Senior Executive Officer
Location: New Haw, South East, KT15 3NB
Ref: 1588995

If there is one characteristic that marks us out at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), it is pride. We are proud to use our professionalism and expertise to safeguard animal and plant health across the UK for the benefit of the environment, the economy and the millions of people who live here.

Join us and you will be part of a diverse team of over 2,000 skilled and committed professionals who share this inspiring goal. Together, we protect endangered wildlife, conduct research into bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases and vaccines, facilitate the international trade in animals, identify and control endemic and exotic diseases, and manage a programme of bee inspections, diagnostics, research and training.

Working with us to control zoonotic diseases, you will share your veterinary expertise with a diverse range of sectors and stakeholders including policy makers, public health and local authorities, veterinary surgeons, biologists and the farming industry. You will:

• Act as the disease consultant for Anthrax in animals, providing advice in the case of outbreaks and managing the sub-contract with the Porton Down laboratory. You will also be the test commentator for Anthrax ring trials.
• Take a leading role in investigating livestock bacteria that may impact on food safety and human health.
• Manage the FZ2100 non-statutory zoonoses programme, launching and coordinating field investigations to control outbreaks and sharing knowledge on a worldwide scale.
• Lead Salmonella surveillance projects, overseeing serotyping and Phage-typing in our Weybridge laboratories. This will require detailed field investigations into the poultry industry, extending into other areas of livestock as necessary.
• Work with policy makers to provide robust scientific data surrounding the control of food borne and environmental zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
• Offer expert consultancy to Defra, Food Standards Authority, European Commission, European Food Safety Authority, and other public and private bodies.
• Mentor team members, and form a mutually-beneficial global network of field experts.
• Maintain current veterinary expertise through formulating new research project proposals and the sharing of research results and knowledge through scientific publications, reports and presentations.

This is a valuable opportunity to take the lead on a number of nationally-important projects. As such, you will be a RCVS registered Veterinary Surgeon (or be able to register) with significant experience of food-borne, statutory and non-statutory zoonoses. We will also expect you to have a postgraduate qualification with experience of scientific research or field-based epidemiological investigations. A good understanding of farming and food production will be required, and you will have a working awareness of ISO9001. With solid people and project management skills, it would also be beneficial if you have an understanding of ISO17025 and a qualification in statistics (or similar).

We are an organisation that takes the inclusion, support and development of our people very seriously. You can look forward to learning, mentoring, coaching and continual professional development all designed to help you get the very most from your career.

We also aim to support the personal wellbeing of everyone in APHA. Our benefits include generous annual leave, a contributory pension, staff bonuses and recognition, salary sacrifice benefit options, and an employee discount scheme. We also offer flexible working.

Closing date: 2 July 2018.

To submit your application click the apply button.

W1806.44