About the job

Job summary

Do you wish to be part of an amazing, diverse team on the frontline in researching, investigating, and acting to protect the UK’s animal, plant and bee health?

If so, why not join us and make a difference. 

As a Laboratory Scientist in the Rabies and Zoonoses team, you will support the delivery of the research projects within the Virology Department. You will also perform diagnostic tests to support outbreak response, commercial and statutory diagnosis of a broad range of viruses.

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 Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our People are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes.

Job description

Main areas of work will include:

• Conduct and support experimental studies involving Rabies and other viral diseases.
• Assist with the maintenance and management of the conventional and molecular test portfolio for viral diseases.
• Conduct experimental and diagnostic work, some of which could involve the handling and sampling of animal tissues and assistance at postmortems.
• Establish new techniques, write and implement SOPs and maintain, troubleshoot or improve existing methods.
• Maintain Safety standards while working in Biocontainment level 2 and 3 facilities, including writing and implementing risk assessments and acting as deputy building officer as required.
• Act as Quality liaison officer assisting the department in maintaining an efficient and effective quality management system meeting the requirements of ISO9001:2015 certification and ISO17025 accreditation.
• Prepare written reports for inclusion into manuscripts, publications and project reports.
• Be part of the Core capability team to support other groups within the Virology department to perform serological/molecular diagnostic tests in the event of an outbreak or to provide support for WHO/OIE reference laboratories.
• Present data at national and international meetings and conferences as appropriate.
• Manage junior staff and train new staff members, visiting scientists and students as required.

Person specification

You will need to demonstrate the following:

• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Numeracy and IT literacy.
• Technical laboratory experience in the following areas:

1. Virology experience e.g. cell/virus culture, titration
2. Molecular biology e.g. nucleic acid extraction, PCR, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis
3. Serology assays e.g. ELISA, immuno-diffusion assays, virus neutralisation

• Ability to input into the design, management, write up and presentation of work.
• Willingness to work at Biocontainment levels 2 and 3 and have an understanding of SAPO/ACDP compliance.
• A Biological science degree or equivalent experience.

Staff will be required to work rostered on-call duties, weekends, Bank Holidays and occasional evenings. Out of hours work may be required in the event of a disease incident. When overtime or out-of-hours work is required, APHA Management reserves the right to change overtime patterns to meet requirements. You may be eligible for overtime payments and where overtime is approved you will receive appropriate payment.

The successful candidate will be expected to have any necessary vaccinations and comply with health surveillance protocols. This will be arranged by the Health Team, Weybridge.  It will also be necessary to undergo a pre-employment medical assessment. The post holder will need to wear protective clothing and Respiratory Personal Protective Equipment (RPPE) as required. 

The work of the post can be physically demanding, and due to access requirements to biosecure areas (laboratory facilities), individuals must be physically able.

Periodic travel within the UK or overseas may be required.

A valid full driving licence is necessary or access to an alternative means of transport.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,827, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £8,323 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.

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

Sift

Sift and interview dates as well as the interview location 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.

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. This post requires you to be working in the Laboratory five days per week or less if part-time.

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.

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.