Scientific Officer

About the role:
Horsham District Council is looking for a Scientific Officer to join the Environmental Protection team in our Environmental Health and Licensing department. This busy team covers all aspects of environmental protection work including air pollution, ground contamination, noise, industrial processes, and private water supplies.
The team also provides specialist advice to other departments and stakeholders on these issues.
As a Scientific Officer you will be supporting the delivery of air quality monitoring, private water supply monitoring and other environmental protection work, including preparing reports for internal and external consultees. For air quality you will assist in the day-to-day management of the Local Air Quality Management functions for the department, including the calibration and maintenance of air quality monitoring sites across the district, data analysis, and production of relevant reports such as the Annual Status Reports and their submission to the relevant Government department.
The monitoring and regulation of private water supplies is an increasing area of our work. You will help to carry out the risk assessment and sampling of private water supplies across the district. This work will include site visits, sampling, reviewing results, preparing reports, and assisting in taking regulatory action. You will need to be externally accredited to undertake the sampling work and this will be arranged and funded by the Council.
The role will include opportunities to participate in projects, campaigns and to represent the council in external meetings, including the Sussex Air Quality Partnership and consultation meetings with the public and professional bodies regarding air and water quality. You will also be responding to enquiries from the public, including requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information regulations.
The role will involve working closely with colleagues to deliver statutory functions and corporate objectives for air quality, private water supplies, and other environmental protection matters. You will also be working independently at times, but with the backing of a friendly and supportive team.
About you:
To succeed as the Scientific Officer, you will have knowledge and interest in environmental monitoring and enjoy being part of a team with a passion to solve problems. You will either have a science degree or diploma, or equivalent qualifications relevant to this work.
You will need good verbal and written communication skills, be comfortable dealing with people from range of backgrounds and be able to manage difficult situations.
Experience and knowledge of air quality monitoring, private water supplies, and other environmental protection work will be an advantage, but support and training are available for the right candidate to improve their skills.
You will visit sites around the district so will need a current UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.
For an informal discussion about this role please call Lee Money, Principal Environmental Health Officer, on 01403 215410.
About us as an employer:
We have a friendly and supportive working environment and being a smaller Council, you can really get to know everybody.
We encourage and support our employees to have a healthy work life balance by, offering 28 days’ (207.2 hours) annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata), and flexible/hybrid working options where applicable.
We offer a generous benefits package including an online platform offering discounts from online retailers and access to a car lease scheme. Staff are also eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), where the Council contributes circa 20% of pensionable salary.
To support employees’ professional development the Council provides reimbursement for professional subscriptions and a number of training opportunities, including extensive in-house learning resources, short courses, Apprenticeships, and qualifications such as Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), Master of Business Administration (MBA).
Visit our Jobs and careers page to find out more about Working for Horsham District Council and Our employment commitments.
To apply:
If you would like to apply for the role, we highly recommend you show clearly within the ‘Experience Section’ of the application form how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the Role Profile when applying. If you do not make this clear, it is unlikely you will be shortlisted for interview.
Internal applicants, if you would like to apply for the role, please submit an expression of interest to ##### explaining clearly how you meet the criteria and what you feel you can bring to the role.
#J-18808-Ljbffr