About the job

Job summary

The Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD) employs around 450 scientific, policy and support staff in York, Bootle and London. Our primary role is to deliver regulatory schemes intended to protect the health of people and the environment, balancing the economic and social benefits that chemicals offer to society and, helping to ensure the safe and sustainable use of chemicals. We also have a role through inspection, guidance, partnership working and leadership to raise awareness and promote behaviour change to help improve the control of hazardous substances in the workplace.

To achieve this and deliver improved regulatory outcomes, we work closely with small and large businesses, and key stakeholders, ranging from industry bodies and multi-national chemical businesses, other government departments (in particular Defra) and other regulators across Europe and internationally.

The UK’s implementation of the Official Controls Regulations 2017/625 (OCR) required the establishment of an inspection scheme and enforcement capability within HSE, to put into effect Official Controls on the manufacture, supply, storage and use of Plant Protection Products (PPP).

This is a frontline role where you will need to be able to influence duty-holders, identify material breaches of regulations, act to remedy breaches and check compliance with duties defined in a range of chemicals regulations. You will serve enforcement notices and provide advice and guidance to bring duty-holders back into compliance. You will work closely with other members of the CRD enforcement team and will also be expected to work independently upon demonstration of the required competencies.

Part time working hours are available for this role. We can accept part time applicants who can commit to working a minimum of 22.5 hours across 3 days per week.

Job description

• You will be trained to support HSE’s work with the chemical industries and undertake a combination of proactive and reactive duties, including involvement in investigations; there will be a need to acquire an understanding and knowledge of relevant operational procedures.
• This role will provide you with significant opportunities to develop knowledge of enforcement practice and policy and working collaboratively with a range of internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• The role of a Pesticides Enforcement Officer (PEO) will continue to evolve and you will need to remain flexible to adapt to new challenges as the Enforcement Team grows, including developing new online investigation tools and techniques.

Successful candidates will also be expected to undertake some face-to-face training upon joining HSE and this will be office based. A number of the training events will be held in Bootle, York & Bristol. These will range from 2-day-over-3 to 4-day-over-5 courses. Other courses of similar duration may be held at external locations. From some locations you may have to travel on a Sunday to arrive on time for the course to start and return home late on the Friday. 

As you might expect, this role can take you to all sorts of workplaces and conditions, and you may need to access various parts of the workplace, including at height. You therefore need to be reasonably fit. Obviously your health and safety is paramount to us and we will provide you with a range of personal protective clothing depending on the workplace you are visiting. When you are in the office, you will be dealing with the follow-up to investigations and inspections using HSE's information and recording systems.

Responsibilities

• Visiting workplaces to assess compliance with specific requirements of the pesticides regulations.
• Exercising powers under the relevant pesticides legislation - you will be provided with a certificate of authorisation (i.e. a warrant) setting out these powers.
• Making judgements about matters of concern and identifying where an inspector intervention may be required - consulting with the operational team leader or regulatory inspector as necessary and taking enforcement action as appropriate.
• Interacting with a wide range of duty holders, employees, trade union representatives, Local Authority Officers, other government agencies, members of the public and other interested parties.
• Securing and processing evidence and contributing to its proper management in addition to data analysis and inspection targeting.
• Providing advice and guidance to duty holders, members of the public, other government departments and policy and enforcement colleagues

At HSE, we are proud to be able to offer our people the opportunity to work in a hybrid way which combines working from home and the office. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your allocated office will be your contractual place of work. There will be a requirement to travel to the office for various activities e.g., collaborative working, supporting and training colleagues. If hybrid working is suitable for you and your role, the arrangements will be determined primarily by business need, but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. Therefore, we would encourage candidates to consider if the commute from home to the office is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. Please note that if you are successful, hybrid working will be discussed prior to taking up the post.

However, please note that these posts are an office-based role, and they are not a remote location based or home worker post; as such, successful candidates will need to be in a position to attend the office from appointment date onwards and will be required to attend the office regularly and potentially at short notice.

Alongside the training commitment, this role also requires regular travel (up to 3 days at a time) to duty-holder premises across England, Scotland and Wales. Given that HSE regulates sites across the whole of GB you will be expected to spend periods working away from home which will include significant travel and overnight stays. Please consider if you are able to commit to this amount of time away from home before applying for this role.

Person specification

• Develop awareness and knowledge of HSE’s work and organisational structure.
• Acquire an understanding and knowledge of relevant operational and legal procedures and become familiar with pesticides hazards from manufacture, through supply to their eventual application and use.
• Work as part of a team with colleagues to deliver the key responsibilities of the post in a flexible and responsive manner responding to changes of priority as work demands dictate.
• Demonstrate competence across a set number of modules in a defined training programme within an 18 month period; Including successfully passing and obtaining a NEBOSH Certificate in Health and Safety.
  

Essential Requirements

• Evidence of working independently and an ability to make decisions about priorities and appropriate action on a day-to-day basis to achieve planned outcomes.
• Experience of influencing and dealing successfully with difficult people/situations.
  Evidence of good communication and customer-facing skills with an ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with stakeholders, adapting to different people and situations.
• You should have a NEBOSH Certificate in Health and Safety (or suitable alternative), or be willing to obtain this qualification within a reasonable length of time which we consider to be within the first 18 months of service. Further appropriate study time will be allowed during work hours.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,802, Health and Safety Executive contributes £8,856 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.

Application

As part of your application, you will be asked to provide an anonymised CV detailing your career history and qualifications and complete a Personal Statement of up to 500 words. This should demonstrate how your skills and experience meet the requirements of this role. When writing your personal statement please refer to the Essential Requirements of the job role as described above.

Please note - your CV will be used for information purposes only and will not be scored. 

You will also be asked to complete up to 250 words for the behaviour listed.

Useful Guidance

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply and how to complete a Personal Statement https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/how-to-apply/

Sift Information

The sift is due to take place during the week commencing Monday 3rd June 2024, where you will be assessed on the behaviour listed and your Personal Statement. 

Interview Information

You will be assessed on the three behaviours mentioned in the advert, combined with a 10 minute verbal presentation. The topic of the presentation will be provided within the interview invitation. Please note - PowerPoint presentations are not required.

In the event of a high number of applications at sift or that pass the interview standard or in the event of a tie-break we will assess on the lead behaviour, Communicating and Influencing.

Interviews are due to take place week commencing 10th and/or 17th June 2024.

Please note: The sift and interview dates could be subject to change.

AI Tools & Platforms

During the application process candidates are allowed to utilise AI (artificial intelligence) platforms and Tools to support them in writing their Behaviours, CV’s and Personal Statements. However, all information submitted must be factually accurate. This includes presenting the ideas and experience of others, or those generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. All presented information will be assessed at the Interview Stage.

Further Information

Please note that a Reserve List will be held for the period of up to 12 months as further positions may become available subject to business requirement.

Sponsorship

This role is not open to application from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship your application will be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment will be withdrawn.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful in their application. For a summary of HSE terms and conditions as part of Civil Service Reform, please see the attached HSE Terms and Conditions document. The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

HSE is proud to be a part of the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS). As a Disability Confident employer, we positively welcome applications from disabled people. We are committed to making workplace adjustments to ensure anyone can participate in the recruitment and selection process. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for all disabled applicants who provide evidence of meeting the minimum requirements necessary for the post. If, during the application or interview process, you require any assistance due to a disability or a medical condition, please contact us at the email address below to discuss how we can support you.

For example if you have a disability, and you need an application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please contact: hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk

If successful in securing your role, HSE can provide suitable workplace adjustments to support you throughout your career with HSE.

Any move to HSE 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 here

Please note, if you are a current civil servant and you are currently undergoing any of the following formal actions your application will not be progressed any further; Formal discipline action, any formal action regarding attendance, poor performance or any restriction of duties as a result of disciplinary action.

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.