About the job

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a small government department with a big mission: to keep food safe, ensure that it is what it says it is, and that it is increasingly healthy and more sustainable. With such a diverse remit, it’s important that our teams have everything they need to deliver their important work successfully. The Health, Safety and Wellbeing team works to ensure that staff at the FSA work in an environment that supports their needs.

We are looking for a Health, Safety and Wellbeing Officer who can support our efforts to provide a great workplace for our colleagues. You’ll be the first point of contact for health and safety issues in the office and other lower risk environments.

Job description

You’ll support our key work to create the best working environment we can for over 1400 staff across the breadth of the FSA’s wide-reaching remit. From administrating our incident reporting system to ensuring those who drive at work are properly equipped to do so, your work will have a direct impact on the safety and wellbeing of your colleagues across the organisation.

Delivering at pace across a range of areas, you’ll have a talent for juggling priorities and organising your work to ensure that nothing is missed. To do this, you’ll need to be a skilled communicator who can support your colleagues and ensure they have what they need to do the best work they can.

If you are looking for an opportunity to use your skills to support important work, and are interested in building a career that empowers those around you, apply today to join the FSA as a Health, Safety and Wellbeing Officer.

Person specification

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.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,259, Food Standards Agency contributes £7,658 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 and Experience.

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.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Experience

1. Lead criteria: Managing competing demands and perspectives from a wide range of internal and external stakeholders – Demonstrable experience of prioritising and managing various administrative tasks and workstreams to tight deadlines to ensure outputs are delivered.
2. Drafting communications using a variety of different media
3. Proven experience of working effectively within established databases and reporting systems with a continuous improvement approach
4. Experience of effectively taking and writing meeting notes.

Please note that although a Workstation Assessor Qualification is desirable for this role, should you not hold this qualification then we will support you in achieving it once you commence employment.

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 2

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

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

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 06/02/24

Sift: Expected to take place from 07/02/24

Final panel interview: Expected to take place w/c 19/02/24

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.

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.