Food Standards Agency
Official Veterinarian
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South West England
Job Summary
Are you a veterinarian (including newly qualified or early-career vets) looking for structured training and hands-on experience to develop as an Official Veterinarian? Or, do you already hold the Official Veterinarian designation and are seeking a new opportunity?
Do you have knowledge of applying veterinary judgement and risk assessments to protect animal welfare and food safety?
If so, this is an exciting opportunity to join the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as an Official Veterinarian, and we’d love to hear from you!
The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1600 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.
Job Description
We are looking for an Official Veterinarian to join our Field Operations team, playing a vital role in protecting public health, animal welfare and food standards. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of food regulation, providing expert veterinary oversight within approved establishments and supporting the delivery of official controls across the Wales and West region.
You will work on a rota basis across abattoirs and other premises, building trusted relationships with food business operators and colleagues while applying your professional judgement in a varied and rewarding environment. This role offers strong professional development, the chance to influence standards on the ground, and the opportunity to contribute to work that makes a real difference to consumers and industry alike.
You will provide veterinary leadership within approved establishments, directing and supporting plant inspection teams to ensure meat official controls are delivered effectively and consistently. You will assess food chain information, carry out ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections, and verify compliance with animal welfare, hygiene, food safety and traceability requirements, taking proportionate enforcement action where necessary.
Alongside this, you will undertake unannounced inspections, animal health checks on dairy farms, and contribute to incident response and contingency arrangements, including disease outbreaks and food incidents. You will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, produce high-quality reports, support health and safety arrangements at plant level, and maintain up-to-date legislative and technical knowledge through ongoing learning and development.
Working pattern guidance
You will be required to work a 4 day compressed week.
Where will I be working?
These roles are available in the Wales and West region of the UK. Please refer to the map in the candidate pack which outlines the area you’ll be covering. Candidates are required to live within the boundaries of this map, or be willing to relocate to this area. Please note that the FSA does not offer any financial support for relocation purposes.
As part of your application you will be asked to confirm your postcode for the address where you currently reside, and whether or not you intend to relocate for work purposes. Should you be offered a position with us, we will verify that you reside within this remit as part of the pre-employment process. Failure to meet this requirement may result in your offer of employment being withdrawn.
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With on-the-job training, and plenty of opportunities for progression in the FSA, the Official Veterinarian role gives you a strong first step if you’re seeking to build a career around keeping Britain’s food safe for all.
To hear more about working for the FSA as an Official Veterinarian please visit our Career Site.
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 for work purposes
Qualifications
- Official Veterinarian Surgeon (red/white) designation or willing to work towards it.
Memberships
- Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS)
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
Alongside your salary of £40,613, Food Standards Agency contributes £11,765 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.
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 Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
Full details of the selection process can be found 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.
- Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS)
- Official Veterinarian Surgeon (red/white) designation or prepared to work towards Official Veterinarian Surgeon (red/white) designation.
- A full UK Driving Licence with access to a vehicle for work purposes
If you cannot answer yes to this question – 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 and desirable criteria.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks, such as the hygiene package and animal welfare legislations
- Understanding of applying veterinary risk assessment
- Demonstrable experience of managing a complex and competing workload to achieve successful outcomes
Desirable criteria
(Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).
Technical
- HACCP Level 3 or Level 4 Certification
- A qualification or training in auditing e.g. Quality Assurance Management, ISO Lead Assessor course or HACCP auditing, IRCA Registration
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When submitting your 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, Strengths requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours.
Behaviours
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.
Experience
- Knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks, such as the hygiene package and animal welfare legislations
Strengths
We will also assess you against a number of Civil Service Strengths – these are not disclosed prior to interview.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Expected Timeline
- Advert closes: 06/09/26
- Sift: Expected to take place from 07/09/26
- Final panel interview: Expected to take place w/c 14/09/26
Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).
Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.
Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Reserve List
A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
Visa Sponsorship
Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications. When candidates are invited for interview they will be asked to provide right to work documentation in advance before an offer of employment is made.
Occupational Health Referral
Please note that as part of the pre-employment checking process, all candidates that are offered a position must undergo an Occupational Health referral to ensure they are fit to carry out the responsibilities of the role. Candidates are advised to be truthful when answering all questions as part of this process, as to not do so may impact your offer of employment.
Making a complaint
The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
If you feel your application has not been treated fairly in accordance with the principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email the FSA’s Director of People at jo.
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