Radiological & Nuclear (RN) Recovery Policy Advisor in Stafford

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents, whether malicious use by terrorist groups or state actors, civil nuclear accidents or spills of hazardous materials, present significant challenges when it comes to recovery. An area contaminated with a CBRN agent could remain dangerous, uninhabitable and a serious public health risk if not dealt with appropriately. It also means that CBRN incidents, whether accidental or malicious, can cause serious issues when affecting critical sites.

Defra is the Lead Government Department (LGD) for Recovery from CBRN incidents in England. Defra is also responsible for the provision of remediation (including decontamination) capabilities for incidents which overwhelm local arrangements for the whole of the UK and its overseas territories. The CBRN Recovery Team is looking for a Radiological and Nuclear (RN) Recovery Senior Policy Advisor. This is an exciting, stretching post with the opportunity to challenge assumptions and shape the role of government during CBRN events, particularly in the Radiological and Nuclear (RN) space.

The CBRN Recovery Team sits within the Flood, Water and CBRN Emergencies Division. The division is a fast-paced and high-profile team at the heart of Defra’s contingency planning, working closely with resilience teams across government, scientists and engineers, operational leads, communications colleagues, Private Offices and Ministers. We prepare for the recovery following the release of CBRN material into the open or built environment, and the recovery of the environment from a nuclear accident. We plan for and respond to natural hazards such as flooding and drought. We lead on risk management and planning for threats to water supply and lead on incidents working closely with the water sector and other sector leads across government.

We also coordinate Defra’s interests in other incidents such as flooding and water security issues, working across the Defra Group to understand risks and provide ministers with advice, consistent and timely information during an emergency. The Flood, Water and CBRN Emergencies team consists of permanent staff based across Defra hubs including London, Bristol and York. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing Radiological and Nuclear (RN) Recovery policy within Defra. The candidate will work in close partnership with the CBRN Recovery Team’s Radiological and Nuclear Recovery Policy Lead, alongside wider policy, science and operations colleagues.

Defra’s RN Recovery policy programme is rapidly developing, and the successful candidate will have significant influence on Defra’s future direction and resilience in this space. This will include identifying policy gaps and working to address these. Much of this work will operate under the governance of the Radiation Recovery Group (RRG). The post will involve a significant amount of cross-Government work feeding into other Departmental RN strategies. This is an exciting, stretching post with the potential to have a real-world impact during high-profile incidents of significant public, political and media interest.

As such, we are looking for someone who is strong across the SEO behaviours with the ability to develop and deliver evidence-based policy, solve complex problems and work as part of a wider HMG team. The successful candidate must be able to successfully influence key stakeholders (including Ministers, industry specialists and international partners), be capable of understanding and communicating information to a non-technical audience, and be confident in building networks as well as see the bigger cross-HMG picture. Strong written, reasoning, and verbal communication skills are a must.

As part of the Floods, Water and CBRN Emergencies team the successful candidate should also expect to work closely with members of the wider team and other Defra teams during major incidents such as flooding. Given the nature of our work, we need members of the team to be willing to work unsociable hours when the need arises. You will also be expected to be part of our out of hours duty rota – you will be compensated for this role.