Plant Health & Seeds Inspector

The current vacancy locations are Cambridge, Norwich, Leicester, Spalding, Canterbury, Exeter, Leeds, Sheffield & Doncaster. The geographic work area of Doncaster, Leeds & Sheffield (West & South Yorkshire) does not currently have Defra office therefore this post will be contractually based at Manchester Airport, but most of the successful candidate’s time will be spent in the geographic work area specified. The APHA Office for Exeter area is based at Starcross. There are no current vacancies at our other offices, but we encourage you to apply as future vacancies will be filled using the reserve list from this campaign. Please select National at the application stage. All posts will be offered in merit order by vacancy location.

The work of the Plant Health and Seed Inspectorate (PHSI) within Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is to maintain and promote a high plant health status in England and Wales, thereby contributing to APHA’s overall strategy of safeguarding animal and plant health status in England and Wales. In doing so, contributing to APHA’s overall strategy of safeguarding animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the environment and the economy.

The aims are achieved by excluding, containing or eradicating quarantine plant pests, regulating other plant pests to secure high quality planting material, and facilitating trade through the provision of plant health certification services. PHSI works to Defra’s strategy to “provide a better place for living” through the exclusion, eradication and containment of quarantine pest and disease and informing / training the general public, stakeholders, government and non- government bodies in plant biosecurity. Inspections on fresh produce in relation to marketing standards will also be conducted in addition to the Plant Health controls.

Currently there are permanent vacancies available in following office locations:

• Eastern Region North –  Norwich, Spalding
• Eastern Region Central – Cambridge
• Midlands East – Office location will be Leicester but delivery area will be Northamptonshire
• South East – Canterbury. 
• North West – Office Location will be Manchester Airport but delivery area will be Doncaster, Leeds & Sheffield

There is a fixed term appointment available:

• South West – Starcross (Exeter)

There are no current vacancies at our other offices, but we encourage you to apply as future vacancies will be filled using the reserve list from this campaign. Please select National at the application stage. All posts will be offered in merit order by vacancy location.

As a Higher Executive Officer (HEO) you will be reporting to a Senior Executive Officer (SEO), you will plan and undertake a programme of tasks, working independently and/or as part of a team.

The range of duties will be dependent on the working region, training, competence and statutory requirements, but may include:

• Being accountable for a designated geographical area which will require you to plan, prioritise, delegate and ensure completion of work so that targets and quality standards are achieved.
• Line and functional management of Executive Officer (EO) inspectors with responsibility for the competent delivery of their work.
• Organising emergency measures to control outbreaks of quarantine and non-indigenous pests and diseases acting as the local incident commander as required.
• Statutory inspection of imported fresh horticultural produce, plants, planting material and plant produce to ensure compliance with import regulations.
• Enforcing the marketing standards and grading rules for fresh horticultural produce in England and Wales to ensure Traders meet their statutory responsibilities.
• Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI) conduct investigations and instigate heightened enforcement action against relevant traders and leading on criminal investigations where necessary.
• Statutory inspections to ensure Single Market plant health requirements are met.
• Crop surveys and soil sampling in connection with regulations made to prevent the spread of dangerous plant pests and diseases.
• Undertake scientific license audits and follow up actions.
• Certify for export of fresh horticultural produce, plants and planting material after examination in accordance with the importing country’s requirements, including issue of HMI produce conformity certificates, phytosanitary certificates and advice to exporters on the requirements.
• Inspection of certain agricultural and horticultural crops in connection with statutory and domestic plant health certification/classification schemes.
• Perform the statutory duties relating to regulations made under the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964 including the field inspection of certain crops and the sampling of certain classes of seed and enforcement checks on the activities of seed firms and seed samplers.
• Investigation of any breech of statutory requirements and for HMI to collect and collate criminal evidence where required to deliver a court ready case file direct to Crown Prosecution Service.
• Collation, analysis and communication to the relevant Technical Advice Panel (TAP) of intelligence emerging in your geographic area on significant changes and matters relevant to Plant Health.
• Stakeholder engagement to ensure clients have sufficient knowledge and awareness of Plant Health controls and requirements and or businesses responsible for the marketing of fresh horticultural produce.
• HMI also collect samples and enforce olive oil standards, collect official market pricing data and seize samples for Government pesticide residue testing.
• Stakeholder engagement to ensure clients have sufficient knowledge and awareness of Plant Health controls and requirements.
• Undertake additional specialised duties including delivering work directly to and on behalf of the TAP’s.

Plant Health offers a 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week level of service to the trade for import & export certification & biosecurity checks

Depending on location you may be required to work in a shift pattern. This pattern can be early morning or a late evening shift and can span over weekends and public holidays.

Candidates should expect to work flexibly to meet the varied work patterns defined by business need. You may be required to work at other locations, so candidates must be prepared to occasionally work and stay away from home.

Candidates will need independent access to a car to visit clients / collect samples / carry equipment. Some client locations and working hours preclude the use of public transport. Business mileage will be reimbursed.

For these posts you will be assessed on the areas set out below. In addition to the below listed criteria we are looking for candidates who are disciplined, organised, able to analyse information with precision. Candidates must be confident even when under pressure and be team players, whilst taking ownership over their own work.

The following Experience criteria are essential to this post:

• Experience of having worked effectively in a people-facing environment.
• Experience of communicating with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience of prioritisation and meeting multiple deadlines under pressure. 
• Experience of working with and including providing guidance and advice in accordance with operating procedures, guidance and regulations.
• Ability to work confidently as part of a team or independently in order to achieve team goals and objectives.

Essential to this post –

Full Valid Driving licence (evidence to be provided at interview).

Essential to this post, and will be tested at both sift and interview:

• Minimum of a HND or equivalent qualification in Agriculture/Horticulture/ Biological Science or Knowledge of plants and horticulture to a working level equivalent to that of an HND.

(If you are a final year student at College or university we will accept a predicted grade and use your completed course modules and in field experience that you outline in your CV and personal statement to judge your suitability).

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions

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

• The Technical element will be a short knowledge test based on plant identification and identifying pests and diseases will also be conducted at interview. The Knowledge test is based on 20 questions, and includes both pictures and text questions. Candidat

Alongside your salary of £32,136, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes
£8,676 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits

• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an average employer contribution of 27%
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities tailored to your role
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 60% of their time in the office (minimum 60%)

Office attendance

Successful candidates are expected to work from one of the office locations listed in this advert. Our current office attendance approach requires 60% attendance in Defra group workplaces or off site meetings with partners and customers. This balance provides thriving workplaces to connect with colleagues, as required by their role and business team needs balanced with personal flexibility and choice.

Please refer to the Candidate Information Pack for more detail around offered benefits.

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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Job contact :

• Name : PHSI Recruitment Team
• Email : phsijobs@apha.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk