Science Estates Support Officer

Do you have a methodical approach to organising work?

Do you have a can-do attitude? 

Are you highly organised with excellent communication skills?

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.

APHA is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions. We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups.

The Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our People are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes.

In this role you will support the APHA National Science Centre in Animal Health (NSCAH) Department in its delivery of a range of projects and masterplan activities, within science operations and on the APHA Weybridge estate.

The NSCAH Department represents APHA science on estates projects across the APHA estate, working to ensure the retention of all capability required to continue delivering world leading science in the interest of Animal Health.

In this post you will provide a range of project support tasks to the APHA Science Estate and engineering teams for the delivery of a range of critical infrastructure enabling and transition moves of science facilities. This includes:

Science Estates

• Develop knowledge of the APHA science business needs, the science facilities and the estates services and support in managing the relationship between science users, Defra Group Property (DgP) and the Facility Management provider (FM) for APHA science sites.
• Initial point of escalation of issues from building officers. Work with building officers to follow up on work requests/projects and ensure they are carried out in a timely manner. Understanding when to escalate these issues at the appropriate time.
• Keeping facilities management and associated team informed of key expert personnel e.g. Building Officers/Nominated persons and biocontainment leads.
• Preparation of briefing information for monthly team meetings and Science Directorate update. Provide evidence for communication of project progress, activities, and evidence of any unsatisfactory work to be escalated.
• Help to close actions which are needed to move projects forward i.e. by arranging and facilitating meetings on the ground between contractors or FM, building officers, Nominated persons.
• Monitoring delivery of the Facility Managements performance through analysis of the work requests, Planned and Reactive Maintenance Correctives and flag concerns.
• Review of non-containment Planned Preventive Maintenances to identify recommendations that are not being acted upon.
• Deputise for senior Science Estates staff when asked and represent NSCAH at selected working groups (e.g. Traffic Management) and other meetings as required.
• Contribute to NSCAH department objectives, priorities and continuous improvement through collaborative working and sharing lessons.
• Monitor a shared team inbox and escalate issues as appropriate.

Science Transformation

• Collation of data and information for wider dissemination to the team and science departments
• Facilitating engineers, scientists and project leads/consultants for transition moves across site of any scientific equipment which will need servicing and testing after a move.
• Physically assisting teams with decontamination, transition moves, logistics and building plans, equipment and staff relocations across site, and rationalisation (e.g., samples, records, and surplus equipment).
• Training may include periods of embedding in a particular science department to help gain knowledge and understanding. Proactive self-development is encouraged, including identification of knowledge gaps and development needs.
• Provide secretariat support for meetings organise meetings, draft agenda, draft minutes and progress actions, facilitate workshops and provide data analysis outputs etc.
• Escort visitors and assist with site visits, where required.
• Stand in for managers as appropriate.

General Estates Admin support duties:

• Provide secretariat support for meetings organise meetings, draft agenda, draft minutes and progress actions, facilitate workshops and provide data analysis outputs etc.
• Take ownership of and maintain the Science Estates SharePoint site.
• Management of contact lists, organograms etc.
• Arranging for visitors (give pre-visit site information packs), book-in with reception and security, meeting at gatehouse and escorting where required.
• Stand in for Estates managers as appropriate

You will need to demonstrate the following:

• Highly organised and ability to multitask
• Good interpersonal skills
• Experience and proven written communication skills
• Experience of working in a scientific or other specialist environment
• Strong communicator across multiple platforms, with a proven ability to influence colleagues and stakeholders at all levels
• IT literate, particularly with the use of Microsoft Office packages (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and SharePoint
• Good knowledge of Power Bi for data analysis

Security clearance

The Weybridge site is a strategically important national asset due to its role as a reference laboratory supporting the Governments response to national emergencies including disease outbreaks. For this reason, all postholders based on the APHA Weybridge site must hold a valid Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) security clearance or above. For this role, the postholder is required to hold a valid Security Check (SC) security clearance or above. It is up to each person applying for a post at APHA Weybridge to ensure they meet the residency criteria. Applicants must be currently resident in the UK & have at least five years continuous UK residency as this is a requirement to work at the Weybridge site where the team and work is situated.

Workplace arrangements

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home.

This post requires you to be working on site five days per week, or less if on a job share, with scope to change to 60% office attendance subject to agreement with your line manager.

Periodic travel within the UK and Europe may be required to attend training courses, conferences and scientific meetings.

Out of hours work may be required. When overtime or out-of-hours work is required, APHA Management reserves the right to change overtime patterns to meet requirements. You may be eligible for overtime payments and where overtime is approved you will receive appropriate payment.

You may be required to carry out manual handling tasks and will receive appropriate training in good manual handling techniques. The work involved in this post can therefore be physically demanding, so a level of physical fitness is required.

The post will require Health clearance. You will be expected to complete a questionnaire on your general health. This will be arranged by the Health Team, Weybridge.

Travel to other APHA sites across the UK may be required in this role.