The Plant Health Surveillance & Action Technical Advice Panel (TAP) has responsibility for the technical aspects of incident preparedness, incident response and inland surveillance.
As one of two SEO leads within the S&A TAP this post responsibilities will include action decisions, advice/instructions, survey design, preparedness and training to PHSI for inland interceptions & outbreaks and inland surveillance.
The role requires close liaison with APHA Field Operations, APHA Resilience & Contingency planning, Defra policy, Defra Risk & Horizon scanning, Fera, Forestry Commission and Devolved Authorities.
They will need to be self-motivated, have excellent communication and organisational skills, be able to work independently as well as across teams which they may have to lead and be able to respond to extremely tight deadlines.
The postholder will, when necessary, deputise for the Grade 7 lead and run projects as required.
The post is full time for the Plant Health Surveillance & Action Technical Advice Panel (S&A TAP) and sitting within the Plant & Bee Health Technical team. Responsibilities of this post will include:
* As subject matter expert be responsible for technical oversight for a trade sector(s).
* Instruct PHSI in required actions following findings of quarantine pests and diseases and respond to queries from inspectors.
* Be responsible for internal technical information including reviewing, editing and authoring SOPs and providing updates.
* Fulfil an Incident Management Team (IMT) role during major plant health outbreaks.
* Contribute to emergency response preparedness working internally with APHA Resilience & Contingency Planning team and externally with the wider Plant Health Service
* Contribute into the design of Emergency Exercises.
* Working closely with Field Operations contribute to the monitoring of PH surveillance and incident delivery using appropriate IT. Use your analytical skills to assess the data to reach sound business decisions including identifying issues and seeking mitigation or solutions.
* Contribute to the development of new IT systems covering emergency response activity & reporting.
* Contribute to surveillance design for annual and multi-annual surveillance programmes.
* Liaise and advise Defra, Forestry Commission, Fera and Devolved Authority's where appropriate on surveillance & action issues.
* Working with the PHSI training team devise, update and deliver training material
* Promote and develop better ways of working for surveillance and action activities which may require field visits.
* Undertake line management responsibilities as required.
* Have a good understanding of scientific principles to enable participation in and challenge of scientific discussion with science bodies and policy teams.
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