Senior Regulatory Scientist – Occupational Hygiene & Exposure Specialist (CRD REACH- Band 3/SSO)

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.

You will be part of a multi-disciplinary team of scientists that is delivering HSE’s objectives as the Agency for UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) following the UK’s exit from the EU. With a world-class reputation for safeguarding the health and safety of people at work, HSE is adapting and evolving to meet the new challenges ahead. At CRD, we work with one goal in mind – to protect human health and the environment from the effects of potentially harmful substances.

To help us meet these challenges, we require a specialist in occupation hygiene or exposure control to join CRD’s REACH team.

HSE has now adopted hybrid working which will allow us all to work both in the office and at home and we will provide you with the necessary equipment to support you when working from home. However, please note that these posts are an office-based role, and they are not a remote location based or home worker post; as such, successful candidates will need to be in a position to attend the office from appointment date onwards and will be required to attend the office regularly and potentially at short notice. Successful candidates will also be expected to undertake some face-to-face training upon joining HSE and this will be office based.

Part-time working is available for this role, however the minimum number of hours we could accommodate is 30 per week. 

This is an exciting opportunity to join a team that is delivering HSE’s objectives in support of the UK REACH regulation. This is part of GB’s independent chemicals regulatory framework, enabling decision-making that best reflects the needs of GB, while maintaining some of the highest standards in the world.

You will provide expert knowledge in occupational hygiene and experience of chemical exposure assessment to support the development of regulatory positions on chemicals and decision making in our national regulatory schemes, with a specific focus on REACH. This will primarily include contributing to the evaluation of substances and the production of proposals to restrict chemicals that pose an unacceptable risk to humans or the environment. Additionally, before initiating a formal regulatory risk management process under REACH, an in-depth analysis of the most appropriate regulatory risk management option (RMOA) may be undertaken, for which your expert input on matters relating to occupational hygiene and human exposure will be vital.

You will also provide wider occupational hygiene/human exposure support to other priority regulatory risk assessment activities, as driven by the business needs, for example, the scientific scrutiny of Applications for Authorisations and the development of technical opinions.

The work may sometimes include consumer exposure assessment, although the main aspect for this post will relate to occupational exposure assessment. You will take account of exposure data and apply appropriate exposure modelling tools.

You will write up your expert opinions and be expected to explain any key decisions made within HSE and externally, to independent scientists, other government departments and relevant stakeholders.

You will be responsible for providing advice and guidance, and delivering training, to internal and external stakeholders on relevant aspects of risk assessment. This may be both in the specialist area of chemical exposure and occupational hygiene, and in the general REACH regulatory framework for managing the health risks posed by chemicals.

Please note that the role will involve specialist on the job training that will focus on the key work you will be delivering. We will also encourage and fund membership of the Occupational Hygiene professional body – BOHS, when joining HSE/CRD. No laboratory or field work is involved in these roles; data is provided in regulatory submissions from duty holders, gathered from the literature, or generated using models.  However, you will be encouraged to develop networks within the wider community of the occupational hygiene profession and human exposure assessment scientists.

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.

Responsibilities

• To understand and apply the relevant regulations and guidance.
• To analyse information on occupational and consumer exposure data, and on industrial control mechanisms, against relevant regulations, guidance and models to make robust regulatory decisions.
• To use your occupational hygiene and human exposure experience and expertise to prepare critical assessments of the data that can contribute to the assessment of human health risks and regulatory decision making.
• To communicate clearly technical information both verbally and in writing, presenting clear summaries, conclusions and decisions.
• To possess good organisational skills in managing a varied workload to demanding deadlines.
• To show initiative and decisiveness, in making effective decisions, while being open to challenge and involving others.
• To build and maintain strong, positive working relationships both within HSE and externally to our organisation.
• To contribute to internal peer review and quality assurance processes

A relevant post graduate qualification in occupational hygiene is desirable but not essential.

Essential Experience requirement:

• Occupational Hygiene expertise and the ability to both draft and review chemical exposure assessments and risk assessments to time and quality.
• Analytical skills with the ability to write/present effective technical information in a clear, concise and timely way.
• Initiative and decisiveness, supporting your ability to make effective decisions, while being open to challenge and involving others.          
• Experience of delivering output to time, cost and quality criteria.
• Outstanding organisational skills in managing a varied workload to demanding deadlines.
• Experience in building and maintaining strong, positive working relationships both internally and externally to our organisation.

• Occupational hygiene

• Chemistry

• Occupational health

• Biological sciences

• Applied mathematical subjects or statistics

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

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

• Experience in the field of occupational hygiene and the application of human exposure considerations and models, especially in a regulatory context.
• How you develop and maintain your professional skills and knowledge, keep up-to-date with relevant developments and identify future challenges.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension

We invest in our people with;  

• 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

Allowances 

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 : Shaun Ellis
• Email : shaun.ellis@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk