Location
Home Based – this role will cover the Wales and West region of the UK (Cluster 27 and 33).
Candidates will be required to reside within a distance of 60 miles or 90 minutes (one way) of these clusters.
Overnight stays and occasional work outside normal working hours (including night-time and weekend) will form an essential part of the role. You will also need to travel to other areas of the UK when required in order to meet business need.
About the job
Job summary
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a small government department with a big remit. Our mission is to ensure food is safe, that it is what it says it is, and that it is increasingly healthy and more sustainable.
One of the key functions of the FSA is the work done in slaughterhouses and meat processing plants across the country to ensure that food reaching British tables remains safe for all. Shaping and guiding the practices of food business operators (FBOs) through the delivery of official controls, the Agency carries out a range of duties within these properties.
Job description
The FSA’s work in slaughterhouses is about more than the quality of food consumers have access to in the UK. Our organisation also plays a vital role in ensuring the wellbeing of the animals that enter our food system, ensuring that they are healthy and looked after.
You will play a key role in this process, providing expertise that supports our work across a number of different food businesses. Working across your region, you’ll offer technical advice to those delivering official controls on the FSA’s behalf. Bringing together our workers in the field, you will help to ensure that our teams achieve consistency and coherence in their work with FBOs.
The role can be challenging, and you will be confident defending difficult decisions to FBOs that may strongly disagree with your conclusions. But this position offers an opportunity for a talented veterinarian to make a direct and positive impact upon the lives of thousands of animals within our food system, whilst also supporting the FSA’s efforts to protect public health and ensure food is safe for all.
As well as being accountable for the provision of front-line veterinary support, you will work to support the ongoing modernisation and changes that are happening across our field operations units. The evolving demands of the industry means that the FSA must continuously adapt in order to ensure their work continues to deliver against our high standards, and you will play a pivotal role in ensuring our on-the-ground teams adapt to new processes.
By providing guidance to the frontline staff carrying out official controls on the FSA’s behalf, this role offers a rare chance to make a widespread and tangible difference in the quality of food in the UK. If you are excited by this opportunity and are capable of working at pace to deliver strong and sensible decisions that you will be proud to defend, apply today with this important role within the FSA.
Person specification
Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.
We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.
Licences
Full UK Driving Licence
Qualifications
Veterinary Degree
Official Veterinarian designation
Memberships
Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Managing a Quality Service
- Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
Technical Criteria:
- Knowledge of the relevant veterinary regulatory framework (e.g. public health and/or animal welfare)
- Ability to understand and apply veterinary risk assessment
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £43,223, Food Standards Agency contributes £12,521 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.
For further information including a Candidate Pack and to submit your application, click APPLY NOW.
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 13th April 2025