Qualified Official Auxiliary – North

Job summary

Are you a driven individual with excellent communication skills?

Are you looking for a rewarding role that will have a real life impact on everyone in the UK?

If so, these exciting opportunities to join the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as a Qualified Official Auxiliary (OA) are for you and we’d love to hear from you!!

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1300 people, with a big vision – to drive change in the food system so that it delivers “food we can trust”.

Job description

Click the video below to hear from Dineka, to hear what it’s like to be a Meat and Dairy Inspector:
The heart of the FSA’s mission is to deliver “food we can trust”, and it’s more vital than ever that every precaution is taken to ensure the food on Britain’s plates is safe to eat, and exactly what it says it is.

Our meat production systems in abattoirs are one of the vital points of contact between the FSA and the food industry and represent an important on-the-ground part of our work. By ensuring high standards of animal welfare, quality control and workplace best practice are adhered to, we can make an active and ongoing difference in both the quality of the meat that reaches our plates but also the reputation that our nation and its food exports have on the global markets. The work the FSA does in abattoirs and food processing plants across the country each day has impact far beyond those factory walls.

Our Official Auxiliaries are vital parts of this process, delivering these standards through a number of means. These will include the performance of ante- and post-mortem inspections of animals, unannounced inspections on working practices across your dedicated site, the collecting and dispatching of samples for offsite analysis and communication with both FSA team members and onsite staff to create the safest and healthiest factory environment.

Where will I be working?

You’ll be working in one of the following FBO Plants within the North region of the UK:

Cluster 7: Woodheads, The Abattoir, Junction Street, Whitewalls Industrial Estate, Colne, BB8 8LH (1 post)

Working Pattern: Option of either a 3 day week, or a 4 day week

Cluster 9: Yorkshire Abattoir Services, 176 Wakefield Road, Ossett, WF5 9AQ (1 post)

Working Pattern: Evening Shift, Sunday to Friday

Please refer to the map on the candidate pack which highlights the location of each cluster across the UK.

It is a mandatory requirement that you need to reside within 60 miles or 90 minutes of your preferred plant location. Should you be offered a position with us, we will verify that you reside within this remit as part of the pre-employment process and failure to meet these requirements may result in your offer of employment being withdrawn.

Please note that other plants may become available throughout the year, and candidates who are placed on reserve will be offered these positions when they become available.

About you

We are looking for driven individuals who are able to maintain focus on repetitive tasks. You will be comfortable working in a busy factory environment with early start times, working a core 37 hrs each week with an option to be deployed on a 5, 4 or 3- day working pattern based on business demand and operational requirements of the base plant allocated (please note this working pattern will only apply once you have successfully completed the training). You will have strong communication skills that will allow you to talk with onsite staff across company hierarchies to influence and guide decision making as part of our FSA team. A sharp attention to detail is required for this role, and as such we can regrettably only consider those with normal colour vision (trichromacy) for this role.

With on-the-job training, and plenty of opportunities for progression in the FSA, the Qualified Official Auxiliary gives you a strong first step if you’re seeking to build a career around keeping Britain’s food safe for all.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Licences

Full UK Driving Licence and access to a vehicle

Qualifications

Red Meat Inspection qualification or equivalent

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,332, Food Standards Agency contributes £9,076 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Strengths and Experience.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role.

• You have a Full UK Driving Licence and access to a vehicle
• You hold a Red Meat Inspection qualification or equivalent

If you cannot answer yes to these questions – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

• When have you managed multiple workloads successfully working within tight deadlines?
• Tell us about a time when you had to use your communication skills to influence a different outcome?
• How have you used Microsoft Office or equivalent in your work, study or other tasks?

When submitting you personal statement, you are encouraged to use the full 750 words available to the best of your ability, as this will help the panel to determine your suitability to be taken through for interview.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience criteria:

Experience

• Experience of working under pressure and remaining calm in stressful situations
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimum supervision as part of a team
• Experience of building