Protection Officer

Job Title: Public Protection Officer – Environmental Protection

Location: Romford

Job Type: Temporary

Duration of booking: 4 months with possible extension

Start date: ASAP

Pay Rates: £40 per hour PAYE inclusive of holiday pay

Hours / Working Days: 36 hours per week (Monday–Friday, with occasional evenings/weekends as required)

Hybrid working model – remote, office-based, and on-site inspections as required.

Job Summary

Our client is seeking an experienced Public Protection Officer (Environmental Protection) to join the Neighbourhoods Directorate within the Public Protection Service. This role involves delivering a high-quality, customer-focused environmental protection service across statutory nuisance, contaminated land, air quality, and pollution control—depending on the successful candidate's experience and expertise.

The postholder will support compliance, enforcement, and project work, ensuring statutory duties are met and contributing to service improvement and community well-being.

Key Responsibilities

• Respond to and fully investigate reactive service requests relating to environmental protection issues (e.g., noise, odour, air quality, contaminated land, pollution).
• Conduct proactive inspections, sampling programmes, and monitoring to meet statutory requirements.
• Deliver enforcement actions, including evidence gathering, serving notices, and progressing cases through to prosecution when required.
• Support environmental and public protection projects from inception to completion.
• Maintain up-to-date technical and legal knowledge in areas of environmental health and public protection.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams, members, residents, external agencies, and partner organisations to achieve shared objectives.
• Represent the service at committees, working groups, and stakeholder meetings as required.
• Promote a safety culture in accordance with Health and Safety legislation and Council policies.
• Support continuous improvement and contribute to the delivery of corporate and service performance targets.

Experience Required

• Proven experience managing a varied environmental protection and enforcement caseload.
• Demonstrated success in achieving legal compliance and enforcement outcomes, including prosecutions.
• Experience in one or more areas: statutory nuisance, contaminated land, air quality, or pollution control.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience liaising with residents, councillors, external agencies, and private sector partners.
• Experience of working within local authority public protection or environmental health services.
• Competence in using ICT systems and mobile technology, including MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project) and GIS tools.
• Experience supporting project delivery and contributing to service transformation.
• Knowledge of working within local government processes, including committee reporting and quality management systems.

Qualifications

• Degree, diploma, or equivalent qualification in Environmental Health, Environmental Science, or a related discipline (essential).
• Membership of a relevant professional organisation (e.g., CIEH) (desirable).
• Full UK driving licence (required). - Must be able to travel within the borough.

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly.
• Strong investigative, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Sound understanding of relevant environmental legislation and enforcement processes.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results under pressure.
• Collaborative team player who can also work effectively on own initiative.
• Committed to continuous learning, improvement, and public service excellence.