About the job

Job summary

We are looking for people with a passion for leadership, wanting to do interesting and creative roles that help civil servants and public sector leaders to succeed in their roles and support citizens by collaborating across the public sector. This role will provide business, science, and people leadership driving transformative change, innovation, and science excellence for APHA.

Do you want a role safeguarding standards of animal and plant health and welfare?

Do you have the ability to influence others and guide your team in a shared strategy? 

If so, we would love to hear from you! 

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.

The post holder will be the Senior Scientist in the National Science Capability Animal Health (NSCAH) programme for the Department of Bacteriology.

This will cover scientific estate development as an APHA Bacteriology representative and the transition/transformation and eventual new build of the science hub.

Job description

1. Transition & New Build Design

To provide APHA Bacteriology input to the transition, transformation and design work for the science hub. Much of this will be similar to (2) below but will also involve:

• Participation in strategic design workshops focused on transition facilities, refurbishments and new build design; Leading local transition and design workshops
• Participation at strategic level, and leading at local level, at transformation workshops focussed on changing ways of working (people, process and systems) and laboratory and animal facility design;
• Participation in value management and value engineering stages
• Identification of benefits through transformation (including measures) and then ongoing benefits analysis and monitoring;
• Developing and documenting new procedures and processes through liaison within respective department (s), other APHA representatives and quality and H&S colleagues for transition facilities, refurbishments and new builds. For the Science and Business Support Senior Liaison Lead, this will involve more general liaison across SD stakeholders;
• Manage and deliver as appropriate any communications within departments (from Head of Departments to the front line);
• Planning, coordinating and supporting of transition moves and planning/assisting in the implementation of the transformation, new ways of working etc.
• Leading on rationalisation and harmonisation of processes e.g. storage, bioarchives, equipment, PPE and other aspects of Dept processes and procedures which will require harmonisation
• Benchmarking with other national and international science establishments for discipline specialisms, innovation and improved ways of working
• Scientific information gathering, issues and escalations, assuring appropriate priority assigned to issues, investigations and lessons learnt.
• Liaison with Head of Department to ensure join up of departmental activities.

2. Estates Projects

To provide Bacteriology representation to new and ongoing DgP Science Estates Portfolio projects as part of business as usual. This will involve responsibilities identified above and also:

• Regular liaison within the respective department and DgP to establish the impact and involvement required of any project; and progress any ongoing work and assess the impact of any potential delays.
• Manage communication within departments (from Head of Departments to the front line)
• Provide specialist input (through personal knowledge or that trawled from the respective department) into any justification and/or design so that science is not compromised and meets the required legislation.
• Prepare Business Case justification for DgP Science Estates Portfolio projects.

3. Science Specialism

To maintain currency of discipline-based specialist knowledge, provide scientific expertise for the department and enable recognition of likely reciprocal impact on the NSCAH transition and design programme. This will include:

• Maintaining a working knowledge of specialist area (i.e. carry out relevant work within the respective discipline) in order to prevent silo working of the NSCAH team, maintain a breadth of knowledge and forge natural communication networks in relation to changes in business needs and legislative requirements through attendance at meetings and reading relevant literature. This may be up to 20% of your time, with responsibilities determined by the relevant HoD
• Participating in relevant Continuous Professional Development.
• Keeping up to date on any legislation likely to impact the work of the department during transition and design phases. This may include third party quality accreditation, H&S and Home Office legislation.
• Deputising for senior colleagues in relation to estates and site redevelopment and drafting any responses to requests for information.
• Liaison with SHaW on any safety related issues in either DgP Science Estates Portfolio projects or SCAH.
• Line or functional management as required.

Person specification

Required skills and experience:

• Experience of working as a departmental building officer and/or and departmental safety advisor at APHA or equivalent science organisation (just experience of working in a science environment for the Science and Business Support Senior Liaison Lead)
• Excellent organisational and communicating skills with experience of report preparation, and verbal presentation(s) to varied audiences.
• Good networking, negotiation, influencing and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work on their own initiative and prioritise workload to meet conflicting objectives
• Experience of working in a range of scientific and biocontainment environments (eg from lab work abroad or in other institutes)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,577, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £11,495 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, Experience and Technical skills.

Application Process
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV-style template and a 500-word personal statement. These should align to the details in the Person Specification in the advert and the job description. Your personal statement should demonstrate your suitability for the role based on the Key Skills and Experience specified in the Job Description. You will also need to give a 250-word statement for each of the two Behaviours.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift
Should a substantial number of applications be received, an initial sift may be carried out using the lead Behaviour, Making Effective Decisions. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or 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 asked to give examples of Behaviours using Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) and will be assessed against the technical skills and experience requirements detailed in the Job description.

A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.

Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Location
Please be aware that this role will be contractually based in a Defra/APHA group workplace/office. 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.

As part of the pre-employment process, 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.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

The role will be based at the Weybridge office.

Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

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.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 may be 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.

Full Time Only
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying. The post is full-time, we may consider two part-time staff on a job share basis if continuity can be arranged. Pro-rata salary for job share

NSV
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Higher Security Clearance
Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter.

The Weybridge site is a strategically important national asset due to its role as a reference laboratory supporting the Governments response to national emergencies including disease outbreaks. For this reason, all post holders based on the APHA Weybridge site must hold a valid Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) security clearance or above. It is up to each person applying for a post at APHA Weybridge to ensure they meet the residency criteria. Applicants must be currently resident in the UK & have at least three years continuous UK residency as this is a requirement to work at the Weybridge site where the team and work is situated.

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. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.