About the job

Job summary

Are you passionate about health and safety and facility management, have strong organisational skills and are great at building positive working-relationships?

Do you want to play a part in protecting the UK against some of the most serious threats?

We have a vacancy for a Workplace Manager (WPM) specialising in in vitro laboratory management and some office areas.
In this role you will ensure that all laboratory work is done in a safe manner and fulfils all applicable legislative and regulatory requirements; working hand in hand with the area's other WPM’s and Facility Management (FM’s).

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.
We particularly welcome female, ethnic minority and those from the LGBTQI community, as they are under-represented within Dstl at these levels.

Job description

In this role you will:

• Work alongside and collaborate with other area WPM’s and FM’s
• Ensure equipment is safe and fit for purpose; ensuring that they are maintained to regulatory standards to maintain a safe system of work
• Ensure hazards and risks arising from the activities are as low as reasonably practical.
• Assuring that users are competent to work via relevant Line Manager
• Be confident to be able to stop work or an activity considered unsafe
• Be point of contact for the facility management team, keeping them informed of any issues and agreeing actions
• Make certain that statutory and internal inspections are completed at specified intervals and any identified defects are addressed in a timely manner
• Be point of contact and oversee some maintenance contracts; ensuring that contractors are booked to attend on specified dates to fit around working patterns
• Be point of contact within the Workplace for Health, Safety, Environmental and Security issues; taking an active role during regulatory inspections
• Be expected to be point of contact for advice out of hours and support out of hours emergency on-call cover as required (subject to additional payment)
• Be expected to work overtime out of hours and weekends occasionally (if required and subject to additional payments and allowances)
• Ensure WPM cover for the area is constantly maintained in collaboration with other WPM’s
• Carry out fumigation when required (RPE mandatory)

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:

• The ability to manage the operations within a designated work area, inside the parameters defined by the Facilities Manager (FM)
• The ability to manage the hazards and risks arising from the activities undertaken to ensure compliance with Dstl policy, relevant legislative and regulatory requirements - through validating and implementing suitable Safety risk Assessments (SRAs) with delivery teams
• The ability to keep the FM informed of the hazards in the workplace and any changes to the hazard profile as a result of operations and activities
• The ability to assure compliance of all non-fixed assets imported into the workplace and to ensure they remain fit for purpose
• The ability to act as the point of contact for activities within the work place for Health, Safety, Environmental and Security issues

  Essential skills

  • Leadership skills appropriate to managing a workplace
  • Development and implementation of a safe system of work for the work area
  • Ability to critically assess safety aspects of work activities within workplace, the suitability of work equipment for use in specific facility or activity and allocation of appropriate facilities for work activities
  • Ability to identify critical assets and determine required planned preventative maintenance
  • Ability to communicate clearly hazards and control measures to users
  • Ability to lead Health and Safety inspections and audits of defined areas
  • Ability to manage visitor and contractor safety
  • Ability to enact emergency plans

  Desirable Experience

  • Experience of managing laboratory health, safety and environmental aspects
  • Experience of hazard management, risk assessment and risk management
  • Experience of providing advice on health, safety and environmental maters
  • Desirable qualifications NEBOSH or IOSH

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,970, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £9,712 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.

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Sift will be completed by Friday 2nd February 2024.  Interviews will be held in person on Porton site, building 02, Room G13 on the following; 19/02, 21/02, 28/02 & 01/03 2024

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.