Coroners Investigation Officer

Do you have an enquiring mind, excellent communications skills and a positive team work ethic? Are you resilient and composed when working under pressure with competing demands? If so, Kent County Council is currently recruiting someone like you to join the Kent & Medway Coroner Service Team as Coroner’s Investigation Officer.

As a Coroner’s Investigation Officer you will work under judicial direction of the Coroner, within statutory frameworks, national and local policy and procedural guidelines to provide sufficient evidence to enable coroners to fulfil their judicial function. This will require you to use your initiative to make all relevant enquiries surrounding the circumstances of deaths of unknown cause, violent death, and deaths in state detention.

You will need to apply methodical questioning, investigative procedures and fundamental medical knowledge to gather, evaluate and synthesise information to produce a case report for the coroner. At the same time you will work closely with bereaved people performing a family liaison role with a calm, ethical and empathic approach, at what may be a difficult and distressing time, ensuring they are kept informed and regularly updated, throughout the process.

You will have experience in a coroner's office or in nursing, paramedicine, biomedical, or another investigative role.

This crucial and challenging role is primarily office based in Maidstone; however the ability to travel across a wide geographical area in a timely and flexible manner at various times of the day is essential as you will be required to attend mortuaries for identifications and forensic post-mortems and may occasionally be required to access other sites such as courts and exceptionally a scene of death, which may be outside of normal working hours.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Please Note:

1. Please read the applicant Information and application guidance notes before completing the questions on your application Form.

2. A cv is NOT required for this application and will NOT be reviewed as part of the selection process so include all relevant information in your on-line application form.

3. This post is full time and the hours are 0900 to 1700 on Monday to Friday

4. As part of the recruitment process, shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend an on-line assessment centre the week commencing the 6th March 2023 and interviews will be the week commencing the 20th March 2023. Please note all dates are provisional and subject to change.

5. Shortlisted candidates will also be asked to complete an on-line assessment which will be validated by 90 minute (maximum) phone call before offered an interview.

6. The selection process may take longer than usual due to the current situation.

Please contact Samantha Coombes for further information (CoronerServiceManager@kent.gov.uk)

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds and faiths, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.