Environmental Protection Officer - Pollution Control

London Borough Of Sutton; Barnsley; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking council as an Environmental Protection Officer, where you will engage in vital pollution control efforts across two vibrant boroughs. This role offers the chance to tackle real-world environmental challenges, from land contamination assessments to investigating statutory nuisance complaints. With a commitment to innovation and collaboration, you will work in a supportive environment that values your professional growth. Embrace the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in your community while enjoying flexible working arrangements and a range of employee benefits. If you're passionate about environmental health and eager to contribute to sustainable practices, this position is for you.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Volunteering days

Flexible working arrangements

Comprehensive learning and development programme

Discounts on local shops and restaurants

Interest-free season ticket loans

Local Government Pension Scheme

Bicycle loan facilities

Free eye tests

Subsidised gym membership

Qualifications

• Experience in assessing land contamination and nuisance complaints.
• Knowledge of pollution control legislation and local authority duties.

Responsibilities

• Deliver pollution control enforcement and education across Kingston and Sutton.
• Investigate nuisance complaints and comment on planning applications.

Skills

Environmental Health

Land Contamination Assessment

Statutory Nuisance Investigation

Acoustics

Education

Degree in Environmental Science

Postgraduate Qualification in Environmental Health

Tools

Google Apps

Pollution Control Software

Job description

About the Borough

Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Kingston and Sutton councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies.

We work flexibly in both Kingston and Sutton offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver.

There are some really exciting things happening in both boroughs. In Sutton, we are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. Over in Kingston, we are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in the borough, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

You should choose Kingston and Sutton if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do.

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushey Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan "Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together", that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan "Ambitious for Sutton", that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government.

About the Role and our Ideal Candidate

As a member of our Pollution Control team , you will be part of a small team that delivers a range of Pollution Control enforcement and education functions across Kingston and Sutton.

The role requires a good understanding of land contamination and a working knowledge of Statutory Nuisance. Responsible for commenting on planning applications and investigating nuisance complaints from industrial and commercial sources, experience in acoustics and other related specialist areas of work is also desirable.

The team is committed and hard-working, involved in both proactive and reactive work across the specialist disciplines of the Team's remit. However as part of our agile workplace there may also be an opportunity, for the right candidate,to experience the wider work of the service .

We are able to offer a series of unique, fulfilling and exciting challenges in a dynamic working environment where quick thinking, innovation and creativity is needed just as much as the energy and desire to get things done.

We are seeking someone with wide experience of the Pollution Control discipline. We would like to hear from you if you are an Environmental Health professional or graduate in a related subject and can demonstrate experience of assessing and commenting upon land contamination assessments and investigating statutory nuisance complaints from commercial and industrial sources.

A s part of our team, you will benefit from a commitment to your professional and personal development. You will have the opportunity to work on a broad range of cases and projects, enabling you to develop your learning and experience.

About Us

As an Environmental Protection Officer, you will be part of a small Pollution Control team delivering a range of statutory environmental functions for the Shared Regulatory Service across Kingston and Sutton. This role requires a good understanding of a wide range of pollution control legislation as it applies to local authority duties primarily in land contamination assessment, commercial noise and nuisance investigation.

This role involves a range of case work and project, including commenting on planning applications, responding to and investigating pollution control complaints and providing general pollution control advice and guidance. Some experience in contaminated land and acoustics areas of work is highly desirable.

Our Offer To You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston or Sutton
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) so all personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc is completely anonymised during the shortlisting process. Our hiring managers review applications based on the knowledge, skills and experience demonstrated in your application, and how well these match the job profile. Our HR Shared Service with Sutton Council was recently recognised nationally for having the 'Best Inclusion and Diversity Programme' at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2023, something that we're incredibly proud of.

Hiring managers are encouraged to ensure that their interview panel is diverse, and representative of a range of protected characteristics, to help remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates are treated fairly during the selection process. Some characteristics may not be obvious, but our panels are diverse wherever possible. We have a number of measures in place to inform and support our approach, including mandatory EDI and unconscious bias training for all staff, safer recruitment training for diverse panel members, engaging with our staff networks and encouraging allyship. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government's minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.

Job Profile

Additional Document 1

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