Skip to main content

This job has expired

Environmental Health Practitioner/Food and Safety Officer

Employer
Buckinghamshire Council
Location
Buckinghamshire
Salary
£37,724 - £44,888
Closing date
31 Oct 2021

View more

Sector
Food Safety, Health and Safety
Function
EH Practitioner
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time

Environmental Health Practitioner/Food and Safety Officer

Location: Buckinghamshire County Wide

Overview

Following the creation of a new Buckinghamshire Unitary Authority, exciting new opportunities have arisen in our newly formed Housing and Regulatory Services Teams.  The work is challenging and offers you the opportunity to use and develop your professional skills to the full within our busy Commercial Team.

You will likely be home-based working across Buckinghamshire with some office working at the main offices in Aylesbury, Amersham and High Wycombe.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a new unitary authority that was created last year bringing together the former County and District Councils. The Housing and Regulatory Service has recently been restructured to provide a single countywide service.

The Commercial Team comprises two geographical teams operating across Buckinghamshire. The team sits within Housing and Regulatory Service as part of our Planning, Growth and Sustainability directorate.  It is responsible for undertaking investigations and required enforcement activities to achieve regulatory compliance.

The work of the team covers all aspects of food safety and hygiene, health and safety, infectious disease and Covid compliance, event safety, smoke-free compliance and supports and works with businesses as part of the Primary Authority Partnership Scheme.

About the role

You will be responsible for the required enforcement activity as necessary to achieve regulatory compliance ranging from informal advice to formal action and prosecution in accordance with Codes of Practices and guidance across a wide range of food business and workplace settings, including a number of approved premises.  You will also provide advice, guidance and support to businesses and the public as necessary.

You will work in partnership with businesses and other agencies as part of the Primary Authority Partnership scheme and participate in the Safety Advisory Group to ensure public safety at events.

You will manage a personal caseload to ensure customer satisfaction and compliance with Council policies, procedures and performance indicators.  In addition, you will be responsible for the development, implementation and review of special projects and assigned tasks including promotional, advisory and educational activities. You will respond to service requests from members of the public, businesses, Councillors and visitors to the area.

You will be expected to maintain an up to date professional knowledge of appropriate legal, technical and social issues to ensure the delivery of effective quality service and maintain your core competencies.

As a new service, we will be constantly looking to improve our service delivery, developing new and innovative ways of working and using technology.

About you

We are looking for someone who is an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual, possessing good communication skills and a positive approach to customer care.  You will have a good level of knowledge and understanding of food and health and safety legislation and have practical experience as an Environmental Health Practitioner/Food and Safety Officer within local authorities.

You must meet the competencies set out in the Food Law Code of Practice to undertake high-risk food hygiene interventions.  Recent experience of food safety enforcement gained while working within a Local Authority is preferable. 

Other information

Our response as an employer to Covid-19 has shaped the way we want to work in the future.

This job does require carrying out site visits, but we actively encourage the team to adopt a flexible working approach to improve their work-life balance. This includes working from home and attending the office as and when required, such as face-to-face meetings.

Our main offices are based in Aylesbury, Amersham & High Wycombe.

For an informal chat about this role in more detail, please contact Ian Snudden on 01494 732057 or ian.snudden@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

  • a fair and inclusive culture
  • the chance to really make a difference to those around you
  • health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
  • a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
  • ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
  • opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

About the Business Unit

The Environmental Health service forms part of the Planning, Growth and Sustainability directorate.  The service encompasses all aspects of environmental health and is delivered across three teams; Strategic Environmental Protection, Housing and Domestic and Commercial.  The directorate delivers a range of services including trading standards, housing, planning, economic growth, regeneration, strategic infrastructure, transport and property.

Coming together as a single EH service, our purpose is to ensure a safe and healthy, living and working environment within Bucks, minimising the impact on the environment and ensuring compliance with the law. Our vision is to provide a trusted and approachable Environmental Health service for local communities, businesses and visitors, ensuring Bucks is a safe place to work, live and visit.

The Environmental Health service works to help ensure that Buckinghamshire is a safe and healthy place to live and work, minimising impacts on the environment & supporting businesses to ensure compliance with the law. Our vision is to provide a trusted & approachable service for local communities, businesses & visitors, ensuring Bucks is a safe place to work, live & visit. Recently, our teams have been critical in providing a flexible response to the pandemic. As well as this monitor food safety (including awarding hygiene ratings), supporting public health and acting against nuisance. From 2019 to 2020, the service responded to over 8,100 environmental health requests.

The council’s key priorities are:

  • strengthening our communities
  • improving our environment
  • protecting the vulnerable
  • increasing prosperity

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges to how the council works and each of our directorates has had to adapt to different ways of working. Maintaining essential services to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities during this pandemic has been a key area of work and ongoing recovery and improvement work is likely to continue beyond the next financial year.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto-enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. We also offer a salary sacrifice personal car lease scheme and the opportunity to gain membership to Costco. We have discounted gym memberships, Travel discounts with Arriva and Chiltern Railways and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert