Environmental Health Officer/Graduate Environmental Health Officer

Environmental Health Officer/Graduate Environmental Health Officer (Job Ref: 1214)

Job Grade: Level 4, Zone 1 (EHRB registered/chartered)

Starting Salary: £38,297 (EHRB registered/chartered) per annum

*plus a £2,000 golden hello, Zone 1 and 2 annual travel card allowance and annual 7% retention payment

Job Grade: Level 3, Zone 2 (not EHRB registered/chartered)

Starting Salary: £34,629 (not EHRB registered/chartered) per annum

*plus on completion of EHRB/chartered the post holder is eligible for a zone 1 and 2 annual travel card allowance and annual 7% retention payment

Work Location: 5 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG

Hours per week: 36, Full-Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: 5 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG

Closing date: Sunday 15^th May 2022, 23:59pm

Interviews to be held: TBC

Alternative flexible working options available/open to discussion   

Anonymised Application – in keeping with Camden’s commitment to inclusion the recruitment to this role is anonymised and supports the objective of reducing the impact of unconscious bias.

** AGENCY STAFF, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO APPLY - Please do not click on the Apply Now tab at the bottom of this page as your application will not be considered. **

About Us

Camden is building somewhere everyone can thrive, by making our borough the best place to live, work, study and visit. Because, we’re not just home to the UK’s fast-growing economy. We’re home to the most important conversations happening today. And we’re making radical social change a reality, so that nobody gets left behind. As an Environmental Health Officer/ Graduate Environmental Health Officer you will be part of Camden’s expanding private sector housing team.

The Role

Camden is a thriving borough with a high demand for housing and our Private Sector Housing Enforcement Team are at the cutting edge of dealing with the worst rogue landlords and agents exploiting tenants living in the private rented sector.

Camden are one of the highest performing London boroughs when it comes to private sector housing enforcement and we make use of all enforcement tools available to protect tenants and ensure accommodation is of a suitable standard. We are looking to continue and expand upon this good work as it is estimated that there may still be up to 5000 unlicensed HMOs operating within the borough.

This is an exciting opportunity to work within a small multi-disciplinary enforcement team consisting of Environmental Health Officers, Tenancy Relations Officers (TROs) and dedicated legal support.

We are looking for enthusiastic and driven environmental health practitioners to join the team as we look to disrupt the activities of criminal landlords and agents operating dangerous and/or unlicensed HMO properties within the borough.

The role will require you to take personal responsibility for investigations into unlicensed and/or dangerous HMO properties, carry out reactive and proactive inspections, serve enforcement notices, issue civil penalties and take prosecutions. You will also be required to consider other high level enforcement interventions including rent repayment orders and banning orders for the most serious cases.

Initially the role will focus on the inspection of licensable and/or dangerous HMOs and the subsequent enforcement action.

Having EHOs and Tenancy Relations Officers within the same service enables the team to ensure that tenants are provided with holistic housing advice and enforcement action can be taken for harassment and illegal evictions as well as Housing Act 2004 offences. The multi-disciplinary set-up will allow you to improve your knowledge and understanding of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 and other housing legislation which may not be part of a normal EHO housing role.

About You

To be considered for this post you must be a qualified Environmental Health Practitioner (holding an EHRB Certificate of Registration Chartered status) or a qualified graduate who holds a BSc or MSc in Environmental Health enrolling on the CIEH’s Chartered Practitioner Programme. Applicants who are not EHRB registered or do not have Chartered status will start on a lower grade and accompanying salary until they become chartered.

The ideal candidate will:

• be driven by a desire to act upon the poor treatment of vulnerable tenants by these rogue landlords and agents which often forces tenants to live in poor quality accommodation with an ongoing threat of illegal eviction hanging over them be motivated to improve housing conditions and take the appropriate enforcement action to deal with the worst criminal landlords.
• have a detailed knowledge/understanding of the Housing Act 2004 and other legislation that can be used to control poor housing conditions and the general legislative framework relevant to the team and its application to casework.
• experience of taking enforcement action under the Housing Act 2004 in respect of unlicensed and/or dangerous HMO properties.
• be trained on HHSRS and have a good understanding of house construction and components including an up to date understanding of improvement trends and capabilities including those around energy efficiency.
• be an excellent communicator (both verbal and written) and will be adept at providing excellent customer care and communication skills in explaining complex and technical issues accurately, clearly and concisely both orally and in writing when dealing with all service users.

Working for Camden

We’re ready to welcome your ideas, your views, and your rebellious spirit. Help us redefine how we’re supporting people, and we’ll redefine what a career can be.

At Camden, you’ll receive a host of benefits as well as joining a flexible working employer. Click HERE to see full details of our benefits.

Additional Information

To view the Job Profile, please click HERE

To apply for this job please follow the "Apply" link. In the ‘Why you?’ section of the application you will be required to demonstrate how you meet the role criteria noted in the Job Profile under the “About You” section.

** AGENCY STAFF, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO APPLY - Please do not click on the Apply Now tab at the bottom of this page as your application will not be considered. **

Inclusion and Diversity

We want Camden Council to be a great place to work and to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do.

To discover more about Camden and our commitment towards diversity, equality and safeguarding, please visit our recruitment website

Asking for Adjustments

Camden is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, please contact us on 020 7974 6655, at resourcing@camden.gov.uk or post to 5 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG.