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Specialist Advisor - Chemical Risk

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

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Other Engineering

Lowestoft, UK · Weymouth, UK

Posted 6+ months ago

Location

This vacancy can be based at either of our sites in Lowestoft or Weymouth.

About the job

Job summary

The purpose of the Specialist Advisor role is to lead the authoritative expert scientific advice and policy support to government on the use and discharge of chemicals in the marine environment, predominantly by the oil and gas industry in the UK and the Netherlands. A specialist advisor is expected to be analytical, able to exercise sound judgement and interpret complex data to inform decisions based on best available evidence. In addition to hazard and risk assessment of chemicals, you will be involved in data manipulation and report writing in support of our UK and international customers on a range of topics including nanomaterials, plastics, endocrine disruptors, chemical regulation and novel and emerging contaminants.

The role includes proposal writing in support of small customer-funded research work aimed at providing scientific evidence to improve current offshore chemical regulations. A specialist advisor is expected to maintain cross-team working and raise Cefas’ profile and reputation at a national level through attendance of OSPAR meetings or related working groups.

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 Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Welcome to Cefas (youtube.com)

Job description

You will provide high quality scientific advice to the UK regulator Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), State Supervision of Mines (SSM) in the Netherlands as well as the chemical supply industry regarding the environmental risk and hazard of offshore chemicals during the registration and permitting phase, as well as for the annual OSPAR Offshore Industry Committee meeting.

You will support scientific delivery and publications regarding offshore chemical risk, specifically:

To assess the environmental hazard of chemicals used by the offshore oil and gas industry as part of the chemical registration process for DESNZ and SSM;
To provide permitting advice to DESNZ on chemicals risk;
To support senior advisors in preparation for OSPAR meetings and intersessional groups;
To contribute to OSPAR annual reporting of chemical data;
To participate in chemical working groups and raise Cefas’ profile and reputation at a national level; and
To quality control the work of, and mentor and develop other advisors.

In addition, Cefas reserves the right to ask staff to take on additional duties and responsibilities which are commensurate with their grade. Team Leaders and management will have a discussion with staff to explain the changes that are to be made. A new job description will be issued if required.

Person specification

The following are essential criteria required for this role and you must be able to demonstrate your skills and experience in the following areas:

Experience in providing authoritative advice to non-specialists on matters relating to environmental impacts of human activities, preferably chemical use, in the marine environment;
Experience in using chemical databases and querying data using R, Python or other programming language;
Proven knowledge of chemistry or chemistry related discipline such as cheminformatics;
Sound knowledge of UK and international chemical regulatory process and of relevant industry/sectors.
Excellent attention to detail; and
Good communication, interpersonal and organisational skills, and effective prioritisation of workloads.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace
Making Effective Decisions

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Knowledge of alternative non-animal testing methods of data gathering (i.e. quantitative structure-activity relationship – QSAR, Weight of Evidence).
Experience of using databases for the management of environmental and/or toxicological data.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,825, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science contributes £8,593 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Generous annual leave entitlement – Cefas offers 25 days' annual leave on entry (rising to 30 days over first 5yrs) for full-time new entrants to the Civil Service. Employees receive 8 public holidays a year, plus an additional day to mark the King's birthday
Access to learning and development tailored to your role
A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options
A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
Eligible to join the Civil Service Pension scheme – more information can be found on the CSP website http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/
Staff recognition vouchers
In-year award scheme

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 Process
As part of the application process you are asked to provide a CV (job history, qualifications, past skills and experience), a maximum 750-word personal statement on how you meet the essential criteria as stated in the person specification section, and a 250-word statement on how you meet the advertised lead behaviour – Communicating and Influencing.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

For guidance on Civil Service Success Profiles, this video tells you what you’ll need to provide throughout the assessment process with supporting guidance on each step. Link – Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
For guidance on how to construct your CV, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Link - CV
For guidance on how to construct your personal statement, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Link – Statement
For guidance on how to construct your lead behaviour statement, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Link – Behaviours

Sift

The sift panel will use the information in your CV and personal statement to assess your experience and how you meet the essential criteria as stated in the person specification section. The sift panel will also assess the lead behaviour (Communicating and Influencing) statement.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour – Communicating and Influencing. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Interview schedule and details will be confirmed on release of the sift results.

Sift Date to be confirmed.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on the Behaviours, your Experience and your Technical Skills. You may also be required to give a presentation or to complete an exercise as part of the interview process. You will receive further information with your invitation.

Please be aware that interviews will take place remotely via MS Teams.

If scores are equal following interview, an assessment of the lead behaviour – Communicating and Influencing will be used by the panel.

A date has not yet been confirmed for the interviews to take place.

Location

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.

Please be aware that this role will be contractually based at Lowestoft or Weymouth. 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.

Successful candidates are expected to work from one of the laboratory or office locations listed in this advert in order to connect with their colleagues, as required by their role and business needs.

Reserve List

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

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.

Salary

New entrants are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.

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 may be carried out.

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.

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.

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

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : Cally Wiles or Alec Wilson
Email : resourcing@cefas.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.

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