Animal Health Officer

The job itself

A job share opportunity has arisen to join the East Riding of Yorkshire Council\’s small team of officers delivering the busy regulatory Animal Health and Welfare service. This function plays a vital role in protecting farm animal health and welfare and public health, and contributing to our \”Farm to Fork\” approach to food control within Public Protection while supporting the rural economy.

In this role you will be enforcing animal health and welfare legislation when undertaking inspections at farms, livestock markets, collecting centres, abattoirs, animal by-products premises, investigating complaints and providing advice and guidance to the farming community and East Riding residents.

You will also be responding to outbreaks of notifiable animal disease, investigating reports of illegally imported animals and delivering intelligence-led projects.

We are looking for someone who has direct experience with farm animals, knowledge of livestock husbandry systems and preferably working in a regulatory or similar environment, carrying out interventions to ensure that regulatory requirements are maintained.

Applicants should have a good level of education, including Maths and English and either hold the CTSI Animal Health and Welfare Professional Qualification or an equivalent animal, agriculture or enforcement related diploma or degree. However, applicants with significant recent practical experience of working directly in farm animal health and welfare may also be considered. The successful applicant must be willing and able to undertake relevant professional training and qualifications within 12 -18 months.

As an animal health officer you will require both physical and emotional resilience, with a positive \’can do\’ attitude and effective communication skills to work with external/internal partners and customers. You will need to be physically fit and capable of working outdoors in all weather conditions across a variety of sites and able to handle farm livestock in agricultural environments. You will also potentially encounter confrontational and challenging situations, when undertaking interventions with businesses and investigating complaints into potential criminal offences.

You will require the skills to prioritise and manage your time effectively, with the ability to work under pressure and with flexibility. You will be expected to work both with minimal supervision and as part of a team towards shared goals, within an auditable system of procedures, data capture and record keeping.

You must hold a full driving licence and must have access to a suitable vehicle, as you will be required to travel to locations across the East Riding rural area to conduct inspections.

The post is based at our office in Beverley, however we operate on a blended working basis, so you will also work from your home or out on-site visits in an agile manner to meet service needs. As a customer facing frontline post you will need to be available to respond to urgent situations promptly. Core workdays are Monday to Friday, with occasional work on evenings and weekends, as necessary. The post holder will be required to work a Monday. Other days will be negotiable but will need to fit with operational service needs.