About the job

Job summary

The Radiation Emergency Response Group (ERG) within UKHSA’s Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards Directorate is responsible for overall co-ordination and evaluation of UKHSA’s emergency arrangements for radiological and nuclear incidents. 

This Higher Radiation Protection Scientist in ERG will be responsible for managing their own work areas within the Group as well as leading on individual scientific, policy and emergency preparedness projects. The post reports to a Principal Radiation Protection Scientist in Group and works alongside a Senior Radiation Protection Scientist and Executive Officer. Work areas include:  

• Preparation, validation, exercising, review and updating of a range of sections of the UKHSA Radiation Emergency Plan. 
• Contribute to the design, delivery and evaluation internal training and emergency exercises.
• Contribute to the design, review and oversight of maintenance of records management for internal emergency training and exercise participation. 

Job description

As the Higher Radiation Protection Scientist your main responsibilities will include:

• The post-holder will plan and carry out a range of scientific and management duties, including:
• Contribute the development of UKHSA’s radiation emergency preparedness and response arrangements.
• Manage aspects of the core-funded work of ERG, such as the division’s participation in nuclear emergency exercises.
• Manage specific aspects of internal training courses and exercises and the records associated with these
• Provide training in the field of radiological emergency preparedness and response.
• Have a role in UKHSA’s radiation emergency response plan.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Please review the Job Description for a full list of responsibilities. 

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of 1250 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the following criteria:

Essential

• Honours Degree in a relevant scientific subject or equivalent experience
• Postgraduate or equivalent on-the-job experience in radiation protection
• Good knowledge of radiation protection and in particular its application in emergencies
• Ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting, incomplete or drawn from multiple sources, using experience to make inferences and decision making.
• Ability to interpret detailed documents that may include legislation.
• Ability to rapidly analyse a situation and develop practical solutions to problems without needing to refer to management. 

Desirable

• Membership of relevant professional bodies such as the Society for Radiological Protection or Institute of Physics 
• Experience in emergency planning and responding to emergencies.
• Experience in training and exercise design, delivery and evaluation.
• Demonstrated experience of coordinating projects in complex and challenging environments 

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Sucess Profiles and will assess your Behaviours/Strengths/Ability/ Experience/Technical skills. 

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Personal Statement / Statement of Suitability in no more than 1250 words. 

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and achievements, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria outlined. 

You will also be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history (this will be used in sifting process and will be scored). 

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT: 
You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the advertised criteria. 

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview.  
 

STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW 
All candidates who are successful at the sift stage will undertake a single interview.  

All applicants that progress to a blended interview will be assessed against a mixture of Behaviours, strengths and/or technical skills. 

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be: 

• The ability to remain composed in pressurised situations where complex information needs to be considered and acted upon 
• Adaptability to sudden changes in priorities 

The Strengths tested during the interview stage will be: 

• Ability to work on a number of separate tasks at the same time, often independently, whilst keeping to agreed deadlines often working under pressure with competing priorities. 
• Ability to produce clear well-structured written material and tailor presentation of it to a range of audiences, scientific and non-scientific. 

Technical Skills 

• Familiarity with radiation health protection and emergency planning and response issues, and of UKHSA advice on these. 
• Experience in training course design, delivery and evaluation 
• Experience in setting up and managing projects to completion and evaluating effectiveness. 
• An understanding of the principles of radiological protection in the context of emergency response 

 Within the interview, candidates will be required to provide a 15-minute presentation on the topic of ‘The importance of training and exercising in radiation emergency planning’. 

As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.  Candidates will also be asked to participate in a session where they will be required to prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation to the panel.  This will be followed by a question-and-answer segment.  The presentation will be designed to assess each candidate’s experience in line with the requirements of the role.  Full details will be provided prior to the interview.  

 Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs on 8th January 2024 – unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Interviews: W/C 29th January 2024.

Please note these dates could be subject to change. 

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.