The Scottish Government
Feed Officer
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Job Description
Come and join Food Standards Scotland as a Feed Officer and be part of our regulatory work on animal feed production
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has a wide and diverse remit, encompassing policy, science, and operational delivery across food and feed safety, standards, and authenticity, together with diet and nutrition. This is an exciting time to work at FSS within our Feed Delivery Branch as one of our in-house Feed Officers.
You will be responsible for delivering animal feed official controls for FSS, carrying out risk-based inspections, verification, and sampling activities at registered and approved Feed Businesses as part of a team of six Feed Officers and two Senior Feed Officers.
The Feed Officer also provides information services in response to feed-related enquiries from internal and external stakeholders and provides guidance and support to an assigned group of Local Authority partners to ensure that we collaborate efficiently and effectively as the Competent Authority for the delivery of Feed Official Controls across Scotland.
The role will be home-based, with a primary focus on visiting Feed Businesses across the Central Belt of Scotland as part of the FSS in-house Feed Delivery Branch. Occasional attendance at the FSS main office in Aberdeen will be required for meetings, and there may also be occasional travel throughout Scotland to support other feed-related activities. A valid driving licence is required, together with a willingness to drive.
Responsibilities
- Plan and deliver an assigned programme of official control inspections and sampling visits to feed businesses to assess and maintain compliance with feed legislation. Conduct enforcement action, in consultation with the Senior Feed Officers, where required.
- Efficiently plan your field visits to ensure value for money and the effective use of resources and operational expenditure allocated within the Feed Delivery budget. This includes carrying out accompanied field visits to verify the effective delivery of Feed Official Controls by our Local Authority partners.
- Build and maintain relationships with internal and external feed technical experts, including personally undertaking ongoing feed technical training and continuous professional development relating to Feed Official Controls.
- Provide accurate data entry into KPI systems by maintaining proficiency in the use of the FSS Feed Management Information System (FMIS) and the Sampling Database (SFSD). This includes providing a monthly report to your Senior Feed Officer covering your KPIs, work activities, and stakeholder contributions within the team.
- Respond to and resolve feed-related enquiries from members of the public, Feed Business Operators (FeBOs), and Local Authorities on an assigned basis, in consultation with the Senior Feed Officers. Advise and provide instruction on issues relating to Feed Official Controls as the Competent Authority for feed-related matters in Scotland.
- Contribute to FSS feed policy and regulatory strategy through the review and continuous improvement of operational procedures contained within the Feed Manual, the Feed Enforcement Policy, and branch processes and practices.
Qualifications
Recognised feed qualifications e.g. Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) Professional Competency in Feed (or equivalent qualifications and experience within the feed profession) enabling a working level competency to navigate and apply animal feed law is required, but the CTSI Competency in Feed will also be given to the right candidate where substantial experience in animal feed related work already exists.
Proof of qualifications will be checked at the assessment stage.
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Success profile
Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience and technical criteria (if applicable) that candidates will be assessed on.
Technical / Professional Skills
Connections and Communication – Working Level
Communicates and builds relationships across teams to deliver excellent service, quality and performance.
Works with others in collaboration to share information constructively.
Encourages feedback and creates a secure and safe environment where good communication and relationships can thrive.
Data and Insight – Working Level
Analyses a range of relevant information to inform decisions.
Interprets data to support service delivery and improvements, including dashboards and data sets.
Highlights trends or risks through data analysis which could impact service delivery or stakeholders.
Produces management information to report customer and service performance including dashboards.
Handles data securely and presents data visually clearly and accessibly.
Delivery and Decision Making at Pace – Working Level
Presents strong recommendations in a timely manner.
Understands complex information and is able to make the right decision at the right time often under pressure.
Assesses and identifies the risks of timescales for delivery and refers to others appropriately given the risks and likely outcomes.
Gives clear and explainable reasons for decisions and delivery.
You can find out more about the skills required, here: Core ODP Skills - Operational Delivery Profession.
Experience
- Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the Food Standards Scotland animal feed delivery model including a working knowledge of the FSS delivery of Feed Official Controls.
- Experience in working as an authorised officer undertaking Feed Official Controls, enforcement and associated regulatory duties in an animal feed regulatory environment.
- High level of personal effectiveness and planning skills with a proven track record of achieving tasks on time and to specification.
- High level of report writing and data entry skills, with an ability to assess compliance data, analyse evidence and articulate continuous improvement and compliance requirements to businesses and stakeholders.
Behaviours
Working Together - Level 3
Encourage joined up team work within own team and across other groups.
Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders.
Collaborate with these to share information, resources and support.
Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another.
Put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs.
Make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable.
Actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Managing a Quality Service - Level 3
Develop, implement, maintain and review systems and services to ensure delivery of professional excellence.
Work with stakeholders to set priorities, objectives and timescales.
Successfully deliver high quality outcomes that meet the customers’ needs and gives value for money.
Identify risks and resolve issues efficiently.
Involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements.
Establish ways to find and respond to feedback from customers about the services provided.
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Find out more about Success Profiles.
How To Apply
Apply online, providing a CV and supporting statement (statement of no more than 1500 words) providing evidence of your QUALIFICATIONS and how you meet the four aspects in the EXPERIENCE section listed above. Both the CV and the supporting statement provided will be assessed against these criteria for the role.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
Skilled Worker Sponsorship not being offered
Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.
In the event of a high volume of applications, candidates will have their applications initially assessed against the Qualifications criteria above. At interview/assessment if there is a tied score, performance in the Experience criteria will be applied to determine merit order.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation.
Assessments are scheduled for w/c 26th October 2026 however this may be subject to change.
Recruitment Principles
As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.
About Us
The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. We have responsibility for a wide range of key policy areas including: education, health, the economy, justice, housing and transport. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles.
Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service, observing the Civil Service Code and working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.
We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.
As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
Working pattern
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week Monday to Friday and we operate flexi-time working options subject to business and operational needs.
Food Standards Scotland offers a competitive salary, Civil Service Pension Scheme with generous Employer Contribution Rate, 5 weeks’ annual leave (rising to 6 weeks’ after 4 years’ service), 11.5 days public holidays, special and volunteering leave and family friendly policies, hybrid and flexible working to support work/life balance, access to a diverse range of training and development opportunities and much more.
Security checks
Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).
You can find out more about BPSS on the [UK Government website
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