Technical Officer - Private Water Supplies

Human Resources & Development - Form 35a Version 16 - Issued June 2026 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Technical Officer (Private Water Supplies) (Fixed Term Contract - 24 months) ▪ Post Number: ▪ Grade and SCP: Grade 9, (SCP 23 - 25) (£34434 - £36363) ▪ Directorate: Customer and Communities Where your role fits at Shropshire Council At Shropshire our priority is to be a 'best value' authority that delivers, enables, and influences for Shropshire and its residents by:  • Being financially stable and sustainable  • Having clear priorities and purpose  • Supporting and enabling our workforce to excel  Recognising the challenge across local government today.  This starts with our Improvement Plan to address immediate challenges, while ensuring a focus on the future and how the Council will need to look, feel, and operate to best serve the needs of the county and its residents, and being aware of changes in national policy.     Our Shropshire values: PROUD  • Partnerships   • Respect   • Opportunities   • Understanding   • can Do   Aim to unify the workforce, support transformation, improve trust, and build a modern, sustainable Council. As a member of the Health Protection Team within Regulatory Services, you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a real difference to the lives of people in Shropshire. The team deliver a diverse range of services directly linked with our core values of Healthy People, Healthy Environment, Healthy Economy and a Healthy Organisation. The Service has been designed to ensure a greater focus on prevention, early intervention and intelligence-led actions to tackle the underlying causes of problems and issues before they reach crisis point Overview of your role We are seeking a suitably qualified Technical Officer with a keen interest and relevant background in Private Water Supplies to work on undertaking risk assessments and routine sampling programmes. The work will result in ensuring the safety and quality of Private Water sources across a predominantly rural locality in Shropshire. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ Reporting to the Health Protection Manager who is in turn responsible for your health and safety, training and development. ▪ Expected to lead and/or contribute to a range of projects and build relations with both internal and external partners in order achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved. ▪ expected to work independently on a range of projects and build relations with both internal and external partners in order achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved. ▪ Responsible for completing within expected timescales all mandatory corporate and role specific training. Training requirements will be detailed in your corporate induction and Personal Development Plan (PDP). Courses are accessed via the council Learning Management System via the Intranet. What will you be doing? ▪ Under direction and support, deliver operational action plans and projects in relation to food standards and food safety, in order to raise standards of compliance and deliver improved regulatory outcomes. ▪ Under direction and support, contribute to the delivery of a programme of regulatory and enforcement projects and activities to identify and reduce risks to residents and businesses from Private Water Supplies to achieve Health Protection Team outcomes. ▪ Under direction and support, deliver a co-ordinated programme of regulatory advice and interventions in businesses in Shropshire, including inspecting / reviewing lower risk premises, sampling, undertaking compliance checks and revisits. ▪ Under direction and support, utilise a wide range of regulatory approaches in relation Private Water Supply regulation including; evidence-based research, risk assessment, intelligence-led targeting in order to identify and investigate supplies that pose a significant risk to the health, safety, prosperity and wellbeing of the wider community. ▪ Under direction and support, undertake investigations in accordance with the Enforcement Policy and support the collection and preparation of evidence to ensure that enforcement cases meet the very highest legal and professional standards and achieve successful outcomes. ▪ Under direction and support, utilise a wide range of techniques in order to successfully achieve regulatory outcomes in the most effective and efficient way. ▪ Under direction and support, contribute to the delivery of cross-cutting agendas including health and wellbeing and community safety in order to protect vulnerable people and the wider community. ▪ Under direction and support, assist in the preparation of cases, evidence, reports and projects in relation to food standards and food safety in order to promote fair and safe business practices and protect the environment, the health, safety and wellbeing of local residents and promote economic prosperity. ▪ Under direction and support, undertake assessments of report, analysis and results in relation to Private Water Supplies and prepare data for colleagues in relation to regulatory compliance. ▪ Under direction and support, carry out audits, assessments, inspections, sampling, investigations, advisory visits and other operational tasks required to meet regulatory outcomes and deliver key service targets. ▪ Under direction and support, collate and enter intelligence data onto computer systems, share relevant information with appropriate colleagues and highlight trends to determine targeted intervention strategies. The above duties are an illustrative outline and are not an exhaustive list. You will be expected to become involved in a range of work to enable the service to respond effectively to the changing requirements of the Council and changes affecting the workforce. What we expect of you You will: ▪ adopt a customer focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile, ▪ act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire, ▪ meet individual, service and personal development targets agreed through the Performance Development Review Process, learn from experience and are committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council, ▪ work with colleagues to meet your team's key performance indicators, support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives. ▪ meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way in which they achieve their objectives and carry out their work. ▪ A priority for the Council is the protection of vulnerable people, ensuring they are able to live as independently as possible. The post-holder will promote and engage with Council's responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults, and protect their right to be safe from harm. What are your conditions of Service The conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have been adopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. This is a hybrid role, requiring the post holder to attend Shropshire for 3 day(s) per week, alongside home working arrangements   Your post is subject to the following: ▪ The post is Temporary for 24 months working 37 hours per week. ▪ Normal office hours are 9am to 5pm Monday - Friday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. ▪ Occasional evening and weekend work may be required, ▪ The post is subject to the Council's annualised hours scheme as implemented within the specific work area. Annual leave entitlement is a pro rata flat rate scheme of 207 hours (28 days) annual leave plus bank holidays, with five days extra awarded to those staff with five years local government service giving an entitlement of 244 hours (33 days). Two days of an employee's allowance (pro rota for part time staff) must be taken at Christmas for any potential Christmas closures. Employees who work in a building/service which is required to open over the Christmas period, the two days leave (pro rota) can be carried over into your next leave year but must be used by the end of March. The appointment is subject to two months' notice in writing on either side. The appointment is subject to six months' satisfactory probationary service during which time the notice period will be one week on either side. Smoking is not allowed in Council buildings, in Council vehicles or in any Council place of work. It is a condition of your appointment that you provide a suitable vehicle for the performance of your duties and that this is readily available for use during normal working hours. You are entitled to claim for reimbursement of the costs of travel on council business at the rate of 55 pence per mile. What pre-employment checks will we undertake? The appointment is subject to receipt of the following pre-employment checks; 1. Satisfactory employment references, 2. Medical report, 3. Evidence of the qualifications required for the post/listed on your application form,