About the job

Job summary

In the Defra group, we deal with a vast range of issues that profoundly impact on people’s lives. We are responsible for England’s food and farming sectors, the environment, our countryside and our rural economy, and have lead responsibility for protection from a wide range of natural threats and hazards.

Defra’s UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance (the UK SPS Office) was established in 2021 and sits in the Animal and Plant Health and Welfare Directorate (APHW). The APHW Directorate’s objective is to protect the nation from animal and plant diseases and pests, and to uphold the UK’s high animal welfare standards. These are major priorities for Defra, creating a healthy environment that everyone can enjoy, a successful, productive food and farming sector and a thriving rural economy.

The UK SPS Office ensures the safety of imports of animals and animal products to the United Kingdom. We represent the four governments of the UK, working closely with risk and policy experts in other departments and agencies to support high standards for biosecurity and food safety, while facilitating international trade in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) products.

Job Description

The UK SPS Office is recruiting a Level 3 Data Technician Apprentice to support its work. The postholder will play an important role in protecting UK biosecurity and food safety by monitoring, documenting and coordinating assessment of overseas animal disease outbreaks, and ensuring robust systems are in place to identify, assess and act upon emerging risks.

No previous experience is required. The apprenticeship will provide you with the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours to be fully effective in your role.

On successful completion of the apprenticeship, you will have the skills, knowledge and behaviours to enable you to:

• Effectively prioritise and manage your time
• Write effective and factual communications for government
• Communicate effectively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• Source, format and present data securely in ways that provide for effective analysis, analyse data to support business outcomes, blend data from multiple sources, and apply relevant legal and ethical principles when managing data

Job description

Responsibilities

The role will include:

• Monitoring emerging biosecurity risks in approved trading partners, identifying, gathering and recording intelligence from a wide range of sources, and escalating where appropriate to inform effective risk management
• Monitoring legislative divergence with approved trading partners to identify potential biosecurity risks
• Management of key UK SPS Office mailboxes, ensuring information is cascaded swiftly and efficiently to relevant colleagues and teams to support delivery of rapid and coordinated action in response to emerging risks
• Supporting the development and implementation of key policies and operating procedures regarding the management and sharing of data across the UK Office, Defra, other Government departments, and trading partners
• Providing a secretariat function for a varied range of meetings with both internal and external stakeholders. This will include managing bookings, invites, agendas and action logs, distributing documents and producing clear and concise notes

Person specification

For this role we are seeking a highly motivated Executive Officer who is confident working with others, while proactively driving work forward independently. Excellent communication skills are needed for establishing and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

In this exciting, fast-moving, and high-profile policy area, successful candidates will need to be organised, have an eye for detail and accuracy, have excellent written and oral communication skills, and be able to work at pace.

The abilities we seek in our policy professionals are relevant to all teams they work in, and include:

• Sound analytical skills, identifying and gathering information from a wide range of sources to detect trends and critical issues and escalate as appropriate
• Planning and prioritising effectively to deliver a quality service and results at pace, with good attention to detail
• A tactical thinker with creative problem-solving abilities and development of clear, evidenced options
• Building strong relationships with colleagues and confidently engaging stakeholders to be able to take account of their different and often conflicting views
• The ability to learn fast and get to grips with an area of expertise quickly
• Well-developed interpersonal skills with ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment
• Self-motivated, self-aware with high inner resilience and calm under pressure
• Presenting issues clearly and persuasively with excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A flexible and adaptable approach to change
• Ability to explain technical concepts to a non-technical audience

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,470, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 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.

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 and Experience.

Application process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a personal statement (max 500 words) and three behaviour statements (max 250 words).        

• For your Personal Statement please explain why you feel you are suitable for this role and your interest in undertaking an apprenticeship. Please detail the interpersonal or relevant practical skills you believe you could bring to this role and how they relate to the content in the job description and responsibilities sections above  and the behaviour statements (500 words max)
• Please complete statements on the specified Behaviours (250 word max, per statement)

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

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted 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 assessed on your behaviours and your strengths.

The interview will take place on Teams and will last approximately 45-60 minutes.

A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.

Assessment of the suitability of all candidates will take place once all interviews are complete.

Apprenticeship

To start an apprenticeship, you’ll need to be:

• 16 or over
• living in England
• not in full-time education

You can apply for an apprenticeship while you’re still at school but you’ll need to be 16 or over by the end of the summer holidays to start the apprenticeship. Please note if successful you must be 16 or over to undergo the relevant security checks.

Further information

To be eligible to apply for this role you need to:

• Be ordinarily resident in the UK
• Work for more than 60% of your time in England – it is not essential to live in England, but you must physically work for more than 50% of your time in England
• Spend a minimum of six contracted hours per week on your apprenticeship
• Be able to demonstrate that the apprenticeship will provide “substantive new skills and learning” and that the apprenticeship programme it is “materially different to any other training undertaken or qualification held”

Apprenticeship training is based on a minimum of 31 hours per week with a minimum of 6 hours training. As this is an apprenticeship and due to the hours required to complete the training, applications will be for a full time post only.

See the candidate pack for more information on becoming an apprentice in Defra.

Location

Please be aware that this role(s) will be contractually based in a Defra 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.

Candidates applying for these roles will be based at one of the Defra hubs as advertised.  

For information, our core Defra hub locations are:

• York – the Kings Pool
• Newcastle – Lancaster House
• Bristol – Horizon House (Please note that space at this office is limited and it may not be possible for all Policy roles to be recruited to this location)
• London – 2 Marsham Street

Internal (core Defra) employees can apply for this role and choose to remain in their current location or to be based in one of the advertised locations.

All other applicants will be based in one of the advertised locations. Our current office attendance approach requires 60% attendance in Defra group workplaces or off site meetings with partners and customers. This balance provides thriving workplaces to connect with colleagues, as required by their role and business team needs balanced with personal flexibility and choice. 

Travel and subsistence will not be paid for travel to a base office location.

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. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

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.

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.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

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.