Agriculture Inspector – Armagh

Our client, a large public sector organisation, is looking for Agriculture Inspectors throughout Northern Ireland to join their team.

Duration: 6 Months with possible extension

Rate of pay: £*****

Location: Armagh

Hours: The normal conditioned hours of work are 37 hours net per week, Monday-Friday. Some posts will also require early morning starts, for example, those working in Field Operations in wildlife intervention duties. In addition, staff may be required to participate in weekly on-call rotas during weekdays, weekends, and evenings.

Please be advised that the BCG vaccine is an essential requirement.

Main Duties:

• Epizootics/Trade: Providing advice on and ensuring compliance with import and export regulations of livestock, and completing checks to detect and prevent illegal movements.
• Carrying out inspections and verification checks in support of certifying veterinarians to facilitate trade.
• Auditing Scrapie Monitored flocks annually to ensure compliance with the scheme rules regarding animal identification, record keeping and that the premises meet the required standard.
• Ensuring knowledge to assist in the event of an Epizootic disease outbreak.

Inspections/Compliance:

• Providing the initial response to on-farm welfare complaints as directed by line management and completing the inspection report form.
• Inspecting applications for animal group numbers and confirming the identity of the applicants.
• Inspecting the cleansing and disinfection of premises and equipment during disease outbreaks.
• Responsibility for enforcing legislation relating to the welfare of animals during transport.
• Investigating reports of livestock carcasses dumped or not disposed of.
• Completing Biosecurity Surveys, Dairy Herd Questionnaires and Medicine Record Inspections.
• Completing inspections at rendering plants.
• Ensuring that they have the equipment required for a task and ensure it is fit for purpose.

Public Health:

• Collecting blood samples from all species of farmed animals for disease detection and survey work.
• Collecting samples for salmonella testing from different categories of poultry flocks.

Enforcement:

• When a prosecution case is being taken, the Inspector Group 1 will provide a witness statement and attend court to present evidence.

Enzootics:

• The Inspector Group 1 may be involved in badger sett surveying and any future wildlife intervention work in relation to the Bovine Tuberculosis (Tb) Eradication Transformation Programme.
• Gathering data by completing Tb Disease Investigation forms.

Eligibility Criteria:

• 2 GCSEs / GCE O level at Grade C or above in Maths and English or equivalent.
• A Level 3 Diploma in Work-based Agriculture OR a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture OR a Level 3 Advanced Technical Extended Diploma in Agriculture OR equivalent.
• At least 3 months' relevant post qualification work experience gained within the last two years.
• Have a full valid driving licence allowing the driving of manual vehicles in NI and access to a form of transport which will permit them to meet the requirements of the post in full.

You will be required to provide documentary evidence of your qualifications. The successful candidates must also have access to a form of transport to enable them to fulfil the responsibilities of the post and be prepared to travel throughout Northern Ireland and elsewhere, as required. This may include overnight stays.