Essex County Council
Head of Environmental Health & Licencing – Harlow District Council
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
About The Role
Head of Environmental Health & Licensing - Harlow District Council
Harlow District Council
Permanent, Part Time
£30,145.60 - £31,487.20 per annum pro rata (full-time equivalent £75,364 - £78,718 per annum)
Location: Harlow
Closing Date: 2nd August 2026
Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Harlow District Council to recruit a Head of Environmental Health & Licensing.
Please click here to apply for this role via Harlow District Council’s website.
Job Description
Working hours: 15 hours per week (banking 12 minutes per week towards the shut down between Christmas and New Year)
About The Role
Harlow Council is seeking an experienced, dynamic, and forward-thinking Head of Environmental Health and Licensing to lead our high-performing regulatory services. This is a pivotal leadership position responsible for safeguarding public health, ensuring safe and vibrant communities, and supporting local businesses through a fair and modern regulatory approach.
You will lead multidisciplinary teams covering environmental health, food safety, housing standards, disabled facilities grants, environmental protection, health & safety, and licensing. This is an opportunity to shape the strategic direction of these services as Harlow continues its exciting growth and regeneration journey.
What You’ll Do
- Provide strategic leadership across Environmental Health and Licensing, ensuring compliance with statutory duties and delivery of excellent public services.
- Lead, motivate, and develop professional teams to achieve high performance and continuous improvement.
- Oversee delivery of key services including food hygiene, private sector housing enforcement, health & safety, noise and nuisance, pollution control, and all licensing functions.
- Work collaboratively with local partners, public health bodies, businesses, and other stakeholders to promote community wellbeing and economic growth.
- Drive innovation, service transformation, and digital improvement to enhance efficiency and customer experience.
- Act as the Council’s principal adviser on environmental health and licensing matters, providing expert guidance to senior leaders and elected members.
- Manage budgets, resources, and regulatory programmes to ensure effective and value-for-money service delivery.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
About You
We’re looking for a strategic leader with a strong professional background and a commitment to improving public health and community safety. You will have:
- Significant experience in environmental health with particular expertise in Private Sector Housing and/or licensing within a local authority or similar regulatory environment.
- Proven leadership and people management skills with the ability to inspire teams and deliver measurable results.
- Excellent understanding of regulatory frameworks, including relevant environmental health, housing, and licensing legislation.
- Strong communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement abilities.
- A proactive, solution-focused approach with the confidence to influence at all levels.
- Chartered status or eligibility for Chartered status with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is desirable.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Why Harlow Council?
This is a rare opportunity to help shape services in a borough undergoing major transformation. At Harlow Council, you’ll join a collaborative leadership environment committed to innovation, empowerment, and delivering the best outcomes for residents.
We offer:
- Competitive salary and generous local government pension scheme
- Flexible and hybrid working options
- Support for professional development
- A culture that values ideas, improvement, and excellence
For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Sasha Taylor, Director Public Protection, on 01279 446047
Harlow Council is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. We offer flexibility with purpose through our Dynamic Working approach. While office-based work is the norm, most full-time employees attend the workplace at least three days per week (pro rata) (four days per week from September 2026).
We also support a range of flexible arrangements to help balance work and personal life and provide health and wellbeing initiatives and an employee assistance programme.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the Essential Criteria on the Employee Profile.
Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Harlow District Council to recruit a Head of Environmental Health & Licensing.
Please click here to apply for this role via Harlow District Council’s website.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location