Microbiological Risk Assessor

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 390899

**Salary**:

- £36,944 - £42,244
- A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer
- B2

**Contract type**:

- Permanent

**Type of role**:

- Science

**Working pattern**:

- Full-time

**Number of jobs available**:

- 1

Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow

About the job

**Job summary**:
Join our dynamic team as a Microbiological Risk Assessor and work on food safety at Food Standards Scotland (FSS).

The role is based in the small, friendly Microbiological Risk Assessment Team which sits within the Risk Assessment Branch and is part of the wider Science Division at FSS. The multi-disciplinary Division has around 20 biology, chemistry, social science and data science professionals.

The purpose of the role is to deliver risk assessment and technical advice in the area of microbiological food safety, as well as to devise and manage research to deliver the evidence required to perform risk assessment.

**Job description**:

- Provide specialist scientific advice and risk assessment on the microbiological safety of food. This will be both reactively in response to food incidents and outbreaks, and proactively as part of strategic risk assessments to inform the risk analysis process.
- Provide internal scientific expertise to support other teams within FSS for example Operational Delivery, Policy and Enforcement Delivery colleagues including scientific briefing, training materials and scientific support around external communications.
- Help to produce and maintain in-house food safety guidance for industry.
- Act as technical expert for FSS on microbiological safety; providing FSS input into the development of policy and guidance materials relating to microbiological safety and testing criteria by external parties such as other government departments, international organisations or industry bodies.
- Maintain an up-to-date understanding of the science landscape around foodborne disease as it relates to risk assessment, identifying data and knowledge gaps.
- Undertake structured reviews of relevant datasets, published literature, and intelligence obtained through engagement with the scientific community and the food industry to address FSS’s evidence needs on the microbiological safety of food.
- Design and commission external research as required to address knowledge gaps that cannot be delivered in-house. This will include producing business cases on research needs and risks, estimating budgets, and managing contractors to ensure work is delivered on time and on budget.
- Build and maintain working relationships with individuals within FSS, in other government departments and external experts such as researchers and industry representatives to raise the profile of FSS and ensure Scottish interests are represented.

**Person specification**:
**Qualifications**

**Success Profile**

**Technical / Professional Skills**:
Understands and objectively, and effectively, applies scientific and engineering approaches with rigour and integrity. This may be through gathering and analysing information, producing effective literature reviews, critiquing techniques, designing or conducting research, undertaking fieldwork, computational modelling, writing evaluations and/or contributing to knowledge sharing including peer reviewed journal papers.
- ** Communicating science and engineering for government: Disseminating science and engineering.**
Adapts communication styles to different audiences, including public communication or technical official communication. Communicates complex, technical ideas such as risk and uncertainty clearly to stakeholders from different backgrounds. Audiences could range from those with no scientific or engineering expertise, to different specialists at conferences or industry contacts. Can deliver clear presentations and written proposals, providing effective “bottom line” summaries that are understandable to non-specialists.

You can find out more about the skills required, here

**Experience**:
Postgraduate experience in a relevant position (such as in government, industry or academia) of collating, analysing, reporting and communicating scientific data in a relevant field (e.g. microbiology, molecular biology,**food safety, agriculture, epidemiology or other related area).

**Behaviours**:

- Making effective decisions - Level 3.
- Delivering at pace - Level 3.
- Changing and improving - Level 3.

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here

**Benefits**:

- Alongside your salary of £36,944, Scottish Government contributes £10,702 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusi