Official Veterinarian

Job summary

Are you a veterinarian (including newly qualified or early-career vets) looking for structured training and hands-on experience to develop as an Official Veterinarian? Or, do you already hold the Official Veterinarian designation and are seeking a new opportunity?

Do you have knowledge of applying veterinary judgement and risk assessments to protect animal welfare and food safety?

If so, this is an exciting opportunity to join the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as an Official Veterinarian, and we’d love to hear from you!

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1600 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

Job description

We are looking for an Official Veterinarian to join our Field Operations team, playing a vital role in protecting public health, animal welfare and food standards. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of food regulation, providing expert veterinary oversight within approved establishments and supporting the delivery of official controls across the Wales and West region.

You will work on a rota basis across abattoirs and other premises, building trusted relationships with food business operators and colleagues while applying your professional judgement in a varied and rewarding environment. This role offers strong professional development, the chance to influence standards on the ground, and the opportunity to contribute to work that makes a real difference to consumers and industry alike.

You will provide veterinary leadership within approved establishments, directing and supporting plant inspection teams to ensure meat official controls are delivered effectively and consistently. You will assess food chain information, carry out ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections, and verify compliance with animal welfare, hygiene, food safety and traceability requirements, taking proportionate enforcement action where necessary.

Alongside this, you will undertake unannounced inspections, animal health checks on dairy farms, and contribute to incident response and contingency arrangements, including disease outbreaks and food incidents. You will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, produce high-quality reports, support health and safety arrangements at plant level, and maintain up-to-date legislative and technical knowledge through ongoing learning and development.

Working pattern guidance

You will be required to work a 4 day compressed week.

Where will I be working?

These roles are available in the Wales and West region of the UK. Please refer to the map in the candidate pack which outlines the area you’ll be covering. Candidates are required to live within the boundaries of this map, or be willing to relocate to this area. Please note that the FSA does not offer any financial support for relocation purposes.

As part of your application you will be asked to confirm your postcode for the address where you currently reside, and whether or not you intend to relocate for work purposes. Should you be offered a position with us, we will verify that you reside within this remit as part of the pre-employment process. Failure to meet this requirement may result in your offer of employment being withdrawn.

With on-the-job training, and plenty of opportunities for progression in the FSA, the Official Veterinarian role gives you a strong first step if you’re seeking to build a career around keeping Britain’s food safe for all.

To hear more about working for the FSA as an Official Veterinarian please visit our Career Site

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Licences

Full UK Driving Licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes

Qualifications

Official Veterinarian Surgeon (red/white) designation or willing to work towards it.

Memberships

Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS)

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,613, Food Standards Agency contributes £11,765 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).Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Full details of the selection process can be found in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role.

· Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS)

· Official Veterinarian Surgeon (red/white) designation or prepared to work towards Official Veterinarian Surgeon (red/white) designation.

· A full UK Driving Licence with access to a vehicle for work purposes

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential and desirable criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

· Knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks, such as the hygiene package and animal welfare legislations

· Understanding of applying veterinary risk assessment

· Demonstrable experience of managing a complex and competing workload to achieve successful outcomes

Desirable criteria

(Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).

Technical

• HACCP Level 3 or Level 4 Certification
• A qualification or training in auditing e.g. Quality Assurance Management, ISO Lead Assessor course or HACCP auditing, IRCA Regist