support the business in understanding emerging retail crime and fraud risks through training and communication

The ideal candidate

Essential

· Experience in retail investigations, loss prevention, fraud investigation, security, law enforcement or a comparable investigative environment

· Strong investigative and analytical skills

· Ability to assess information objectively and distinguish evidence from assumption

· Strong attention to detail and ability to identify connections across multiple incidents or data sources

· Experience producing clear written investigation reports

· Confident communication and interviewing skills, Wicklander-Zulawski trained an advantage

· Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information appropriately

· Strong organisational and case-management skills

· Ability to manage multiple investigations and competing priorities

· Sound judgement and confidence when making evidence-based recommendations

Desirable

· Experience investigating internal fraud or employee dishonesty

· Experience of investigations involving high-value retail environments

· Knowledge of payment fraud, refund abuse, organised retail crime or ecommerce fraud

· Experience working with CCTV and transaction-monitoring data

· Experience liaising with police or other external agencies, including writing of MG11s and exhibiting of appropriate evidence

· Relevant investigative, fraud, security or financial crime qualification

Open to some regional travel, specifically to our stores in Birmingham and Manchester.

This role guide represents a summary of the main areas of activity for the role, however all team members at Selfridges are expected to be flexible in the work they undertake, which may change from time to time, according to the needs of the business.