Principal Environmental Protection Officer

Suffolk County Council; Woodbridge; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 53,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous leave

Local government pension scheme

Flexible working arrangements

Learning and development

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Discounts on products and services

Job summary

East Suffolk Council is seeking a Principal Environmental Protection Officer to lead the Environmental Protection team across East Suffolk, focusing on environmental regulation and public health protection. You will guide a small team, provide expert advice, and mentor officers to deliver a high-quality, customer-focused service.

With extensive knowledge of environmental health law and enforcement, you will drive improvements, collaborate across the team, and travel within the East Suffolk

Qualifications

• Degree in Environmental Health or related Environmental Science field.
• Extensive knowledge of environmental health legislation, regulation and enforcement.
• Proven experience across nuisance, permitting, licensing, noise control, private water and environmental crime.
• Strong leadership and mentoring abilities with a collaborative approach.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a small team of Environmental Protection professionals.
• Provide expert advice on pollution investigations and environmental regulation.
• Support the Environmental Protection Manager and shape service improvements.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

People management

Collaboration

Analytical thinking

Education

Degree in Environmental Health / Environmental Science

Job description

• East Suffolk Council
• Address: East Suffolk House, Melton, Woodbridge IP12 1RT OR Riverside, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0EQ (dependent on candidate preference)
• Salary: up to £53,460 (Band 9) plus a £2,000 introductory payment on successful completion of 3-month probationary period
• Hours: 37 hours per week
• Contract: Permanent
• Relocation: Relocation assistance up to £8,000 in line with the Council’s relocation policy.

East Suffolk Council is an exciting place to work, delivering essential local services and making a real difference to a quarter of a million people across East Suffolk.

We are looking for an experienced and ambitious Principal Environmental Protection Officer to join our highly respected Environmental Protection team.

As a Principal Environmental Protection Officer, you will assist the Environmental Protection Manager to guideand shape the work of the Environmental Protection Team with a focus on Environmental Regulation.

As part of this role, you will also carry out the day-to-day management of a small team of officers.

The role:

This is an exciting opportunity to take a leading role in protecting public health, improving environmental quality and tackling environmental crime across East Suffolk.

You will provide expert technical leadership on some of the Council's most complex and high-profile environmental challenges. You will lead and develop a small team of Environmental Protection professionals, providing expert advice, mentoring and support to ensure the delivery of a high quality, customer focused service.

Providing expert advice on pollution investigations, environmental regulation and enforcement activity, you will play a key role in shaping outcomes that have a lasting impact on residents, businesses and the environment.

We encourage matrixand project-basedworking, which meansyou will support colleaguesacross the broader Environmental Protection team when needs arise, ensuring that there is resilience in the team and variety in your role.

Please refer to the job description and person specification below for full details of this exciting opportunity.

You will be:

• Confident in managing and mentoring technical officers to buildexpertiseand resilience
• Working across a diverse portfolio including statutory nuisance, environmental permitting, private water supplies, environmental crime, animal licensing and wider environmental health matters
• Enthusiastic about shaping service improvements that enhance health outcomes and sustainability.

What you will need:

• A degree in Environmental Health or a degree related to Environmental Science.
• Extensive knowledge of environmental health legislation, regulation and enforcement.
• Proven and extensive experience across a range of Environmental Protection disciplines, such as statutory nuisance, environmental permitting, animal licensing, noise control, private water supplies and environmental crime.
• Strong leadership, mentoring and people management skills, with the ability to inspire and develop others,
• A collaborative and analytical approach, with a passion for continuous improvement and service excellence.
• The ability to travel across the East Suffolk district.

Why work for us?

East Suffolk Council is a great place to work and there are lots of benefits our employees can access. To find out more about why we are so proud of East Suffolk Council, take a look at our video and hear why our employees think it is such a great place to work (YouTube).

Here are some of the main benefits:

• Generous leave entitlement (equivalent to 25 days a year, increasing to 31 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays)

• Local government pension scheme

• Flexible working arrangements

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• A wide variety of staff support networks including access to health and wellbeing initiatives and programmes.

• Discounts on mobile phones, computers, holiday and travel, fashion and clothing, health and beauty and many other products and services.

Find more information about what we offer in our benefits brochure (pdf).

To find out more

Closing date: 11pm 27 September 2026

Interview date: w/c 12 October 2026