About the job

Job summary

UKHSA’s Radiation, Chemical and Environment (RCE) Hazards Directorate provides advice, research and services to protect the public from exposure to chemicals and poisons, ionising and non-ionising radiation, and other environmental hazards. RCE provides a specialist assessment and advice function within UKHSA’s overall response as a Category 1 responder to radiation and chemical emergencies. RCE has an extensive and diverse research function part of which is carried out in the context of NIHR Health Protection Research Units.

The Radiation Dosimetry Department provides authoritative public health information and advice about exposures to lasers and optical radiation, electromagnetic fields, and ionising radiation used for medical diagnostic imaging. In addition, the department provides the secretariat to the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE).

The work of the Department encompasses the provision and maintenance of calibration facilities, research programmes of physical measurement and theoretical dosimetry, health hazard exposure assessments, and the development of standards. It includes the provision of training courses, and liaison and collaborative input to national and international bodies concerned with setting and promulgating standards for protection.

The Electromagnetic Fields Dosimetry (EMFD) Group's role is to assess exposure characteristics of emerging and established EMF technologies, including mobiles phones, base stations and power lines.

The group acts as the national contact point for UKHSA’s advice on the public health aspects of exposures to electromagnetic fields; input to regulations; research on health impacts and environmental monitoring of exposures to electromagnetic fields; training and input to the international and national guidance and standards on exposure to electromagnetic fields; development of methodology of public and occupational exposure assessments, and measurement infrastructure; support to the electromagnetic field capabilities of the RCE Operational Services Department.

The EMFD Group has two laboratories at Chilton in Oxfordshire; one primarily used for EMF exposure investigations and maintenance of measurement equipment, and the other for dielectric properties research. The Group provides advisory correspondence, with high-level requests and short deadlines arriving on a daily basis.

Job description

• Experimental assessment of exposure from sources of electromagnetic fields using specialised scientific equipment. This may be in the laboratory or off site.
• Technical, computing and analytical work underpinning the assessment of exposure of people to electromagnetic fields.
• Developing methodologies and instrumentation for the assessment of exposure to electromagnetic fields.
• Contributing to externally funded research and services work, including lectures and other support with training courses.
• Working within a project management framework, agreeing and respecting allocated budgets, managing risks and maintaining quality standards.
• Participation in the UKHSA response to radiological emergencies, in accordance with the roles described in the RCE Emergency Plan. These roles will include carrying out environmental sampling and measurements as part of an emergency monitoring team, and laboratory analysis of samples.

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

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Educated to degree level in electrical/electronic engineering or a physical science discipline, or equivalent level of experience working at a similar level.
• Current full UK driving license.
• Experience of electromagnetic field (EMF) sources and applications
• Experience of EMF laboratory facilities and equipment such as network and spectrum analysers, oscilloscopes etc
• Understanding and ability to apply electromagnetic theory.
• Strong mathematical/statistical and analytical skills to use existing computational models and ability to write new codes.
• Confident in use of Microsoft office packages, especially Word and Excel
• Ability to communicate effectively, formally, informally, orally and in writing (including presentation of scientific work) to colleagues, customers, and representatives from other organisations.
• Technical competence in performing measurements coupled with good numeracy skills.
• Ability to observe and question to gather information and sift it to disregard the irrelevant and identify key issues.
• Ability to assess complex situations and interpret detailed documents that may include legislation.
• Capable of working accurately and consistently in setting up equipment and in making complex measurements
• Ability to work well under pressure and to deadlines; also, able to prioritise the workload.
• Good organisational skills and the ability to work largely unsupervised.
• Ability to remain focussed on a task and concentrate on the matter in hand (e.g., when carrying out detailed measurement protocols).
• Good time management and ability to work to tight deadlines.
• Ability to ‘think on feet’.
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships.

 Desirable Criteria:

• MSc in electrical/electronic engineering or a physical science discipline
• Postgraduate or on-the-job experience of scientific work gained in a project or research environment.
• Understanding of telecommunication networks and radio communications protocols
• Good understanding of radiation protection principles
• Knowledge and experience of assessing compliance with international radiation protection safety standards.
• Experience in the provision of training
• Training/experience in emergency response
• Good presentation skills for training courses, scientific and more general meetings

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

You will be required to complete an application form and a statement of suitability. Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, against the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section). Your Statement of Suitability must not exceed 1000 words.

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. The sift selection panel will only consider relevant career history information from the last 5 years.

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

STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW:

This competition will involve an interview in Person

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.   

The Success Profiles framework will be used at interview to assess and recruit the most suitable candidate.  The following behaviours will be used at the interview:

• Seeing the big picture
• Making effective decisions
• Leading and communicating
• Collaborating and partnering
• Managing a quality service
• Delivering at pace 

Candidates might also 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 17/12/2023 – 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: Jan 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.