About the job

Job summary

APHA is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions. 

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.

Are you conscientious and an excellent team worker?

Do you enjoy working outside?

If the answer is ‘yes’, you should come and work for APHA! 

During certain circumstances (e.g. national disease outbreaks) there will be requests to work on detached duty elsewhere in Great Britain, depending on business need. These requests may be made at short notice. You may be occasionally required to work from other locations in the delivery area. You will be expected to occasionally stay away from home on overnight stays to attend meetings and training. You will also be required to work rostered on-call duties, weekends, Bank Holidays and occasional evenings.

Job description

Working as part of the 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.  

As an Animal Health Officer (AHO) your duties will include, but not limited to the following:

• Blood sampling of livestock species including cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry (after training)
• Conduct animal welfare inspections
• Conduct documentation inspections on animal identification, animal movement, breeding, medicine and other written or electronic records for audit and disease control and surveillance purposes
• Collect samples for National Surveillance Schemes including feed samples from farms and feed mills
• Undertake assurance checks for the National control plan for Salmonella and compliance visits for Poultry Meat Marketing Regulations
• Collect samples and information for disease surveys
• Manage compliance inspections for premises handling animal by-products e.g. composting sites, hunt kennels and knackers’ yards
• Play an active part in contingency planning so the agency is able to respond to outbreaks of exotic notifiable disease and other emergencies
• Undertake allocated rostered out of hours on-call duties to deal with incidents and to support disease outbreak reports
• During outbreaks of notifiable disease, participate as directed to contribute to the control and the eradication of the disease including taking part in rosters for Detached Duty to other parts of Great Britain
• Working with a diverse team, both locally and across Great Britain, including other Technical colleagues, Veterinary Surgeons and Scientists
• The role includes undertaking risk-based visits to premises for egg marketing inspections and enforcement of the Eggs and Chicks regulation. The training for this area of work will involve travel and multiple overnight stays away from home.  Other duties within the egg marketing work area include –
• Ultra violet light egg shell analysis
• Hygiene assurance inspections
• Administration of penalty notices for NCP of Salmonella
• Ensuring welfare criteria are adhered to in various egg production units

Learning and Development 

Everyone in APHA is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. When you join the Directorate, you will be welcomed into your new team through an induction programme that will provide you with helpful information on the civil service, our work and our policies. Your line manager will also work with you to establish your priorities for the year, developing a performance, learning and development plan tailored to you and your role.

In return for your dedication, we will support your ongoing personal development through appropriate training. Inclusion, support and the development of our people matter to us. We aim to support the career and personal wellbeing of everyone in 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
• Good IT and analytical skills with experience of Microsoft word/Excel

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,470, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £7,416 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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 500 word 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.

For the personal statement, considering the Job Description and Person Specification, please demonstrate how you are most suited to this role.

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.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on your behaviours, technical skills, and strengths.

A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.

Interviews to be held via video link.

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 Defra’s 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.

For most candidates your hours of work will be a blend of working from an APHA workplace (specific to the team location), a field location and with working at home.

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. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service 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.grs@cabinetoffice.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 you’re 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.grs@cabinetoffice.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 applicant’s 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.

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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.