About the job

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency 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. Our Operations directorate oversees a significant proportion of this work, which must be held to the highest standard.

We are looking for an Operational Excellence Governance Coordinator who can join our organisation and help provide assurance around these important areas of our work. You’ll ensure that our Manual for Official Controls on food and animal feed is coordinated with current standards, and support business reporting around planning, performance management and risk.

Job description

You’ll deliver key input that will help us plan and monitor work being carried out by our Operational Excellence team and help deliver reports and briefings that will inform our approach.

The work you’ll support will be varied and offer you opportunities to build a network with colleagues from across the organisation. You’ll excel in organising your work and prioritising effectively to meet deadlines.

If you are a talented communicator who is looking for a career that makes a real difference, this role is an opportunity to help us build the capabilities and quality of work carried out by the organisation that delivers ‘food you can trust’ to consumers across the country.

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.

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,505, Food Standards Agency contributes £9,417 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 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 and desirable criteria. (Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).

Essential criteria

Experience

• Lead criteria: Excellent written and verbal communication skills including the ability to challenge senior colleagues where appropriate
• Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise effectively and work to tight deadlines
• Effective at working with and through internal and external stakeholders to enable the delivery of successful outcomes at pace
• Self-motivated with evidence of initiating work and ideas independently to deliver successful outcomes
• Strong IT skills including proficiency in MS Word, PowerPoint and MS Excel

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

Experience  

• Experience of working with PowerBi or other data visualisation/reporting tools

Lead Criteria: An initial sift will take place on the Lead Criteria.

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 3

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 16/07/24

Sift: Expected to take place 17/07/24

Final panel interview: Expected to take place w/c 29/07/24

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.

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.