About the job

Job summary

With a world-class reputation for safeguarding the health and safety of people at work, HSE is adapting and evolving to meet the new challenges ahead. This is an exciting time to join the Chemical Regulations Division (CRD) with opportunities to develop and shape our regulatory schemes for the future. 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 guidance, partnership working and leadership to raise awareness and promote behaviour change to help improve the control of hazardous substances in the workplace.

Please note - part time working is available for this role, however, the minimum number of hours we can accommodate is 27 hours per week, across four days. 

Job description

The Non-dietary Exposure Team’s function is to assess occupational and other non-dietary exposure of people to pesticides and biocides. This is an exciting time to join the team and you will play a leading role in developing the UK Government’s approaches to assessing the risks arising from exposure to chemicals and work with a variety of national and international organisations and experts. To help us meet these challenges, we require two ambitious senior regulatory non-dietary exposure experts to join us in undertaking occupational and non-dietary exposure assessments of biocides and pesticides.

You will already be an established professional in occupational and non-dietary exposure assessment of biocides and/or pesticides. Beyond your specialism you will work alongside a multi-disciplinary team of chemical and environmental scientists and other technical experts undertaking risks assessments using range of data relating to biocide/pesticide active substances and products. Your role will be to lead occupational and non-dietary exposure assessments of biocides or pesticides and explain conclusions and decisions internally and externally, to independent scientists, other government departments and relevant stakeholders.

As a Senior Regulatory Scientist, you will mentor and support members of the team, provide peer review of work, lead on specific technical aspects, and provide advice to specialist and policy colleagues and wider stakeholders.

You will also have opportunities to provide training at external commercial events organised by CRD.

Key Responsibilities

You will:

• Use your experience and knowledge in occupational/non dietary exposure assessment of biocides/pesticides to analyse information, following accepted guidance and models to determine human health risks to support robust regulatory decisions.
• Develop and maintain the technical approach to the assessment of occupational and non-dietary exposures of biocides/pesticides, providing a lead input into future developments and guidance documents.
• Manage and develop others, providing advice and training of less experience colleagues, contributing to the internal peer review and quality assurance process, identifying training needs and taking a leading role in building capability.
• Provide technical and scientific advice and guidance to colleagues, applicants, stakeholders, and the public.
• Contribute to work planning and manage delivery to time, cost, and quality criteria.

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list and there may be other tasks/responsibilities that will be required as part of this role.

Person specification

Essential skills and criteria

• Comprehensive problem solving and analytical skills with the ability to write and present complex technical information in a clear and concise way.
• Experience of leadership in relevant technical issues including developing team technical capability and mentoring and supporting colleagues.
• Strong organisational skills in managing a varied workload to demanding deadlines and delivering to time, cost and quality criteria.
• Extensive experience of writing and critically reviewing non-dietary exposure assessment of biocides and/or pesticides, demonstrating technical knowledge of the science and underlying principles and producing clear risk management conclusions
• A detailed understanding of the Biocides Human Health Exposure Methodology and/or the EFSA Pesticides Exposure Guidance including knowledge of the underlying data supporting the guidance and the associated exposure models to enable assessment non-dietary exposures of biocides and/or pesticides.
• Extensive experience in the use of Recommendations of the Ad hoc Working Group on Human Exposure, Opinions of the Human Exposure Expert Group and Technical Agreements for Biocides Human Health and ConsExpo Web to assess non-dietary exposure to biocides and/or extensive experience in the use of EFSA OPEX Model, HSE amateur use exposure models and UK Seed Tropex Model to conduct non-dietary exposure assessment of pesticides.

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.

Successful candidates will also be expected to undertake some face-to-face training upon joining HSE and this will be office based

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,765, Health and Safety Executive contributes £12,678 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

As part of your application, you will be required to complete a comprehensive CV – this should cover you career history and qualifications. A summary should be provided of your role and responsibilities for any positions related to occupational/non-dietary exposure of pesticides, biocides and chemicals.

You will also need to complete a supporting personal statement (up to 1000 words) – this should provide evidence of how your experience matches the essential skills and criteria listed within the person specification. 

Application 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 26th August 2024. At sift, you will be assessed on your CV and personal statement and a combined score will be given. 

Interview Information

The interviews are due to be held during the weeks commencing 9th September 2024 and 16th September 2024. Should you be successful at sift and reach interview stage will be assessed on:

• The technical skills listed within the advert
• The two behaviours listed within the advert.

Please note that dependent on numbers of applications received 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

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

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 at 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.