The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is an executive agency of Defra and delivers more than £2 billion each year to farmers, landowners and rural businesses. As an Operational Delivery organisation, most of our people work directly with customers and stakeholders to provide essential services that support a healthy and sustainable rural economy. Further information about the RPA and our work can be found at Rural Payments Agency - GOV.UK The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Lead plays a critical role in supporting more than 2,500 RPA colleagues across a wide range of working environments. These include office and home working, as well as field based staff carrying out inspections and enforcement activities at farms and other third‑party sites. The role leads the development and ongoing improvement of the RPA’s health and safety management system, aligned to the HSG65 Plan, Do, Check, Act framework. The post holder ensures that the organisation meets its legal and moral obligations to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of its people. They act as the Competent Person for the RPA, as defined under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. In this capacity, they are the senior subject matter expert for health and safety across the agency. Responsibilities: Leadership Lead, manage and develop a team of Health, Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) advisers to ensure the RPA maintains competent expertise across its health and safety risk profile Ensure the team provides high quality, practical advice to support managers and staff Health and Safety Management Develop policies, procedures and approaches that prevent work related injury and ill health, ensuring the RPA meets its legal and moral responsibilities Monitor emerging risks, changes in legislation and updates to Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs), ensuring RPA arrangements remain current and relevant Assurance, Reporting and Governance Produce quarterly and annual HSW reports for the RPA Executive Team, presenting findings in person and attending meetings where further discussion or decisions are required Lead the development and delivery of monitoring and audit activity (with Trade Union Safety Representatives where appropriate) to verify that policies and procedures are being followed by staff, managers and contractors such as Facilities Management Technical Advice and Risk Management Provide clear, practical advice to the business on safe working practices and legal compliance, acting as the senior health and safety expert for the organisation Advise on or carry out health and safety risk assessments, either on request or in response to incidents, or when new activities arise Lead or support incident investigations, ensuring learning is captured, shared and incorporated into future policies and procedures Specialist Areas of Advice Act as the primary advisor on: Occupational disease and ill health Workstation ergonomics Use of hazardous substances Home and office working environments Manual handling Work‑related driving and travel Risks associated with working outside office environments Work‑related violence and aggression Engagement and Collaboration Work collaboratively with business areas and the Trade Union Side on all aspects of health and safety, including annual safety walk‑arounds of RPA work locations Provide expert input into the management of health and safety‑related contracts (e.g., lone working solutions) Represent the RPA at Defra Group level on health, safety and wellbeing matters, making decisions within remit and escalating to the Executive Team where needed Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme Disability Confident About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .