Are you a skilled leader looking for a new challenge?

Would you like to use your regulatory experience to make a real impact for consumers?

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is looking for a Head of Official Food and Feed Controls Frameworks Team who can help us carry out our mission to ensure that food is safe, what it says it is, and increasingly healthy and more sustainable.

Our Official Food and Feed Controls (OFFC) are carried out by FSA teams and local authorities across the country every day, ensuring the quality of food and animal feed created in the UK. The OFFC Frameworks team play a key role in the way these checks are delivered, developing and implementing frameworks that guide the work and ensure it is up to standard.

You’ll join during a period of substantial change and have the opportunity to oversee significant updates to our ever-evolving food system. From supervising changes to the Food and Feed Law Codes to supporting the FSA’s development of innovative regulatory approaches and polices, your work will have a tangible impact on the way we protect food.

You will lead an enthusiastic multidisciplinary team, planning and overseeing the delivery of their work and budget. As well as being a talented leader of people, you will be skilled in recognising and anticipating emerging issues and collaborating with colleagues to align your team’s work with the wider organisation.

Collaboration will be key to your success, and you’ll be excited to build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders alike, empowering the FSA to better deliver safe food for consumers across the country.

If you are able to deliver complex workplans while supporting your colleagues to ensure they are able to do their best work, this is an opportunity to make a real difference.

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.  

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role. 

·         Qualified Environmental Health Practitioner/Food Safety Officer or Trading Standards Officer

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential and desirable criteria. (Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).

Essential criteria

Experience

·         Lead criteria: Experience in applying a regulatory code of practice in a food or feed setting (local authority or industry)   

·         Extensive knowledge and understanding of the regulatory delivery landscape for food and feed in the UK

·         Leading and motivating a team in making complex evidence-based decisions

·         Experience of delivering a complex workplan within a fast-paced, changing environment to challenging timescales

·         Experience of developing written and verbal communications to senior stakeholders including Executive Teams and Board members

Desirable criteria (Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).

Experience   

·         Experience of delivering Official Food or Feed Controls in a local authority regulatory setting

·         Experience of working at senior level within a local authority food/feed law regulatory service

Lead Criteria An initial sift may take place on just the identified Lead Criteria indicated.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Civil Service Behaviours Level 4

Behaviours

·         Making Effective Decisions

·         Leadership

·         Communicating and Influencing

·         Delivering at Pace

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Assessment exercise

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to prepare a seen presentation.  Further information will be provided to you on the invitation to interview email.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 30/05/24

Sift: Expected to take place w/c 03/06/24

Final panel interview: Expected to take place w/c 17/06/24

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

The FSA is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity for all.

Being truly reflective of our society and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to the work of the FSA. We are looking to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and encourage candidates to apply from a diverse range of backgrounds. We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process and beyond. All appointments are made on merit.

Please be assured that diversity or socio–economic information requested during the course of your application plays absolutely no part in our selection processes and is not seen by anyone assessing applications.  Any information provided is anonymised and used for statistical purposes only.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview, but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.