Research Scientist – Noise (SD Band 3/ SEO)

Diverse Perspectives and experiences are critical to our success, and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We look forward to receiving your application.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

At the Health and Safety Executive, we believe everyone has the right to come home safe and well from their job. That’s why our mission is protecting people and places, helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.

We don’t just inspect workplaces and investigate incidents, we campaign for better Health & Safety practice, we develop and review guidance and regulations, we provide specialist products and services both here and overseas, and we produce crucial research and statistics, all towards our goal of helping Great Britain work well.

We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic Physicist, Acoustician or allied scientific discipline with experience and understanding of human exposure to noise in the workplace to join the Exposure Assessment and Control (EAC) Team at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

EAC is part of HSE Science Divisions’ Health Group whose purpose is to prevent worker ill health caused by exposure to chemical, physical and biological hazards.

This is an excellent opportunity for a professional to make their mark on an organisation dedicated to protecting people and places and helping to lead safer and healthier lives. The position will be based at our Science & Research Centre in Buxton, Derbyshire. The Centre is an internationally renowned scientific facility for health and safety, employing scientific, medical and technical specialists in a purpose-built laboratory at our 550-acre site.

Part time working hours are available for this role. We can accept part time applicants who can commit to working a minimum of 30 hours per week

At HSE, we are proud to be able to offer our people the opportunity to work in a hybrid way which combines working from home and the office. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your allocated office will be your contractual place of work. There will be a requirement to travel to the office for various activities e.g., collaborative working, supporting and training colleagues. If hybrid working is suitable for you and your role, the arrangements will be determined primarily by business need, but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. Therefore, we would encourage candidates to consider if the commute from home to the office is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. Please note that if you are successful, hybrid working will be discussed prior to taking up the post.

The practical laboratory-based nature of the work does mean there will be a requirement to regularly attend the Buxton site for routine work activities and collaborative working. In addition, you may be required to travel across the UK for site visits, including overnight stays.

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a fulfilling and successful career with HSE and the wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead; you will benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you will be entitled to a large range of benefits, including payment of relevant professional memberships and access to learning and development.

More details about the services available at the Science & Research Centre and HSE can be found on our website here: www.hsl.gov.uk

You will provide a vision for the future of the science of human exposure to noise and its control. You will need to think strategically and engage at different levels with scientific, regulatory and policy colleagues.

You will develop, lead and ultimately ensure delivery of a diverse range of applied research and other work in the field of noise exposure and control. The portfolio of work that you lead will be designed to meet the challenges of health risk management in workplaces and will be developed in collaboration with others in HSE and also external stakeholders.

EAC is a multidisciplinary team and as well as working to reduce ill health caused by exposure to noise  you will also apply your expertise in the other disciplines of the team which include occupational hygiene, aerosols, respiratory protection and ventilation.

You will lead other members of project teams, including technically developing and managing laboratory and sometimes field based activities and team members.

You will be self-motivated and inspire others to strive for quality outcomes.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of your role will include but will not be limited to:

• Develop and lead the delivery of a portfolio of work for HSE and other stakeholders on noise exposure and control in humans within the wider context of workplace health risk management. This will include working with colleagues/end users from original idea stage through to project approval and final delivery of outputs.
• Lead and develop the technical capacity and professional standing of the science of noise exposure and control and keep up to date with developments in the worldwide community. Also, to identify suitable continuous professional development (CPD) and training opportunities.
• Technically lead projects as appropriate including identifying skills and resource required from other colleagues and working with them and project managers to direct and suitably deploy resource.
• Work with and encourage team colleagues to conduct innovative research and development that is aligned to SD’s business and science strategies.
• Present findings of research to HSE, industry stakeholders and scientific peers in the UK and internationally.
• Travel for site visits and meetings as required, as well as taking the opportunity for attendance at conferences both within and occasionally outside the UK.
• Apply your expertise in other technical areas within the context of health risk management e.g. aerosols, ventilation, RPE if required.

You will have:

• Significant, relevant and recent practical experience of leading laboratory and workplace-based research on noise exposure, including leading, motivating and managing other project team members.
• Significant experience of initiating and developing projects from initial idea to final delivery including for example writing research proposals, business cases and/or applications for funding.
• The ability to work both as part of a multidisciplinary team and autonomously across boundaries of the Science Division and rest of HSE, promoting cross-functional team working and effective communication to identify solutions and ensure work can be delivered.
• Good communication skills, enabling you to manage and collaborate effectively, maintain positive professional working relationships, engage with others and influence at all levels both within HSE and with external collaborators and stakeholders.
• Outstanding organisational and preparedness skills for planning, scheduling and undertaking a varied workload, including the ability to work on multiple projects at any one time, to maximise productivity and ensure delivery to time, cost and quality.

Desirable past experience and skills:

• Data analysis capability including, familiarity with noise and/or vibration data acquisition systems, the ability to write code e.g. Matlab, Visual Basic, Python, R script, and develop and operate databases (e.g. Access).

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Range of experience, skill and knowledge in the evaluation and control of human exposure to noise in the workplace.
• Developing, leading and managing technical projects.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Competitive rates of pay
• Access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme to which HSE contribute 27.1%, far more than in the private sector
• Family friendly policies and working hours to help balance your home life and career
• Carer friendly policies to help create a supportive working culture
• 25 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave
• Parental leave benefits

This post is eligible for Excess Fares Allowance. A successful internal candidate currently based at another office may be entitled to Excess Fares Allowance in line with HSE policy http://intranet/finance/expenses/excess-fares-allowance-policy.htm

Job contact :

• Name : Helen Chambers
• Email : helen.chambers@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk