Border Programme Engagement Lead

at  Department for Business and Trade

JOB SUMMARY

About OPSS
Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!
We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade (Previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.
Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned.
Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.
Further information can be found on our website here
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
We are Inclusive
We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

We would welcome applicants with the following essential skills and experience:

• You will demonstrate a high level ability to understand and communicate relevant legislation and guidance;
• You will have well-developed written and verbal communication skills;
• You can effectively develop and maintain productive working relationships with a broad range of partners to recognise and achieve common goals;
• The need to engage with partners, including senior officials, is key to our team, including the ability to influence people towards a new and different way of thinking to drive cultural change;
• You will have a willingness to undertake any training which may be necessary to keep up to date with the requirements of the role;
• You are able to work independently and seize opportunities.

Desirable:

• Previous experience collaborating with, or working with local authorities;
• Previous experience of market surveillance at the border;
• Experience of working for a national regulator.

Please note that this role is open to candidates working in Birmingham, London and Teddington office. When you are required to give a preference, Twickenham will appear rather than Teddington, so please be aware that you should choose this option if you wish to be based in Teddington.

SELECTION PROCESS DETAILS

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.
Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.
• A Personal Statement of up to 500 words, to demonstrate how your skills, knowledge and experience match the requirements of the role detailed in the bullet points under the “key responsibilities” and the essential criteria detailed in the” skills and experience” sections of the job description.

It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date though this is subject to change.
In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

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) (opens in a new window)
• 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 (opens in a new window)

THE ROLE AND OUR TEAM:

The OPSS Border Delivery Team is responsible for detecting, deterring and disrupting flows of unsafe and non-compliant consumer and construction products into the UK, whilst reducing friction at the border for compliant products. The team runs the programme, the operational policy, and the operational delivery of OPSS’s activity, administering a £3.8m budget, and working closely with local authorities, Border Force, and HMRC to deliver checks that result in millions of products being refused entry at the border and sustainable business behaviour change.
The Border Programme Engagement Lead will work with internal and external stakeholders to develop partnership working at nationally strategic points of entry (Ports and Borders). To ensure a consistent approach to product safety risks for imported goods, whilst supporting the wider work of the team with local authorities on product safety, legal metrology and construction products matters. Alongside the Local Authority Unit, you will be the primary face of the team amongst our external stakeholders, the first line for questions and advice, and you will feed in the views and needs of our stakeholders into relevant conversations, projects, and policies being developed and implemented across OPSS.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

In particular, it is envisioned that you will be responsible for:

• Working with internal and external partners to support effective controls by funded local authorities that have a border point;
• Delivering effective outcomes and developing best practice case studies through collaborative relationships with key partners, and using these to support the development of guidance and advice;
• Co-ordinating with OPSS’s Local Authority Unit, and policy leads to ensure consistent messaging and engagement with the key stakeholders, strengthening our vital relationships, and ensuring they have necessary specialist and technical advice from across the organisation;
• Supporting delivery of market surveillance reporting by external stakeholders;
• Shaping, contributing to, and in many cases leading, a range of projects that support both the Borders Programme, the broader co-ordination nationally of market surveillance activities and the wider organisation.