Environmental Protection Officer (Planning)

Job Purpose: You will effectively promote and, where appropriate, enforce environmental protection across the district. Your primary responsibility is to protect the public and the environment and groups such as consumers, tenants, residents and workers. You will also regulate to achieve local economic growth, for example by improving regulatory outcomes, without imposing unnecessary burdens, thereby reducing business costs or by providing Primary Authority Services.

Responsibilities:

• You will conduct reactive and proactive interventions, including advice, inspections, investigations, audits, surveillance and other monitoring/survey activity, and the public health and environmental impact assessment of proposed development or applications for licences/permitted processes.
• You will undertake initiatives to bring about environmental compliance without the need for enforcement, such as participating in business or consumer education programmes or working with businesses on accreditation schemes.
• You will carry out initiatives to promote the Council and the service.
• You will support staff training and peer reviews.
• You will be appointed to act or speak on behalf of the service on project teams, specialist sub-groups and multi-agency task teams.
• You will supervise contractors who are engaged by the service.
• You will collaborate with other agencies and organisations and, with colleagues across the Council, to carry out joined up consistent enforcement interventions and to develop and improve joint projects and ways of working.
• You will support the service in meeting its on-call/emergency responsibilities by providing advice by telephone and on-call cover outside of your normal working hours.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Education and qualifications: You will be educated to at least first degree level in a related discipline or equivalent in experience.
• Professional recognition: You will hold full membership of an appropriate institution (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) and be a fully qualified environmental health practitioner holding the Certificate of Registration by the Environmental Health Registration Board.
• Core regulatory skills: You will be competent in the following areas:
• The assessment of risk.
• Planning your own work effectively to meet organisational requirements.
• Promoting compliance and exercising professional judgement, as appropriate.
• Providing advice and influencing.
• Interviewing people formally or informally.
• Enforcing relevant legislation, including the accurate drafting and service of Notices.
• Working effectively with businesses and establishing positive relationships.
• Partnership working with other stakeholders.
• Pro-actively acquiring knowledge to support your work.
• Identifying your own learning objectives and putting plans in place.
• IT, literacy and numeracy.
• Providing Primary Authority Services.

Circumstances: Able to undertake independent business travel.