About the job

Job summary

About OPSS

Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge, and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade. We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation, and efficiency.

Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned.

Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.

Further information can be found on our website.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Job description

The Role and Our Team

The Strategic Risk Officer is an important, multifaceted role which requires a similarly wide-ranging suite of skills and competences. The successful candidate will play a meaningful role in aiding the delivery of the strategic objectives of the Risk Team to build and maintain risk capability across the organisation.

The Risk Team ensure OPSS has the methodologies, tools, expertise, and support to deliver effective risk-based regulation of non-compliant products, which are often novel and/or complex in nature. Externally, we ensure that the UK’s system for identifying, assessing, and managing consumer product risks is working effectively, acting when needed to improve the system. We are a scientific and evidenced led team and if you have a keen interest in product safety, construction products, connected products or environmental harms and enjoy problem solving, this role will be particularly attractive.

As a Strategic Risk Officer, you will be responsible for aiding the delivery of important work streams and projects. You will have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of teams across OPSS and be involved in high-profile activities. As required, you will deputise for the Senior Strategic Risk Officer, as well as providing resilience across the Risk Team by having opportunity to support and work on the full range of activities of the Team.

You will use your experience, knowledge, and organisational skills to support robust, creative, and effective strategies and solutions to problems. You will be part of a dynamic, energetic, and professional team and you will be fully supported in making a success of the role, including the provision of training and development opportunities, particularly around the more technical aspects of the role.

We are an ambitious team that strives for excellence in all that we do, and the strength and success of the Risk Team lies in our diverse backgrounds. If risk and protecting people and places is your passion but you don’t meet the essential criteria, please do consider applying, setting out how your unique skills relate to delivery of the objectives of the Risk Team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Supporting the delivery of key risk work streams and projects by undertaking directed activities relating to the implementing of risk-based capability across OPSS.
• Developing your knowledge on product risk and risk methodologies to help provide the necessary support to colleagues within the Risk Team and across OPSS.
• Supporting and enabling the wider Risk Team activities and objectives by leading the oversight and monitoring of the Risk Inbox, SharePoint sites and other tools, data, templates and materials.
• Working with the relevant Teams to resolve evidence and information needs, including the commissioning of research and carrying out research related activity, such as analysing data.
• Adhering to processes including capturing outcomes in relation to quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation principles in relation to Risk Team activity.
• Supporting OPSS key stakeholder relationships including within industry, oversea Regulators, other regulators, OGDs etc in support of the delivery of Team and OPSS objectives.
• Liaising with and supporting internal colleagues, particularly those in the Targeting, and Enforcement Directorates.
• Undertaking roles on behalf of the Risk Team in relation to reactive work as it arises, including providing necessary support to Risk Team colleagues in relation to incidents.
• Deputising for the Strategic Risk Officer as required.

Please note that this role is open to candidates working in either our London, Birmingham or Teddington office. When you are required to give a preference, Twickenham will appear rather than Teddington, so please be aware that you should choose this option if you wish to be based in Teddington. 

Person specification

Skills & Experience

Essential criteria

• An understanding of risk.
• Organisational, report writing and analytical skills, including being able to identify and critically analyse relevant datasets, draw conclusions, and make recommendations.
• Proactive problem-solving skills, a strong focus on initiative and high attention to detail.
• Willingness to lead on issues and undertake deputising opportunities including working with, influencing, and supporting more senior colleagues.
• Ability to work collaboratively and maintain positive and constructive relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Good communication, presenting and influencing skills.

Desirable criteria

• An understanding of product risk, and product risk methodologies, such as PRISM.
• Experience of working in a regulatory environment.
• An understanding of risk management.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,858, Department for Business and Trade contributes £8,871 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, Strengths and Experience.

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.

Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:

•  A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.
• A Personal Statement of up to 750 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential criteria.

It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date though this is subject to change.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

As part of your interview, you will be asked to deliver a short oral presentation, details will be provided prior to your interview.

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment: 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. 

Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at DBTrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.  

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Candidate Support

You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.  

Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department. 

Further Information:

• A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.   
• Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
• The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.  
• New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.  
• 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. Any applicant who has 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.  
• Terms and Conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
• Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.
• This role may be considered as a secondment opportunity. Please reach out to the hiring manager listed at the bottom of this advert to discuss.

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. 

Feedback

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.