Field Vet - Scotland

Are you considering a change in your veterinary career?

Are you looking for a career with variety and flexibility in the work you do?

Do you want a role safeguarding standards of animal health and welfare, protecting Great Britain from exotic notifiable diseases?

Many of the skills and competences already acquired in veterinary positions elsewhere will be applicable and valued in veterinary roles within APHA. Why not explore a change, a new veterinary path, one that can have far reaching impacts?

Why not join us and make a difference?

We offer first class flexible working benefits, a culture encouraging inclusion and diversity, excellent employee well-being support and a civil service pension scheme, as well as 25 days leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years of service. New recruits will also be offered Relocation Assistance. Please see the attachment in Civil Service Jobs for further details.

A career in the Civil Service is like no other. If you’re looking to join a world class team and develop your career with us, then the Civil Service is the place for you!

Want to learn more?

Whilst the advert provides the essential details, we will also be holding two virtual drop-in sessions. The first session will be on Wednesday 29th April at 12.30pm - 1.15pm and the second session will be on Thursday 30th April 12.30pm - 1.15pm via Microsoft Teams. These sessions will be an opportunity to ask questions related to the job and the application process. To join the session, click on the link below: Field Vet Drop-In Session - 29th April 12.30pm Field Vet Drop-In Session - 30th April 12.30pm

For any additional queries, or for those unable to attend a drop-in session please raise enquiries via: HRResourcingDelivery@defra.gov.uk

You can also visit APHA's Veterinary Careers website for further information. Home - Careers as an APHA Vet (aphavets.co.uk)

Job description We currently have 5 exciting field based veterinary opportunities to join our Field Delivery Scotland team in one of the above locations.

These veterinary roles involve a wide range of work including, but not limited to, the following: Responding to incidents and outbreaks of animal notifiable diseases Investigating animal diseases in farm livestock by: undertaking on-farm and field investigations examining and inspecting farmed animals to support differential diagnosis of disease conducting post-mortem examinations and collecting samples for laboratory testing when appropriate collecting and evaluating history and relevant data to support decisions collate and report findings and make recommendations Welfare investigations, both reactive and surveillance work. Including the welfare of farm animals during transport, at time of killing and when on agricultural holdings Inspection, approval and audit of premises at a range of settings, from zoos to pet food processing plants, and many other locations Ensuring compliance, with statutory standards, of animal health and welfare Building collaborative relationships with a range of valuable partners, including local authorities, industry representatives and non-APHA veterinary surgeons A reasonable amount of duty and out-of-hours rotas are expected to be covered All posts will be offered in merit order based on location and business need.

As part of the role, you will be expected to regularly travel throughout the week to carry out the duties outlined above. During certain notifiable disease work, staff will be expected to work away from home on organised short-term detached duty at other locations staying overnight. Staff will be reimbursed for related expenses. These requests will depend on business need. The post holder will occasionally be required to work from other locations in the delivery area with possible overnight stays. APHA operates an out of hours service and staff will be required to take part in an on-call rota as well as a UK detached duty rota.

Person specification

Essential Criteria We are looking for candidates who: are able to engage with customers and stakeholders confidentially and professionally have some experience of working in teams of various skills and disciplines are confident with responsibility in the face of challenge and can adapt to new situations flexibly are able to produce reports to communicate veterinary knowledge are comfortable with excellent record keeping and understand the importance of audits and processes that maintain quality outputs have some practical experience in veterinary work for example, handling of large animals. We're also looking for proficiency with routine techniques and skills which will enable you to develop as a State Veterinarian

Support and Training All successful candidates will be provided with an extensive programme of training and support as part of their induction into working with APHA.

Learning and development tailored to your role. APHA appreciates the varying level of experiences and skills successful candidates will hold on joining the agency. Training material is designed to ensure all new entrants, to APHA, build suitable confidence and competencies to deliver the work.

New veterinary staff will be part of regional, country and GB wide teams who will be provided with widespread support on all facets of APHA work.

Licences A valid driving licence that covers the UK, access to a vehicle with appropriate business use insurance.

Qualifications Minimum of Bachelor of Veterinary Science or equivalent

Memberships A Member or Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, with a status of ‘UK Practising’ at commencement of the role.

Languages Must have demonstrable skills in written and spoken English to enable effective communication about veterinary topics with customers and colleagues and meet one of the following: • have undertaken undergraduate veterinary training in English; or • having a sufficient command of spoken and written English to effectively perform the role being undertaken by a public sector worker in a customer-facing role or • have achieved the following scores in the academic international English Language Testing System (IELTS) or equivalent in a single sitting within 24 months at time of application – Overall 7, Speaking 7, Listening 7, Reading 7, Writing 7.

Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Understanding of notifiable exotic animal diseases in GB. Animal welfare issues in GB agriculture. Understanding of the control of endemic animal diseases in GB, such as TB. Veterinary and ethical Knowledge.

This is a Fixed Term Appointment as a Field Vet in the Veterinary Scotland (Kilwinning) team. The post requires temporary cover pending potential approval of a permanent post. The fixed term will end (if the post has been approved as permanent) when the permanent recruitment completes or will end on the fixed term end date if the post has not been approved as permanent. This post will therefore begin from the candidate's start date and end on 31st July 2027.