Local Authority Partnership

Officer (Food Hygiene)

Food Standards Agency: Candidate Pack

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Role Title Local Authority Partnership Officer (Food Hygiene) 2 Roles: 1 x Permanent, 1 x Fixed Term Appointment (2 years - with the possibility of permanency)

Salary Range £33,625 - £42,031 (National) For new entrants to the Civil Service starting salary will be the minimum salary shown for the post. However, a higher starting salary may be agreed subject to skills and experience. Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the department’s pay on transfer promotion rules. Please note there is no automatic progression within the advertised salary range. We review our pay annually in line with Civil Service Pay Policy.

Location Cardiff (combined with some home working) or Home Based and able to undertake regular business travel (the role has the potential overnight stays)

Benefits Generous pension, minimum of 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), flexible working, discount and incentive schemes.

Food Standards Agency: Candidate Pack

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About us

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales is committed to improving food and animal feed safety and standards and to protecting the health of the population in relation to food. It aims to be trusted as Wales' most reliable source of advice and information about food, putting the interests of consumers in Wales at the forefront of policy decisions.

Thank you for your interest in the Local Authority Partnership Officer (Food Hygiene) position at FSA Wales. I am looking for ambitious and motivated professionals to join my team.

I have been at the FSA for over 5 years and have thoroughly enjoyed my time working for such a progressive, modern and rewarding organisation. I am a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and have experience of working in variety of environmental health fields in local government.

Whilst at the FSA I have been involved in a range of exciting projects and benefitted from the excellent learning and development opportunities available to staff.

If you have the qualification, skills and experience for this role,

I would really welcome your application to join my team at

the FSA. I look forward to receiving your application.

The Team

Daniel Morelli Head of Local Authority

Delivery

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As a Local Authority Partnership Officer, you will be the primary point of contact between the FSA and local authority officers in Wales. Local authorities are key partners in achieving the FSA’s objectives.

Local Authority Partnerships plays a key role in developing and maintaining close working relationships with local authorities in Wales. This is important to ensure local authorities have ready access to support and advice in relation to food and animal feed law, the Food and Feed Law Codes of Practice, the Framework Agreement and centrally issued guidance. A close relationship is also necessary to ensure the development of FSA policy is informed by the experience of delivery. There is an overall need to ensure consistency in the interpretation and implementation of legislation across Wales.

As a Local Authority Partnership Officer (Food Hygiene), you will be responsible for ensuring local authorities have ready access to support and advice in respect of food law, the Food Law Code of Practice, Framework Agreement and centrally issued guidance to ensure effective, consistent and risk-based delivery of food law enforcement services. You will also contribute to the development and implementation of policy initiatives across a wide range of work areas, including food safety management, approved establishments, shellfish hygiene, enforcement sanctions as well as key work programmes, such as FSA funded projects for local authorities aimed at improving food business compliance.

In addition to possessing a professional qualification recognised by the Food Law Code of Practice for performing food hygiene official controls, you will have a comprehensive and practical understanding of food law and the regulatory system for delivering official controls. You will also need to have excellent communication skills and demonstrable experience of working in partnership with stakeholders to deliver business objectives. Establishing and maintaining close partnerships with local authority officers is essential to the effective performance of this role.

Key responsibilities of the role

• Establish and maintain close and effective working relationships with local authority officers at all levels to ensure the consistent delivery of common objectives across Wales.

• Provide day to day support and advice to local authorities on enforcement issues, including interpretation and implementation of legislation, the Food Law Code of Practice, the statutory FHRS guidance and other centrally issued guidance.

• Contribute to the development of FSA policy ensuring that Welsh interests are taken into account, provide input into Executive Management Team (EMT) and FSA Board papers and participate in Welsh Food Advisory Committee (WFAC) meetings, as necessary.

• Play a key role in ensuring that the findings of FSA local authority audits are addressed in a consistent, effective, efficient and proportionate manner.

• Contribute to the development and review of the Food Law Code of Practice, guidance and information in respect of food, and ensure FSA policies relating to relevant work areas are communicated effectively to local authorities in Wales.

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• Assist with the coordination of audit visits to Wales by the European Commission and other countries, liaising with local authority officers and FSA colleagues in preparation and during audits, and in follow-up activity to address any recommendations.

• Provide enforcement and technical support to colleagues in response to incident notifications.

• Liaise with FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) colleagues and other interested parties e.g. local authorities, industry, colleagues in other government departments to ensure food official controls are effective, risk based and proportionate.

• Keep up to date with legislative, technical and professional developments relevant to food.

• Contribute to the preparation of submissions and provision of advice to Welsh Ministers and relevant committees of the National Assembly for Wales and respond to Ministerial correspondence.

• Contribute to the overall business needs of the FSA in Wales through participation in internal and external working groups and meetings, give presentations to groups and organisations on relevant subjects, as required, and assist in the organisation and delivery of seminars and exhibitions.

• Provide professional information and advice on matters relating to food to FSA colleagues, local authorities, other government departments and Welsh Ministers.

• Contribute to the development and implementation of the FSA Strategic Plan, Wales High Level Business Plan and team plan.

• Supervise and manage staff within the team who are below the grade of SEO.

This list is not exhaustive, there may be a need to flex and change for business needs.

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Our purpose We are an independent Government department working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to protect public health and consumers’ wider interests in food. We make sure that food is safe and what it says it is.

Click to find out more about our strategy.

Our values Our staff generated six values which

represent who we are, how we behave

and treat each other. These values are

represented by the acronym ASPIRE.

Accountable – We take responsibility for our actions and can hold each other to account

Supported – We have the skills, tools and support to carry out our roles effectively

Professional – We are competent and confident in our ability to deliver to the highest

professional standards

Innovative – We are agile, dynamic and progressive in our approach to delivering outcomes

Resilient – We adapt quickly and effectively to fast-paced changes

Empowered – We can take the initiative and make decisions that improve

business delivery

Career opportunities We are proud of our strong track record in developing staff to progress their careers. We encourage and expect our staff to undertake training and development and offer outstanding career opportunities within the FSA and wider Civil Service network.

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Applications need to be submitted via the ‘apply now’ button within the main advert.

This will take you into a structured form, which allows you to enter all the required

data.

This vacancy is using Civil Service ‘Success Profiles’ and will assess you against Technical, Experience

and Behaviours elements of the Framework.

Person Specification criteria assessed at sifting and interview

Criteria assessed at shortlisting sift

At sift, your application will be shortlisted against the essential criteria detailed below and on page

10. Please ensure you detail clearly (with examples), within your suitability statement, how you

meet each of the criteria. Your suitability statement (not more than 1200 words) should also detail

what attracts you to the role.

In the event of receiving a large number of applications an initial sift may take place on just the

identified lead essential criteria.

Essential Criteria

Technical • A recognised professional qualification that satisfies the requirements of the

Food Law Code of Practice (Wales) for performing official controls (lead

essential criteria)

Application Sift Interview

• Career history

• Qualifications

• Suitability Statement

• Applicants shortlisted for

interview against

advertised essential and

desirable criteria

• Panel interview assessing

Technical and Behaviour

elements

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Experience

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, capable of presenting complex

ideas and information clearly and succinctly

• Demonstrable practical experience, and a comprehensive understanding, of

the service of legal notices, gathering evidence, preparation of cases for

prosecution and the application of knowledge to comply with the requirements

of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

• Demonstrable experience of taking responsibility for delivering high quality

results to tight deadlines and with minimum supervision

• Proven organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise workloads and

balance competing demands to meet deadlines

• Experience of working in partnership with a range of stakeholders to create

and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships

Desirable Criteria

Technical • Membership of a relevant professional body and evidence of commitment to

continuing professional development

Experience

• Experience of enforcing food hygiene law in a local authority setting

• Able to communicate in Welsh, both orally and in writing

Behaviours will only be assessed at interview – you do not need to provide Behaviour statements

in your application

Assessment at interview

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the interview stage. The final selection process will consist

of an interview assessing you against the Behaviours below at level 3 (SEO) of the Civil Service

‘Success Profile’ Framework.

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Making Effective Decisions

• Communicating and Influencing

• Working Together

• Developing Self and Others

• Delivering at Pace

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Expected Timeline Closing date for applications: 26 February 2019 (23.59)

Sift: Planned to take place during week commencing 27 / 28 February 2019 and 1 March 2019

Interviews: Planned to take place during week commencing 11 March 2019 in Cardiff.

Queries If you have any further questions or require clarification on any points please contact:

Daniel Morelli, Head of Local Authority Delivery, at daniel.morelli@food.gov.uk

or Sue Milligan, Resourcing Manager at sue.milligan@food.gov.uk

Further Information

Further details about the FSA, and the work we do, can be found at www.food.gov.uk

Hear from our staff about what it’s like to work at FSA Wales: English Welsh

Find out more about the FSA 13

When you submit your online application, you will receive an

acknowledgement, if you do not receive this acknowledgement

or you have any problems with submitting your application, please

email hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk and a member

of the Recruitment team will pick up your query. Please include

the vacancy reference number and job title in the subject line.

If you are an applicant who wishes to apply

under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme,

please ensure that you indicate this on

the application form. Should you require

an adjustment to help you submit

your application, then please email

hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk and

a member of the Recruitment team

will pick up your request.

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 had their

employment continued. Any applicant whose

details are held on the IFD will be refused

employment.

Selection for appointment into the Civil

Service is on merit, on the basis of fair

and open competition, as outlined in the Civil

Service Commission’s Recruitment

Principles.

If you feel your application has not been

treated in accordance with the Civil Service

Commission Recruitment Principles and you

wish to make a complaint, you should email Jo

Bushnell, Head of People & Development,

Food Standards Agency at:

jo.bushnell@food.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you

receive from the Agency, you can contact the

Civil Service Commission.

More detailed information can be found on

the Civil Service Commission website.

We comply with all the relevant data

protection legislation as part of our

recruitment process, please see our privacy

notice that tells you why we request job

applicant personal data, what we do with it

and how long we retain the information for.