Environmental Health Officer/Graduate Environmental Health Officer

Environmental Health Officer/Graduate Environmental Health Officer

Job Ref: 2533

Full time, Permanent

Location: 5 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG

Salary:

EHO - £43,004 – £49,131 plus 7% of salary annual retention payment and £2000 ‘golden hello’ and zone 1 and 2 travel allowance

Graduate - £39,336 - £44,878

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. Here’s where you can help decide a better future for us all.

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 is 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 to expand upon this good work as it is estimated that there may still be up to 5,000 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), Trading Standards and dedicated legal support.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and driven environmental health practitioner 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 of both licensed and unlicensed HMOs, 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.

The multi-disciplinary set up 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 find out more about what it is like to work at Camden, meet some of our People by visiting 'www.camdenjobs.co.uk/our-stories'.

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 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.

•            have 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.

We are looking for a committed, flexible and self-motivated team player to work in busy, high-profile environment delivering housing enforcement and licensing objectives. You will have the ability to monitor and manage your own casework, make timely decisions and deliver agreed outcomes. Crucially you will have excellent negotiation, verbal and written communication skills and experience in explaining legislation, procedures and requirements to a wide range of stakeholders including landlords, agents and residents. The ability to use IT systems and databases to record, monitor and communicate information is essential. Experience of software systems and applications connected with the role is desirable though not essential.

For an informal discussion please contact Jack Kane (Team Manager) on 020 7974 5483 or email jack.kane@camden.gov.uk

Working for Camden

We’re ready to welcome your ideas, your views, and your rebellious spirit. Help us redefine how we’re supporting our communities, 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. Visit 'www.camdenjobs.co.uk/staff-benefits' to see full details of our benefits.

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 or copy and paste the below URL into your browser: https://www.camdenjobs.co.uk/inclusion-and-diversity

To apply, please click “Apply on website”.

Closing date: Sunday 14th April 2024 at 23:59

Interviews to be held: Monday 22nd April 2024

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.