Veterinary Advisor-Field Delivery and Outbreak Support
Animal and Plant Health Agency
Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 23rd September 2024
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About the job
Job summary
APHA is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions.
Do you want a role safeguarding standards of animal and plant health and welfare?
Are you someone who can lead and manage change in a challenging and dynamic environment?
Do you have the ability to influence others and guide your team in a shared strategy?
If so, we would like to hear from you!
We have 3 exciting opportunities for Veterinary advisors in the following areas:
1 Permanent Veterinary Advisor Field Delivery (VAFD) to be based in the Southern Delivery area.
2 Fixed Term Appointment (until 31/03/2025) Veterinary Advisors for Outbreak Centralised Services (VAOCS) which can be based at any APHA location.
Please note: We encourage you to apply as any future vacancies will be filled using reserve list from this campaign. All posts will be offered in merit order based on location preference.
Job description
The role of Veterinary Advisor (VA) is a tactical and an operational role, requiring an individual who can provide credible veterinary leadership to develop and assure high performance in a geographically dispersed, multi-disciplinary team, both during and between exotic animal disease outbreaks.
The Veterinary Advisor (Field, Outbreak Centralised Services (OCS), and Resilience) is accountable for working with the Veterinary Heads of Field Delivery (VHoFD), Veterinary Head of Outbreak Delivery (VHOD) and Veterinary Head of Outbreak Centralised Services (VHOCS) and others to deliver operational excellence in veterinary service delivery, stakeholder engagement and customer service through the effective application, quality assurance and enforcement of veterinary public health policies and measures.
You will be responsible for identifying training and development needs as well as delivering training and mentoring to frontline staff to help meet those needs.
Working closely with the Veterinary Head of Field Delivery, the Veterinary Advisor for Field Delivery will functionally manage a veterinary field team, normally in a particular geographical area. Where applicable they will also line manage should that be required and be responsible for operational excellence in a nationally aligned subject area.
In their allocated geographical area- national subject areas or central services area, a VA will:
- Be accountable for providing tactical leadership and acting as an authority on veterinary, and scientific matters for the investigation, management and control of significant animal-related risks including representing APHA at local boards and meetings on request.
- Be responsible for ensuring effective knowledge exchange between business units and teams so that data, information and intelligence is effectively shared for decision-making and the giving of advice and knowledge gaps can be appropriately risk-assessed and addressed for continuous improvement and reporting as appropriate.
- Be responsible for working in collaboration with senior vets and operational managers to ensure that all veterinary and technical activities are delivered in accordance with desired policy outcomes, business plans and performance targets, working with individuals and teams to identify efficiencies and deliver best value for money services.
- Be responsible for building effective relationships with important local stakeholders and partners to influence end user behaviour regarding compliance with animal health and welfare legislation, policies, advice, guidance and instruction.
- Be responsible for making or having oversight of decisions which require a deep understanding of veterinary public health including risk assessment and enforcement. Typically, cases which are not directly covered by the Content Hub instructions and where consultation with subject matter experts or disease consultants is required.
- Be responsible for providing assurance of the quality of the work undertaken by field staff including evaluation of the veterinary and technical performance of Official Veterinarians and contractors as directed by the APHA central quality assurance units and Quality Leads. Assurance will include oversight and evaluation of training, competence and compliance of staff, making recommendations for improvement as appropriate.
- Work with and supported by the field Quality Coordinator team, the Veterinary Advisor; will act as national Quality Manager for the delivery subject area to which they are aligned, or the Central cells, as a member of the national team of VAFDs. In that role they are accountable to the relevant nationally-aligned Veterinary Head - Field, Outbreak or OCS.
- Be responsible for coaching and mentoring colleagues to develop their knowledge and experience of veterinary public health through a blended mix of theory, learning and practice, supporting senior managers to proactively manage talent and advising operational managers as to who is competent to undertake specific duties during and between outbreaks.
- Provide tactical veterinary leadership and direction for response to incidents and or outbreaks of endemic or exotic notifiable disease including being available for deployment across GB.
- Be responsible for supporting senior managers to deliver the APHA vision by contributing to the corporate leadership of the Agency and acting as a role model to embed the necessary performance improvements and culture changes in their subject area of influence.
- Be required to lead and contribute to national policy initiatives and reforms, undertaking lead roles on programme boards and in project teams and working groups.
- Participating in an on-call rota will be required as part of the role which attracts an allowance.
Person specification
We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate the following:
Skills and experience:
- A proven track record of experience in delivery of statutory and non-statutory animal health and welfare policies, threat characterisation, risk management, enforcement and control.
- A proven track record of tactical veterinary leadership and decision -making during incident and or outbreak response, complex case work, contingency planning, and business continuity.
- Strong personal organisation, time management, inter-personal and communication skills.
- Deploy comprehensive knowledge and practical experience in multiple areas of State Veterinary Medicine.
- Be visible, inspiring and engaging leadership, including leading people through change.
- A tactical thinker with well-developed analytical and creative problem-solving abilities.
- Tactical planning, development, prioritisation and implementation skills.
- Persuasive communication skills able to translate complex science into simple messages.
- Able to coach and develop high performance in teams and individuals.
- Able to work with a network of customers, partners, industry and other stakeholders.
- Motivated, corporate self-aware with high inner resilience and calm under pressure.
- Able to set up and work within an auditable system of procedures and processes maintaining and assuring appropriate levels of quality assurance and quality control.
- Able to innovate and work in a flexible and agile way, making use of modern technology.
- Able to proactively engage and work collaboratively with multiple APHA teams, including cross directorate working, to provide a One England and APHA’s national perspectives.
Workplace information:
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home.
Our Worcester County Hall office is temporarily closed. Candidates based at this location may be asked to work from home until further notice.
Licences
Qualifications
Memberships
Languages
• have undertaken undergraduate veterinary training in English
or
• have achieved the following scores in the academic international English Language Testing System (IELTS) or equivalent in a single sitting within 24 months at time of application – Overall 7, Speaking 7, Listening 7, Reading 7, Writing 7
and
• having a sufficient command of spoken and written English to effectively perform the role being undertaken by a public sector worker in a customer-facing role.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Leadership
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- As part of the interview you may be asked to provide a short presentation, details of which will be provided when invited to interview.
Benefits
Further benefits offered also include:
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities tailored to your role.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
- Staff bonuses and recognition, salary sacrifice benefit options, and an employee discount scheme.
- Making it work for you - With so many flexible options, most people can find a work schedule to suit their circumstances.
These are just a few of our benefits we offer. To find out the full range of what we offer refer to the Information Pack attached for more detail.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Application Process
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV, a 250-word behaviour statement for ‘Leadership’, and a 750-word Personal Statement.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Sift
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the personal statement and lead behaviour only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Interview
If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on your abilities, experience, behaviours, and technical skills.
Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
You will be required to participate in a role play exercise, details of which will be provided in due course.
A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed for your ability in written/oral skills and technical skills.
For the purposes of the selection process, the Lead Behaviour will be 'Leadership'.
Location
Please be aware that this role(s) will be contractually based in a Defra group workplace/office.
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.
Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.
The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.
For most candidates your hours of work will be a blend of working from an APHA workplace (specific to the team location) with working at home.
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Salary
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.
Merit Lists
Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.
Visa Sponsorship Statement
Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.
Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
- Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Criminal Record Check
If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check maybe carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service/ Disclosure Scotland 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.
For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk
Internal Fraud Database Check
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’s 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.
Loan and Fixed Term Appointments
Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
The posts for Veterinary Advisors for Outbreak Centralised Services (OCS) are a Fixed-term Appointment because the post is not permanent. It is time limited due to a fixed funding period or as part of a specific project. The fixed-term will end when the funding or the project expires.
Your responsibilities will include those shown on the Responsibilities section of the advert. This post will therefore begin from the agreed start date and end on 31st March 2025.
NSV
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting
Higher Security Clearance
Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter.
All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to Weybridge or London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Medical
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Recruitment Hub - Charlotte Harrison
- Email : RECRUITMENT.SDD@apha.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : DefraRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact:
Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Click https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/ to visit Civil Service Commission.
