Food and Safety Manager

Suffolk County Council; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous leave entitlement

Local government pension scheme

Wellbeing support

Private health care options

Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice

Volunteer days

Flexible and hybrid working

Learning and development opportunities

Job summary

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils are seeking a Food and Safety Manager to lead the Public Protection service. You will supervise regulatory work across food safety, health and safety, and animal licensing, delivering outcomes aligned with service plans and priorities.

The role requires EHORB/Chartered status or equivalent, a relevant Environmental Health degree or diploma, and strong leadership experience. Hybrid working and a comprehensive benefits package are offered.

Qualifications

• Degree or diploma in Environmental Health and EHORB/Chartered status.
• Demonstrable expertise in Food Safety and Health & Safety Regulation.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and adapt to changing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Support the Head of Public Protection to deliver outcomes and corporate priorities.
• Line manage the Food and Safety Team and direct regulatory work.
• Develop and improve service delivery and project delivery.
• Keep up to date with changes in food safety regulation and translate into service delivery.
• Coordinate inspection, regulation and enforcement of statutory duties.
• Provide professional advice for the two district councils.
• Contribute to performance management using case and performance software.
• Review and improve service delivery through projects and new processes.

Skills

Food safety

Health and safety regulation

Project management

Education

Environmental Health degree/diploma

EHORB/Chartered status

Job description

Job Description

• Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
• Address: Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX
• Salary: £55,224 - £65,092 per annum (pro rata for part time)
• Hours: Full Time, 37 hours per week
• Contract: Permanent

This role is open to full time, part time, and job share applications, all of which will be assessed equally.

Join our team

We are looking for a Food and Safety Manager to join our shared service team in Public Protection.

If you share our values and you are motivated to make a difference for our residents, clients, and communities, we would love to hear from you.

About the role

Come and be a part of something great, in a role that focuses on protecting the public and stimulating business confidence in our districts.

In this important role, you will:

• Support the Head of Public Protection to deliver effective outcomes in relation to service plans and corporate priorities/outcomes.
• Line Manage the Food and Safety Team, planning and directing regulatory work mainly involving food safety, health and safety, and animal licensing.
• Support continual development of the service as well as managing operational delivery.
• Keep up to date with changes and innovations in food and safety regulation, translating this into excellent service delivery.
• Coordinate the inspection, regulation and as appropriate enforcement of all requirements to fulfil the Council's statutory duties in food safety, occupational health and safety, licensing, infectious disease control and other related areas of work.
• Provide professional and technical advice and support for the two district councils.
• Contribute to business and performance management of the Public Protection Service using appropriate case and performance management software.
• Continuous review and improvement of service delivery, including project management and implementation of new approaches and processes.

About you

We are looking for an experienced professional, educated to degree or diploma standard in Environmental Health and with a sound level of experience as an Environmental Health Practitioner with Environmental Health Officers Registration Board (EHORB) and/or Chartered Status.

To be successful, you will have:

• A management qualification or equivalent managerial/leadership experience.
• Demonstrable experience of professional/technical expertise in Food Safety, and Health and Safety Regulation.
• Managed and directly contributed technical and/or professional expertise to a significant initiative or project.
• A pro-active approach to identifying areas of priority that impact service delivery and able to manage multiple workstreams, and workloads.
• A flexible approach with the ability and drive to contribute to changing corporate priorities.

About us

At Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils we are passionate about building communities that people want to live, work, visit and invest in.

We serve around 200,000 residents across our two districts and are well known for our collaboration and partnership working across public, private and voluntary sectors.

We believe that the heart of Suffolk is an incredibly special place to live and work, with:

• 60 conservation areas
• two National Landscapes
• many picturesque market towns

It is no surprise we are ranked among the top 50 places to live in the UK (United Kingdom).

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Generous leave entitlement (26 days a year, rising to 31 days after 5 years).
• Competitive Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Wellbeing Support and Employee Assistance Programs.
• Private Health Care Options.
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
• Paid volunteering days.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements (Business needs permitting).
• Great learning and development opportunities.

For more information, visit our Employee Benefits page.

Our ways of working

We believe work is what we do, not just where we go.

We work in a hybrid way, with a mix of office, home, and remote based working (Business need permitting). Our hybrid working arrangements support flexibility and collaboration, helping our teams to thrive.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, providing opportunity and ambition for all, supporting and enabling our people to deliver the best possible services for our residents.

For more information

For an informal discussion or to learn more about this role, please contact Tracy Howard- Head of Public Protection on [phone].

Please read the Job Description and Person Specification.pdf before applying for this job opportunity.

Closing date: 5.00pm, 05 November 2026.

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.