Details Reference number 349578 Salary £27,470 - £28,606 Plus shift disturbance allowance of 12.5% paid on top of the base pay. A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27% GBP Job grade Executive Officer Contract type Permanent Business area APHA Operational Delivery - APHA Type of role Operational Delivery Working pattern Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Shift working Number of jobs available 6 Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Ashford (Kent) About the job Job summary Are you passionate about working with animals and care for their welfare? Are you caring, conscientious and an excellent team worker? Do you enjoy working outside? If the answer is yes, you should apply for an Animal Health Officer role Working as part of a Technical Team, you will be instrumental in helping to safeguard animal health and welfare. Through engaging with inspections, surveillance and collecting samples, you will be contributing to the control and eradication of disease to protect both the economy and food security. We are looking for compassionate, dedicated individuals who strive for excellence and integrity and who put animal health and welfare at the heart of everything they do. Sevington is a new site and we are looking to implement a 4 day on, 4 day off, 10.5 hour day shift pattern when it becomes operational. This includes scheduled weekend and bank holiday working which will attract an additional shift disturbance allowance of 12.5% once you are working on the scheduled rota. Drop in Sessions APHA will be holding a remote drop-in session whilst the advert is live. This session will be an opportunity to ask questions related to the job and the application process. Please join us and take this opportunity to hear about these exciting roles. The drop-in session for this campaign will be held on: Wednesday 8th May 2024 12:30pm For any additional queries please raise via hrresourcingsupportdefra.gov.uk At the Border Control Post (BCP) in Sevington, your time will be spent carrying out checks on live animals imported into Great Britain (GB) from the European Union and Third Countries. Your role will be to prevent the introduction of notifiable diseases and invasive species into the UK, and to ensure the welfare of animals during transport is not compromised. Sevington will be the largest Border Control Post in the country due to the level of expected traffic and no two days will be the same. As a Border Control Inspector (Animal Health Officer) you will work as part of a technical delivery team carrying out a range of operational services to safeguard animal health, welfare, public health, protect the economy and enhance food security through your duties. Your duties will include physical inspections of live animal consignments, documentary inspections to contribute to the control and eradication of disease. The AHO (Animal Health Officer) Border Control role involves a wide range of work including, but not limited to, the following: carrying out import controls on animals as required by UK legislation including documentary, identity, and physical checks carrying out inspections of animals, records, equipment, and vehicles to audit compliance, taking appropriate regulatory action where appropriate engaging with importers, transporters, and agents to facilitate import checks and clearances manage follow-on actions when non-compliance is identified to safeguard animal welfare and UK biosecurity including supporting investigation of possible illegal activity inspecting documentation including animal identification, animal movement, breeding, medicine and other written or electronic records for audit and disease control and surveillance purposes supporting veterinary and other colleagues in disease control and surveillance activities liaising closely with various regulatory bodies such as His Majestys Revenue and Customs, UK Border Agency, Port Health, Animal Health authorities & Border Control Point operations management playing an active part in contingency planning so the agency is able to respond to outbreaks of exotic notifiable disease and other emergencies during outbreaks of notifiable disease, participate as directed to contribute to the control and the eradication of the disease The timeline for the opening of Sevington Live Animal BCP is subject to change, but we are continuing with the recruitment process to allow for training at other BCPs in the Southern area. This training is likely to be at the BCPs located at London's 3 main airports, so overnight stays will be required for the training period. APHA has a wide variety of field work, which we may require you to complete prior to commencing work at the BCP. This would be subject to the appropriate training in the specific work, which could include Animal by-products (ABP) and International Catering Waste (ICW) visits. Additionally, you may be required to support in notifiable disease outbreak tasks, as well as other work areas dependant on previous experience. Engagement in these additional work areas would supplement the Border Control work and assist in any future career progression you wished to pursue. It also acknowledges the varying level of experience and skills successful candidates will hold on joining the agency. Training material is designed to ensure all new entrants, to APHA, build suitable confidence and competencies to deliver the work of APHA. Person specification We are looking for candidates with the following essential experience and skills:- have an agricultural background, an agricultural qualification or have knowledge of the agricultural industry have high standards of written and spoken English and can communicate effectively about animal health topics with all stakeholders including customers, service users and colleagues have knowledge of basic Health and Safety and an understanding of safe working on farms and with livestock and poultry are able to work alone or as part of team, to take responsibility and remain positive and focused in the face of challenge have experience with excellent record keeping, auditing processes and maintaining quality able to adhere to procedures and processes and follow quality standards Support and Training All successful candidates will be provided with an extensive programme of training and support as part of their induction into working with APHA. APHA appreciates the varying level of experiences and skills successful candidates will hold on joining the agency. Training material is designed to ensure all new entrants, to APHA, build suitable confidence and competencies to deliver the work. Licences A valid driving licence that covers the UK and access to a vehicle with appropriate business use insurance. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Communicating and Influencing Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Knowledge of GB livestock industry Knowledge of Technical Animal Husbandry Benefits Alongside your salary of £27,470, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £7,417 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Pension and Financial Benefits Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package and there are various options including Alpha and Partnership pension schemes in which Defra can invest in providing a contribution to the cost of your pension. Life Assurance: if you become too ill or die before retirement valuable benefits will be provided to you and your family. Time off 25 days annual leave (rising up to 30 days over 5 years) for new entrants to the Civil Service and retaining existing arrangements for current Civil Servants. Special Leave Additional paid leave for other situations including family-related leave is available for employees volunteering and taking part in public duties, trade union activities, special/trained forces and for health & safety representatives. Rewards We have a Staff Recognition Scheme with our in-year awards rewarding exemplary work. Learning and Development Access to five days learning and development each year to support professional development through Civil Service Learning. Corporate induction and three days special leave for volunteering. Performance Management Individual performance plans, learning and development matched to your agreed career objectives and progression plans. Examination Leave Paid leave for exams and revision for approved studies. Staff Wellbeing Access to Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7, providing advice and guidance on both personal and employment issues such as personal wellbeing, career development, legal matters such as landlord / tenant disputes. Access to the Employee Assistance Programme, Occupational Health Service and the Civil Service Sports Council. Headspace Free access to Headspace which is a mindfulness, meditation and sleep app. Work/ Life Balance: Travel & Transport Benefits A range of travel and transport benefits. Access to the cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme that enables you to buy a bike up to the value of £6k. Shopping and Leisure Benefits A variety of discounts at online stores and leisure experiences available via Mylifestyle. Interest Free Loans For season tickets and/or bicycles and safety equipment as well as tenancy deposit scheme. Other Benefits: Sick Pay We have various measures in place to assist with your physical and emotional health. Our focus is on early intervention and proactivity in addressing health issues. However, should you not be well enough to attend work, occupational sick pay, increasing by length of service, is available. Enhanced Parental Leave We offer generous maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave. Making it work for you With so many flexible options, most people can find a work schedule to suit their circumstances. Working within a team of 350 vets and 500 Animal Health Officers and scientists means that theres plenty of flexibility available. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills. Application Process As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and a Personal Statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. The CV will ask for your Job History, Qualifications and Past Skills and Experience. Your personal statement should be no more than 500 words demonstrating how you meet the essential Skills & Experience for this role as outlined in the advert. Your CV and Personal Statement will be marked as one and given a combined score. Sift A sift will be conducted using the personal statement and the CV. Candidates who pass the sift will be progressed straight to assessment/interview. The sift is due to be completed once the vacancy is closed and results released shortly afterwards. Interview If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Behaviours, Strengths and Technical skills. The behaviour Communicating and Influencing may be assessed through a presentation. An additional exercise may also be assessed. Further details will be provided to candidates successful at sift. All interviews will be held online using MS Teams. Location As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s) Where the location is National the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defras location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations. Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee. The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD. Duty and out of hours rotas Sevington is a new site and we are looking to implement a 4 day on, 4 day off, 10.5 hour day shift pattern when it becomes operational. This includes scheduled weekend and bank holiday working which will attract an additional shift disturbance allowance of 12.5% once you are working on the scheduled rota. Reserve List A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Merit Lists Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. Salary New entrants are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. Visa Sponsorship Statement Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Reasonable Adjustment If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs Complete the Assistance required section in the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional Accessibility If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. Criminal Record Check If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check maybe carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. Internal Fraud Database Check Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicants details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Childcare Vouchers Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Medical Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service