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Environmental Protection Officer

Employer
Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames
Location
London
Salary
£26,520 - £43,860
Closing date
21 Jun 2021

Environmental Protection Officer

Hour Per Week  36

Salary Range  £26,520 - £43,860

Leave Entitlement  26/29 days

Application Deadline  21/06/2021, 23:55

Anticipated Interview Date(s)  4th - 6th July 2021

About the Borough  

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

About the Role  

The role includes giving advice carrying out investigations, assessments and enforcement of legislation within the shared service across Kingston and Sutton. 

We are looking for a committed and enthusiastic individual to join our Pollution Control Team. As an Environmental Protection Officer, you will be part of a small multidisciplinary team delivering a range of statutory and non statutory environmental functions across both boroughs.

This includes

  • Investigating noise and nuisance complaints from commercial and industrial sources, including taking enforcement action
  • respond to and investigate complaints from commercial premises 
  • provide general pollution control advice and guidance to residents and businesses 
  • Commenting on Planning Applications
  • Regulating the environmental permitting process

About Us  

The Royal Borough of Kingston and the London Borough of Sutton employ nearly 500 staff across its shared services in HR, Finance, Customer Service, Neighbourhoods, Environment  and ICT. This is a highly rewarding way of working that will help you develop new skills as you manage relationships and provide a consistent service across multiple partners.

Kingston and Sutton Shared Environment Service (SES) has been in operation for over 5 years.

In a recent external review Regulatory Services was recognised as "established”. Opportunities have now arisen to join the Pollution Control team to enable us to build on the review recommendations to become an “advanced” service. 

A small team of multi disciplined specialist officers, the Pollution team has a wide ranging remit with various statutory and non statutory duties. The team works closely together and with internal and external partners to provide a high quality and responsive service to the two Boroughs. 

Join us at this pivotal time as we do our part to regulate and support our business communities to grow in challenging times.

About You  

You will be enthusiastic, committed, self-motivated and have a positive attitude. You must be an excellent communicator with excellent  time management skills and be confident in dealing with members of the public, elected councillors and other enforcement agencies. You must be able to demonstrate your ability to adapt to changing properties and work accurately and diligently to tight deadlines. 

A full driving licence and access to a vehicle is desirable.  During the pandemic you will largely work remotely from home whilst continuing to make necessary site visits but we have bases in both Kingston and Sutton. Both Councils are currently reviewing future use of workspace and have adopted agile working practices as part of their programmes.

  • Knowledge and experience within one or more recognised specialist area of environmental health 
  • An appropriate qualification in Environmental Health or related subject 
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills and computer literate
  • Experience in dealing with members of the public, good interpersonal and customer care skills
  • Good organisation skills an ability to work under pressure and prioritise a varied workload


 

 

Our Offer To You  

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to be even more flexible in how we work and manage staff workloads, ensuring they have the correct equipment and resources to be able to maximise their talents and looking after their wellbeing.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

  • Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
  • Three volunteering days per year
  • Flexible and agile working arrangements
  • Comprehensive learning and development programme
  • Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
  • Interest free season ticket loans
  • Local Government Pension Scheme
  • Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
  • Zip car scheme
  • Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
  • Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
  • Subsidised gym membership

Application Process  

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. 

Additional Information  

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, tolerant and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

We are proud to be recognised as a Disability Confident employer, and are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.   

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

COVID-19 Information  

Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. Due to the ongoing situation, interviews for short listed candidates will take place virtually through video technology for the foreseeable future.

The majority of staff will also continue to work from home where possible in line with Government Guidance.

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