Lead OSINT & Digital Investigations Specialist

Moonshot believes that marginalised people in society — including minority ethnic people, people from working class backgrounds, women, Disabled and LGBTQIA+ people — must be centred in the work we do. We strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other communities who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We know a diverse workforce will enable us to understand drivers behind violent extremism and online harms in an in-depth way and do better work to counter them.

Candidates will be expected to undertake and pass a police check and additional checks for security clearance at an SC level - typically a minimum of three years’ continuous UK residency within the past five years.

About the role:

Moonshot is recruiting a Lead OSINT & Digital Investigations Specialist to lead and develop a specialist digital investigations capability focused on organised crime, violent extremism, and online harms. This role sits at the intersection of advanced OSINT tradecraft, digital attribution, and operational delivery. The successful candidate will lead high-impact online investigations, often under tight timelines, while ensuring work is conducted in line with UK legal, ethical, and evidential standards. While Moonshot works closely with government and law enforcement partners, this role is not a traditional policing position. Investigations are conducted online and through open-source and lawfully accessible digital data, with a strong emphasis on attribution, entity resolution, and defensible evidence. 

Your responsibilities will include:

Methodology, evidencing & compliance

• Design, refine, and apply digital investigative methodologies aligned with UK legal and operational frameworks, including RIPA, GDPR, and evidential integrity requirements.
• Ensure investigations maintain clear audit trails, source validation, and defensible evidence suitable for escalation to partners.
• Set standards for confidence assessment in attribution findings.
• Identify and mitigate legal, ethical, and reputational risks across investigative work.

Digital OSINT investigations & attribution

• Lead complex OSINT-driven digital investigations into organised crime, violent extremism, and other serious online harms.
• Conduct and oversee digital attribution and entity resolution, identifying and evidencing links between online personas, networks, and real-world entities where appropriate.
• Coordinate and conduct analysis of social media platforms, forums, messaging services, dark web sources, illicit marketplaces, and web infrastructure.
• Respond to time-sensitive incidents and priority investigative tasks, delivering high-quality outputs under demanding turnaround requirements.

Leadership & capacity building

• Lead and mentor investigators and analysts, embedding best practice in OSINT tradecraft and digital investigations.
• Develop training materials, guidance, and internal documentation to raise investigative capability across the organisation.
• Evaluate and guide the use of investigative tools, data sources, and technical approaches.

Reporting, clients & stakeholders

• Produce and quality-assure investigative reports for both government and private sector stakeholders.
• Manage investigative workstreams and client deliverables to time, budget, and quality expectations.
• Support business development by advising on investigative scope, feasibility, and risk.

Essential:

• Candidates will be expected to undertake DBS checks or have, and be willing to apply for SC clearance - typically a minimum of three years’ continuous UK residency.
• Substantial professional experience conducting advanced OSINT and digital investigations, including work on organised crime, violent extremism, or comparable high-risk threat areas.
• Demonstrable expertise in digital attribution and entity resolution, including linking online identities, networks, and infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of UK legal and ethical frameworks relevant to digital investigations (e.g. RIPA, GDPR, evidential standards).
• High level of technical proficiency with OSINT and digital investigative tools and methodologies.
• Experience designing, applying, and quality-assuring investigative methodologies.
• Exceptional analytical ability, including recognising subtle patterns, connections, and anomalies across large and complex datasets.
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver to high standards in fast-paced and high-stakes environments, managing both personal and team workloads effectively.
• Intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and strong awareness of new technologies and platforms relevant to digital investigation.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to present investigative findings with clarity and authority.
• Willingness to be on-call and occasionally work outside regular hours in response to incidents or urgent client requirements.
• We require and will check on candidates' eligibility to work in the UK and pass any relevant security clearance procedures per the needs of clients.

Desirable: 

• Security clearance at an SC level or higher in current role.
• Previous law enforcement, government, or regulatory experience, particularly where digital or OSINT-based investigations formed a core part of the role.
• Experience working in sensitive or classified environments.
• Background in private-sector intelligence, threat intelligence, trust & safety, or investigative research.

• 30 days' paid annual leave, excluding bank holidays.
• Private healthcare package with access to specialist mental health cover, including coverage for partners and children.
• Employee Assistance Programme providing access to mental health support.
• Generous maternity and paternity leave: 26 weeks paid maternity leave, 8 weeks paid paternity leave.
• All permanent employees are granted share options upon employment.

Salary:  £50,000 - £60,000 (depending on skills and experience).