Leeds City Council
Senior Environmental Health Officer

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Job title: Senior Environmental Health Officer (Food & Health Team)
Salary: PO3 £44,253 - £47,665
Hours: Full Time – 37 Hours p/w
Contract: Permanent
Location: Office base at Seacroft, Leeds, with the opportunity for hybrid working
About the Role
As a Senior Environmental Health Officer, you will play a vital role in protecting public health and improving the quality of life for people across Leeds. This is an exciting opportunity to take a leading role in delivering high-quality environmental health services in one of the UK's largest and most diverse cities.
Leeds City Council is one of the region's largest employers, with more than 14,000 colleagues working together to deliver outstanding services. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.
About You
We are looking for a passionate and motivated Environmental Health professional who can demonstrate:
- A strong commitment to protecting and improving public health, food safety, and reducing health inequalities.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with businesses, communities, partner agencies, and colleagues.
- Experience in food safety regulation, including inspections, approvals, complaint investigation, enforcement, and infectious disease control.
- The ability to lead, develop and deliver projects, service improvements, and specialist workstreams.
- The ability to supervise, mentor, support, and develop Environmental Health Officers and Technical Officers.
- A proactive and adaptable approach, with the confidence to work independently and make informed decisions.
About the Role
Leeds is a thriving economic, legal, and hospitality center, home to thousands of food businesses ranging from independent enterprises to national and international operators. This diversity creates a challenging, varied, and rewarding environment for Environmental Health professionals and offers excellent opportunities for career development.
Working closely with the Team Manager and fellow Senior Environmental Health Officers, you will take a leading role in the development and delivery of our Food and Health Service which includes food safety, infectious disease control, private water supplies, and animal health.
This role offers an excellent opportunity to broaden your experience while maintaining a specialist focus in food and public health. Alongside a varied portfolio of casework, you will have the opportunity to strengthen your leadership, supervisory, and management skills, helping to shape the future of the service.
Essential Requirements
Applicants must:
- Hold a recognised degree or diploma in Environmental Health.
- Hold a Certificate of Registration from the Environmental Health Registration Board (EHRB) or Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner (CEnvH) status.
- Have recent and demonstrable experience in food safety regulation.
- Meet the Food Standards Agency competency requirements relevant to the role.
- Possess a thorough knowledge of environmental health and food safety legislation and its practical application.
Why Leeds?
This is an opportunity to make a real difference in a city that is ambitious, innovative, and committed to improving health outcomes for all residents. If you are looking for a challenging and rewarding role where you can influence public health, lead service improvements, and support the development of others, we would love to hear from you.
What We Offer You
We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:
- A competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays.
- Membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions.
- Flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements.
- A clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities.
- Car user allowance.
- A range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further.
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How To Apply


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If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Paul Spandler, Environmental Health Manager. Call 0113 3786564 or email paul.spandler@leeds.gov.uk
We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans, as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled, and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme, or having secured any other relevant work visa.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship, you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.
Job Description
Job Purpose:
To make a significant contribution to the delivery of environmental health services by a range of interventions including premises and business inspections, incident investigations, consultations, and taking the appropriate follow-up action including the use of formal enforcement procedures such as statutory notices, statements of evidence, and the attendance at court as a witness.
To monitor service delivery standards including those delivered by third parties and to recommend and participate in service improvement and change programmes. To lead a specialist work area and deliver service provision for environmental and public health functions. To supervise and manage individuals on a day-to-day basis.
Responsibilities:
- Deliver and oversee a range of complex environmental health activities including business inspections, incident notifications, license/approval inspections, complaint investigations, and assessment of consultant reports. Assimilate complex and varied information to decide on statutory or non-statutory response to service requests and investigations, take forward appropriate enforcement action, including prosecution cases, in accordance with current legislation, council policy, and best professional practice.
- Provide expert guidance, in-depth specialist knowledge, and direction to colleagues within the service, the wider organization, and partners on a wide range of environmental and public health activities.
- Responsible for direct supervision of Technical Officers and Senior Technical Officers/Environmental Health Officers and student Environmental Health Officers, to include regular one-to-one meetings, appraisals, and workload reviews, providing appropriate feedback, allocation, checking, and audits of work, co-ordination of training and development, and managing performance and attendance as appropriate.
- Responsibility for training and mentoring of Environmental Health Officers, Senior Technical Officers, Technical Officers, student EHOs, and other persons as appropriate.
- Assist in the effective management and procurement of resources to ensure quality, efficient, and customer-focused services are delivered.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues from other teams and services to ensure broader outcomes are delivered e.g., to develop and participate in locality initiatives and programs, undertake 'joined up' enforcement initiatives including with other agencies such as Police and Trading standards etc.
- Develop and maintain thorough and current professional knowledge on environmental health functions and services; this to be achieved by various methods including peer group working, technical, and professional development etc.
- Lead on the development and implementation of service design and improvement activities in response to new legislative requirements, changes to service delivery methods, and priorities etc.
- Attend Court, Tribunals, or other formal and legal proceedings to give evidence as a professional witness.
- Use specialist knowledge to prepare policies, service standards, reports, notices, and data as required.
- Accountable for, and manage specific environmental and public health activities and work programs including working with other services, Local Authorities, and partner organizations e.g., Environment Agency, HSE, FSA, DEFRA, UKHSA etc. To include leading on certain work areas as allocated and providing a strong link with partner agencies to undertake the allocated areas of work including producing external reports and statutory returns.
- Maximise income by the production of financial reports and forecasts, ensuring accurate costing of services, and the appropriate charging mechanisms are in place.
- Attend various forums and meetings e.g. Area Committees, Licensing Committees, community meetings, Scrutiny Boards etc. to provide reports as required and to take on board stakeholder views and concerns. To represent the Service and the Council at partner and external meetings (local, regional, and nationally), giving expert advice, contributing to service and policy development, using specialist knowledge to speak on the Council’s behalf.
- Ensure that the highest standards of customer service are provided and that customers are kept promptly and fully informed.
- Ensure that relevant databases and information systems are kept accurately updated and reflect current work activities.
- Contribute to the development of the service and adopt a ‘One Council’ approach.
- Demonstrate the Council’s Values through behavior and approach.
- Deputise in the absence of the Team Manager commensurate to the grade of the post.
- Communicate effectively with a wide range of people including colleagues within the service and across the council, internal/external partners, agencies, customers, and the general public dealing with all contact in a professional manner.
- The postholder will work as part of a team but will also be required to work alone whilst fulfilling field or office-based tasks.
- In certain circumstances, in the interests of operational efficiency, rota cycles can be varied subject to appropriate consultation and with reasonable notice.
- A flexible approach to working hours with the ability to work outside of normal hours to respond to emergency situations on short notice is required.
- Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
- To participate in appraisal, training, and development activities as necessary to ensure up-to-date knowledge and skills.
- To improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues, and development programs.
- To work collaboratively with colleagues, knowing when to seek help and advice.
- Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and
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