UK Chief Plant Health Officer and Deputy Director Plant and Bee Health, Plant Varieties and Seeds

Job summary

• Head of the UK the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) and International leadership of UK plant health at the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and European Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO).
• Head of Profession for the UK Plant Health Service
• Deputy Director for policy on plants, trees, bees and plant varieties and seeds.
• Lead the assessment of new and emerging risks to plant, tree and bee health and co-ordinate and lead the government’s central response to major incursions and outbreaks
• Lead and commission a research, evidence and analysis portfolio
• External lead and spokesperson on plant, tree and honeybee issues and a wider advisory role to UK government and other stakeholder organisations.
• Lead policy, science and analysts c. 73 people and a delegated budget of c. £27m

Job description

• Ownership and improvement of a publicly available Plant Health Portal
• Ownership and improvement of a publicly available plant health risk register to achieve better risk prioritisation and management
• Prioritising items identified by the monthly Plant Health Risk Group (PHRG) for presentation and discussion at the Monthly Biosecurity Meeting with Ministers, alerting Ministers to high profile pests for action
• Chair consultation meetings with stakeholders: Tree Health Policy Group and Plant Health Advisory Forum
• Chair UK NPPO group with Devolved Governments and UK Coordination Group with Crown Dependencies
• International leadership as Head of UK NPPO with EU, EPPO and IPPC
• Develop, maintain and test the plant health Contingency plans to ensure a rapid and effective response to pest outbreaks by
• Leading emergency response to new or changing pest threats; evidence of new pest outbreak response. Oversee development of pest specific contingency plans via the PHRG
• Lead spokesperson for plant and bee health matters for media interviews
• Implementing the Plant Biosecurity Strategy and SRO for Plant Health Programme Boards
• Policy customer oversight of APHA and Fera delivery of plant health inspection, surveillance and diagnostic activities
• Implementation of the tree health resilience strategy as part of 25 year environment plan
• Leadership of the Plant Variety and Seeds function through facilitating the breeding of varieties for UK conditions and maintaining the quality of marketed reproductive material, including improved disease resistance and reduced pesticides, and boost UK productivity.
• Leadership of honey bee health policy and SRO for the Healthy Bees Plan as part of the National Pollinator strategy.
• Written and verbal communication at events, conferences, webinars

Other corporate roles:

• Defra lead scientist for plants; lead for plant and tree initiatives across Government and with external stakeholders
• SRO for Fera SSCS contract
• Member of APHA Steering Board
• Member of Forest Research Board
• Member of the BBSRC the Food and Animal & Plant Health Programme Board

Person specification

• A relevant qualification in a plant related discipline such as, plant pathology, entomology, mycology or a related discipline with clear evidence of professional expertise
• Policy Leadership. Experience of policy leadership and sound judgment in a political environment. You will demonstrate clear ability to assimilate a wide range of information, analyse complex problems, identify how best to reconcile the conflicting priorities of different stakeholders and make propositions to ministers.
• Leading People. Outstanding people leadership skills, with a track record of leading, motivating and developing large, high performing teams and building a diverse and inclusive culture, while leading people through change and re-prioritisation.
• Negotiating and Influencing. Strong proven experience of successfully working collaboratively with and influencing a broad range of Board-level and more senior stakeholders internally and externally, and ideally, in international negotiations and wider representative roles.
• Excellent communication skills at all levels with demonstrable experience of communicating clearly and succinctly in all forms (written and oral) to a broad range of stakeholders, adapting the style for the appropriate audience, ensuring that complex issues are set out in a simple and accessible way that is influential and authoritative.
• Incident Response. The ability to work at a strategic level in a high-stakes incident or crisis and the flexibility and personal resilience to adapt to rapidly changing and high-risk circumstances.

Desirable criteria:

• Be a member of/join the Register of Plant Health Professionals
• Media trained or experienced in speaking to the media

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

As part of the application process, candidates are asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement (no more than 1250 words) on how your relevant skills and experience meet the essential criteria. Completed applications must be submitted no later than the closing date of 23:55, Sunday 2nd august 2026.

A sift will be conducted against the key criteria in the essential criteria and will assess your experience. Applications will be assessed by the selection panel and shortlisted. (please note: feedback is not given at the shortlist stage)

This assessment will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, it is designed to support the panel’s decision-making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

You will be asked to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the essential criteria for the role. As part of the interview, we may ask you to prepare and present a short presentation or undertake a practical desktop exercise. This will be confirmed in the interview invitation. We will also ask some strengths-based questions.

Interviews will be held face to face in London.

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