Senior Trading Standards Officer

This is a Full Time, Permanent Position (up to £48,226 market supplement). Recognising the workforce demand, these posts are enhanced with a market rate pay supplement in excess of the top of the substantive grade. An annual review will take place which could reduce, increase or remove the enhancement subject to market conditions.

Make a Difference. Protect Consumers. Support Business. Shape the Future.

What We’re Looking For

We are seeking a highly motivated and qualified Trading Standards Officer to join our dynamic team as a Senior Trading Standards Officer. This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in protecting consumers, supporting legitimate businesses, and helping to develop the next generation of Trading Standards professionals. As a Senior Trading Standards Officer, you will lead and undertake a wide range of enforcement, advisory, and investigative activities across the full spectrum of Trading Standards functions.

You will be based in the Commercial Practices team. Whilst primarily responsible for enforcing product safety, counterfeit goods and fair-trading legislation, you will also be required to deliver high-quality regulatory enforcement in food and feed standards, business advice and regulatory compliance and weights and measures enforcement. You will investigate criminal offences, prepare case files, gather and present evidence, conduct inspections, execute warrants where appropriate, and represent the authority in court proceedings.

In addition to operational duties, you will play a key role in supporting and developing colleagues, including mentoring apprentices, trainee officers, and less experienced staff, helping them to achieve professional qualifications and develop their enforcement skills.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience working within a Trading Standards Service.
• Proven experience investigating and enforcing legislation relating to all aspects of trading standards work.
• Experience preparing prosecution files and presenting evidence.
• Strong partnership-working skills with local, regional, and national agencies.
• Experience providing advice and guidance to businesses and consumers.
• Experience supervising, coaching, mentoring, or supporting apprentices and trainees.

Personal Attributes

• Demonstrates sound professional judgement and integrity.
• Has excellent investigative and analytical skills.
• Can communicate confidently with businesses, consumers, legal professionals, and partner agencies.
• Is organised, self-motivated, and capable of managing competing priorities.
• Is passionate about developing others and promoting professional standards within the service.

What We Offer

• A varied and rewarding role protecting the public and supporting fair markets.
• Opportunities to lead complex investigations and projects.
• Ongoing professional development and training.
• Flexible working arrangements.
• A supportive and collaborative team environment.
• The opportunity to mentor and shape future Trading Standards professionals.

Role and Purpose

To supervise and participate in the work of the Trading Standards team, organising and supervising specialist professional officers in discharging the City Council’s statutory functions in relation to weights and measures, product safety, counterfeiting, food and feed standards, tobacco control, animal health, explosives enforcement, scams, doorstep crime, property law and fair trading (which fall within local authority control for enforcement).

The work will involve taking a lead role in the inspection and regulation of trade premises, responding to service requests and tackling unfair practices and the sale of unsafe goods through targeted interventions. To take a lead role in an area of specialist subject areas covered by the team, for example, product safety, motor trade compliance, intellectual property infringement, doorstep crime and service sector controls.

To safeguard the health, safety and economic wellbeing of persons living, working or visiting the city, by ensuring a fair and safe trading environment, through the inspection of a wide range of retail, wholesale and manufacturing premises. Activities will include the enforcement of legislation, investigation of complaints; inspection of trade premises; sampling of goods; the inspection of equipment under metrological control; the issuing of statutory notices; the seizure of non-compliant goods; submission of intelligence reports; prosecution of offenders and the provision of technical advice.

A significant part of this role will involve the day-to-day management of electronic records, and the coordination and allocation of work in the above specialist subject areas. To provide a high level of knowledge and expertise in the areas covered by the team, especially in most complex enforcement and allied functions, and assist in the management of highly interactive client focused services. To contribute to and assist in policy formulation for the Service, including the annual Trading Standards Service Plan.

Principal Accountabilities

• Strategy – To assist the City Trading Standards Manager by implementing and monitoring policies and work programmes to enable the performance of the Section to be managed against objectives.
• To determine the need for, and to arrange for product safety samples to be taken and submitted, to interpret and evaluate the analytical results, to suspend and seize non-compliant goods and to use statutory powers to safeguard public safety and secure continuous improvements in standards.
• To be responsible for, and have the discretion to, initiate investigations to detect and rectify serious breaches of a wide range of legislation.
• To interview witnesses, take statements, collect, prepare and collate evidence correctly, thoroughly, professionally and in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and departmental procedures, to prepare prosecution reports and to act as a witness in court on behalf of the Council.
• Customer Focus - To conduct detailed inspections and audits at the highest risk business premises, to determine standards, secure improvements and ensure compliance with legal requirements, to ensure a fair and safe trading environment, to safeguard consumers from economic and safety risks.
• Investigate the most complex service requests, officer identified contraventions, to identify breaches of legislation, non-compliance with safety standards, and risks to health.
• To produce accurate and timely correspondence, records, files and data, including the use of IT and the production of technical reports, to ensure the delivery of quality assured highly focused customer service.
• To inculcate practices and processes throughout the team.
• To act as a lead in the development of corporate systems in use in order to make them as effective as possible in illustrating the contributions of the team to public health objectives.
• When required, to develop and deliver educational packages, guidance and presentations to members of the public, businesses, schools, universities, colleges and other bodies in specialist areas of trading standards, through the provision of public displays, lectures, seminars, campaigns, advisory visits and the production of leaflets, to raise awareness of current issues and to bring about improvements to trade compliance and public safety.
• To respond to public requests for advice and reports of concern (often from vulnerable residents) in a timely and effective way and provide an evidence trail associated with interventions which will allow a qualitative review of action undertaken.
• Performance Management - To assist the Section Manager in ensuring set standards are achieved and maintained.
• To take a lead role in the delivery of key objectives, priorities and targets associated with developing a more intelligence led and digital approach.
• To mentor, train, guide and support less experienced Trading Standards Officers, Enforcement Officers and professional trainees, to contribute to their professional development and the development of the team.
• To recognise, communicate and mitigate risks to the delivery of performance standards.
• To achieve personal objectives and targets to ensure compliance with the Service Delivery plan by working effectively as a team member.
• Leadership - To supervise, guide and support specialist professional staff; to ensure that staff operate in accordance with the defined policies, priorities and objectives of the Service.
• To take the lead, and to provide staff with guidance and direction, in dealing with the most complex issues.
• To contribute to the production and review of written Trading Standards Section procedures and documentation to ensure quality, consistency and best value in accordance with the Department's Service Business Plan.
• To contribute to the annual Trading Standards teamwork plans, particularly with respect to statistics around interventions, premises and specialist areas of work.
• To lead, guide and support less experienced Trading Standards Officers and Enforcement Officers in the decision to make applications to the Magistrate’s Court for warrants, their execution, and the seizure of illegal and unsafe goods and evidence to safeguard public safety and wellbeing.
• To act as a professional lead during the assessment of other serious contraventions, providing support to less experienced staff.
• To play a leading role in the development of career graded Enforcement Officers with their professional qualifications and competency development.
• Statutory Obligations – To interpret new and existing legislation using professional judgement, and to determine appropriate courses of action when non-compliance with legislation is identified.
• Actions will range from the provision of advice, guidance and written reports, the service of a variety of legal notices, to the preparation of reports for legal proceedings.
• To possess a sound working knowledge of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Benefits of Working of Hull City Council

• A competitive salary.
• An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Initially 23 days annual leave depending on length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period.
• Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods.
• Supportive and forward-thinking culture.
• Great career development opportunities.
• We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong.
• We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.
• We adopt a 'name blind' approach to shortlisting.
• Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made.
• Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.
• We reserve the right to amend the dates associated with this advert, which may include closing the advert early where required.
• The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
• Online searches, including social media, may be carried out as part of the recruitment process.
• By joining our team you will be making a tangible difference to the lives of people in Hull.
• Working with people who are as passionate about our place and public services as you are.