Senior Investigator
Published Date: Mar 20, 2025
Location: US
Company: Los Angeles Unified School District
SALARY DETAILS
APPLICATION FILING DATES
Application open date: 3/20/2025
Application close date: 4/7/2025
INFORMATION ABOUT LAUSD
We are LAUSD. We are at the forefront of innovation in public education, focused on a clear and inspiring vision of the future for all of our students as they venture forward on their journey as lifelong learners. Here, you will have the opportunity to exercise your potential in a role supporting the business of education. Our work directly contributes toward the goal of ensuring that our students graduate ready for the world – ready to thrive in college, career and life. LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation with an enrollment of nearly 575,000 students. We serve an area totaling 710 square miles, with over 1,190 schools and educational centers, and we employ over 74,000 individuals, making us one of the largest employers in our city.
LAUSD EMPLOYEES: Please be advised that all LAUSD employees must sign in to the GlobalProtect Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to submit an application from an external network outside of an LAUSD location. For assistance with installing the GlobalProtect virtual network, please contact Information Technology Services at (213) 443-1300 or (213) 241-5200 or via their page (https://www.lausd.org/helpdesk)
DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL SITE
The current vacancy is at the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
The OIG's mission is to help the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) achieve its core mission by promoting a culture of accountability, transparency, collaboration, and integrity through the performance of audit and investigative services designed to drive continuous improvement, support effective decision making and detect and deter waste, fraud, and abuse. The OIG's vision is to be a proactive and highly capable Inspector General organization that contributes to the quality of public education at LAUSD.
PROJECT
At the OIG, a Senior Investigator leads an investigative team and/or conducts investigations into complex or sensitive potentially criminal and/or noncriminal cases assigned by the Inspector General; an Assistant Inspector General; or a Supervising Investigator. Assists the Inspector General, Assistant Inspector General, and/or Supervising Investigator in planning, directing, organizing, and reviewing the activities and functions of the OIG Investigations Unit.
BENEFITS
Insurance: Paid premiums for your choice of several medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans.
Retirement: Membership in the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS).
Vacation: Full-time employees earn up to two weeks of paid vacation to start. Three weeks after five years of year-round paid service.
Paid Holidays: Up to 13 days.
JOB DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES
- Examines and conducts investigations into allegations of irregularities, fraud, collusion, conflicts of interest, and improprieties on the part of District employees, contractor personnel, or others in connection with District programs.
- Investigates any violation of or noncompliance with requirements of District policies, legislation and/or administrative rules and regulations pertaining to the programs administered by the District.
- Secures facts and develops evidence from all sources to establish the extent and nature of violations being investigated.
- Examines a wide variety of records, procedures and systems of internal control to detect fraudulent activities or improprieties.
- Conducts investigative interviews of witnesses, informants, suspects, custodians of records, and public and private persons at all levels.
- Provides work direction and guidance to investigators and Investigative Assistants.
- Prepares written correspondences, memoranda, reports of investigation, and investigative summaries.
- Prepares statements of fact developed in the course of the investigation for possible referral to the U.S. Attorney, District Attorney, City Attorney, or other prosecutorial authorities.
- Conducts or participates in in-service programs for District personnel regarding fraud prevention and awareness programs.
- Researches data through database systems and sorts, retrieves, interprets data to identify information pertinent to investigations, and compiles related reports.
- May provide technical assistance to Investigative Assistant and/or assist with answering Fraud Hotline calls and developing and maintaining logs of calls received and status of such calls, as required.
- Conducts or participates in the investigation of Fraud Hotline calls.
- Performs related duties as assigned.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Education: Graduation from a recognized college or university with a bachelor’s degree. Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-for-year basis, provided that the requirement of a high school diploma or equivalent is met. A Certified Fraud Examiners certificate or at least four years of law enforcement experience conducting investigations is preferable.
NOTE: You MUST upload your degree (i.e. scan or take a picture of your degree) or official transcripts to your candidate profile, under “Other Documents.”
Experience: Four years of law enforcement experience conducting investigations or four years of experience conducting internal investigations of alleged fraud, waste, and abuse in a public agency.
Special: A valid driver's license to legally operate a motor vehicle in the State of California and the use of a motor vehicle, or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation may be required for some positions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Candidates who have completed college or university course work at an institution in a country other than the United States, must obtain a complete evaluation of foreign transcripts and degrees. The original of this degree evaluation must be presented. For more information on Foreign Transcript Evaluation please visit https://achieve.lausd.net/Page/7876.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
In the current vacancy, we are looking for a candidate with extensive experience in conducting investigations independently. The ideal candidate would be able to draft comprehensive investigation plans and manage the entire process from start to finish without supervision. They would also have a strong understanding of policies and violations to effectively identify and address compliance issues while ensuring a thorough and strategic approach to each case.
The ideal candidate will have the knowledge of:
- Investigative fraud techniques
- Criminal law, civil law, rules of evidence, and expert witness matters
- White-collar crimes
- Principles of supervision and personnel management
- Microsoft Windows operating systems
- Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook
The ideal candidate will also have the ability to:
- Conduct thorough investigations
- Question witnesses, informants, suspects and others
- Recognize relevant and material information
- Effectively analyze and interpret data
- Express sensitive and complex information clearly, in writing and orally
- Prepare clear, concise, and conclusive reports
- Maintain confidentiality of evidence gathered
- Work effectively with a wide range of District personnel and the public
- Manage a heavy workload
EMPLOYMENT SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process for this position will tentatively consist of the following: Training and Experience Evaluation/Scored Questionnaire, Technical Project, Technical Interview.
This is a competitive process as we anticipate a number of well qualified candidates for this recruitment. Please make sure that you describe in DETAIL, your experience, education, and training that most closely relates to this position in the on-line application. In your application you may include a professional resume, but it will NOT be in lieu of a detailed application. Additionally, please attach your unofficial college transcript or scanned copy of your degree demonstrating you meet the EDUCATION requirement (refer to the Minimum Requirements section). Please be sure to include correspondence from @lausd.net and @successfactors.com as an approved sender so that messages aren't accidentally placed into your spam/junk e-mail folder. For more information about the LAUSD employment assessment process, visit the 'My LAUSD Career' section of our website at http://www.lausdjobs.org.
If you have questions regarding the employment selection process, please contact Marlyn Sanchez at Marlyn.Sanchez@lausd.net.
APPLICATION PROCESS
ADDITIONAL POSTING INFORMATION
The Los Angeles Unified School District is committed to providing a working and learning environment free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation, abusive conduct, or bullying. The District prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, abusive conduct or bullying based on actual or perceived race or ethnicity, gender/sex (including gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding/lactation status and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, religion, color, national origin (including language use restrictions and possession of a driver’s license issued under Vehicle Code), ancestry, immigration status, physical or mental disability (including clinical depression and bipolar disorder, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, epilepsy, seizure disorder, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease), medical condition (cancer related and genetic characteristics), military and veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age (40 and above), genetic information, political belief or affiliation (unless union related), a person's association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance, or regulation in any program or activity it conducts or to which it provides significant assistance. For inquiries or complaints contact our Equal Opportunity Section, (213) 241-7685.
Selection and promotion are based on a competitive employment assessment process. Candidates who pass all parts of the assessment process are placed on a hiring (eligibility) list based on their assessment score. Hiring departments may make job offers to candidates on the top three ranks of the hiring list. Eligibility typically lasts for 12 months. The hiring list resulting from this assessment process may be used to fill open positions in related job classifications.
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