JOB SUMMARY

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.
APHA is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions.
We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups.
The Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our People are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes.
This advertised role is to join the Animal Sciences team as part of a team of specialist veterinary surgeons, bio veterinary scientists and animal technicians in the Pathology and Animal Science Department leading the delivery of live animal phases of infectious disease research and statutory disease surveillance functions, ensuring compliance with Home Office regulations (ASPA), providing advice on the welfare and treatment of the animals as Named Veterinary Surgeon, developing and promoting the animal science discipline, and managing specialist staff and facilities within APHA.
The Weybridge site is undergoing a major structural transformation with new high tech animal facilities being constructed to support ongoing and new projects in the years to come.
This is a great opportunity to further your career if you have a keen interest in Animal Science. We have a variety of training opportunities available to support your career at APHA. We seek individuals with a passion for working with animals and promoting their welfare.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Animal science project delivery and capability leadership: to monitor and ensure the welfare of mainly cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and ferrets used in research. Design and lead relevant projects across a range of disease or commercial portfolios. Development of animal science capability and expertise, including development and application of new technologies and advances relevant to Animal Sciences at APHA, and engagement in policy relevant research across disease portfolios. There is an opportunity for further education if desirable. Job holder must have a keen interest in research and proactively seek opportunities to develop modern welfare assessment tools. They will proactively contribute to the “3Rs” (reduction, refinement, replacement), particularly the refinement of experimental or veterinary procedures.
Named Veterinary Surgeon: Provision of advice on implementation of the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act (full training will be provided). Ensure veterinary care and attention is given to a range of experimental animals as appropriate. Ensure the veterinary team can always deliver adequate veterinary cover and services. A weekly rota is shared with the other NVSs to respond to animal welfare emergencies out of hours. Advise on the health and welfare needs of a range of species, and the implementation of the 3Rs. Participate in study planning, execution and reviews, and ensuring appropriate records and documentation are kept and quality and safety standards are adhered to.
Veterinary duties: to provide basic medical care to all above mentioned species (diagnosis, treatment, anaesthesia monitoring, prevention of illnesses and injuries) in animals. Out of Hours rotation (currently 1 in 7) for emergency calls or if required to arrive on site within 45 min.
Staff and facility management: line management or functional management of scientific staff working in animal facilities. Responsibility for delivery of high disease containment animal studies (up to ACDP3, SAPO4), with responsibility for animal disease biosecurity and Home Office (HO) compliance, staff training and performance management.
Specialism: The jobholder will be expected to develop as a veterinary specialist with regards to the species and the infectious organisms used in their area of responsibility and an awareness of the policy relevance of the work undertaken. They will lead on the development of the science capability within the department and support the Animal Science discipline champion. They will be encouraged to obtain a personal Home Office licence in order to carry out regulated procedures.
BioEthics, Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB): The jobholder will be an active member of the AWERB and its species care and use subcommittee, participating in meetings as well as have input into project licence applications, study and protocol reviews.
Communication: The jobholder will be required to have excellent interpersonal skills liaising with a very diverse range of people with differing skills and expertise. They should be able to confidently deliver training and presentations, and chair meetings as required as well as write/contribute to scientific reports and publications.
Budget and Financial planning: Sound resource management is important - they will be involved in planning of multidisciplinary work, liaising with departmental administration team to ensure good budgetary management, effective use of resource and workforce planning. They may have contract management duties.
Corporate activities: budget contribution, administrative responsibilities, Continuing Professional Development and other duties as required, including involvement in on call, duty rotas, emergency response, health and safety and quality processes.
Safety: Ensure that adequate training and planning for response to emergency scenarios is in place; actively lead and participate in safety inspections and audits. Work closely with safety representatives in respect of these duties.
Quality: The jobholder will be required to keep up to date on all legislation that could impact on quality issues within the department (GLP, GMP, ISO9001) and will contribute to the preparation and planning of inspections and audits within the department, and be involved as required in pre-start meetings, facilitation on the day, wash-up meetings and management resolution of arising actions.

EXPERIENCE

• Clinical practice in small or food animal species or experimental models is required
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills – written and oral, team working and leading
• Previous veterinary experience and skills
  For more about life as an APHA Vet, please watch this short video - Disease Investigation roles

QUALIFICATIONS

Veterinary degree

TECHNICAL SKILLS

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

• Previous experience with experimental models or pathogens at different containment levels if applicable, otherwise how biosecurity and biosafety is part of your current job

THE WORK OF THE POST CAN BE PHYSICALLY DEMANDING, AND DUE TO ACCESS REQUIREMENTS TO BIOSECURE AREAS, INDIVIDUALS MUST BE PHYSICALLY ABLE.

Depending on the areas of work involved you will be expected to have any necessary vaccinations or health surveillance.
Restrictions on outside/domestic contact with small animals, mainly rodents and rabbits, will/may apply.
You should not keep pigs or poultry or live on premises where there are domestic livestock or poultry.
Staff will be required to work rostered on-call duties, weekends, Bank Holidays and occasional evenings. APHA Management reserves the right to change overtime patterns to meet requirements. You may be eligible for overtime payments and where overtime is approved you will receive appropriate payment.
A valid full driving licence is necessary. Periodic travel within the UK may be required to attend training courses and this could include farm or abattoir visits as part of ongoing research or other postmortem facilities. You may have to ensure that no contact is made with farmed animals for a period of 1-2 days or more before visiting these premises and may therefore preclude anyone who lives on a livestock farm.
Out of hours work may be required in the event of an incident. They may be required to facilitate as an Animal Sciences On Call Officer on a duty rota for out of working hours support response to the Department.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Science
Veterinary Services