Principal Regulatory Officer

London Borough of Hounslow; Hounslow; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in the UK is seeking a Principal Regulatory Officer to enhance food safety in Hounslow. The candidate will ensure compliance with statutory requirements and improve public health standards through collaborative strategies. Ideal candidates will have strong decision-making skills and be proactive in adapting to changing regulations. This high-impact role offers the opportunity to make a measurable difference in the health of the community.

Qualifications

• Confident decision-making in regulatory environments.
• Ability to build strong working relationships.
• High organizational skills and effective workload prioritization.
• Proactive about legislative changes.

Responsibilities

• Lead statutory compliance activities across the borough.
• Support the team during food safety incidents.
• Coordinate joint approaches with external agencies.
• Monitor changes in food safety legislation.
• Train junior officers and foster continuous learning.

Skills

Decision-making in a regulatory environment

Collaborative working

Organizational skills

Communication of technical information

Adaptability to emerging issues

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent experience

Job description

About Us At Hounslow

We’d love you to join us at the London Borough of Hounslow! Our people are deeply committed to providing excellent services to our residents, doing all we can to make lives as good as they can be.

We are an outstanding council, serving an outstanding borough. With brilliant, visionary leadership, a dynamic Cabinet and a can-do culture, we’ve built strong partnerships which have transformed how we serve one of London’s most diverse boroughs. Hounslow is the world in one place and full of potential. We are stepping up for our residents like never before.

About Our Commitment To Diversity And Inclusion

We live by five core values: Lead with Heart, Do New, Pass on the Power, Harness the Mix and Be a Rock. All our work has equality, diversity and inclusion at its very heart, best articulated in “Harness the Mix”. It’s about breaking down barriers between our parts and people and unlocking the problem‑solving power of our amazing mix of minds. We serve a diverse community, we have a diverse workforce and we are committed to being an inclusive employer.

We work hard to create representation across our workforce and leadership community, we have thriving employee network groups and our learning and development programmes help us lead, model and breathe ways of working that eliminate inequality, inequity, injustice and bias.

As part of this and under our commitments as a Disability Confident Employer, we make reasonable adjustments to accommodate our candidates. There’s space for you to tell us what you need within our application form.

Our Benefits

About The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of our Food Safety Team as a Principal Regulatory Officer. In this role, you’ll be primarily working on ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, improve public safety and enhance the quality of life in the London Borough of Hounslow and will have the opportunity to develop your skills in improving compliance, related strategies and policies regarding food safety, supporting underperforming food businesses through targeted advice, educational programmes and official food control interventions.

About The Team You’ll Be Working In

The successful candidate will be joining the Food Safety Team, a key function within the Environment Health Services, part of the Environment and Transport directorate at the London Borough of Hounslow. Our teams core purpose is to safeguard health by ensuring that food businesses across the borough operate in line with statutory food safety requirements, protecting our residents from harm and promoting high standards in local hygiene.

The work we do has a direct and measurable impact on the health and wellbeing of our community. From preventing food borne illnesses and managing local outbreaks, to providing advice and enforcement that improves food standards, our team plays a critical role in maintaining public trust and safety.

The team consists of Environmental health officers, technical officers and compliance support staff, all working collaboratively to deliver both proactive inspections and responsive interventions. The successful candidate for this role will report directly to the Food Safety Manager, acting as a key deputy in their absence.

The role will take the lead on compliance and statutory requirements, contributing to the service wide improvement projects that aim to enhance quality, consistency, and operational efficiency. The role will require confidence in decision-making, especially in situations where the Food Safety Manager is unavailable.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Leading on Statutory compliance activities across the borough
• Coordinating and supporting the team during emergency situations, food safety incidents, or outbreaks, including conducting risk assessments and ensuring effective response plans are in place.
• Working across departments and with external agencies to develop joint approaches and coordinated enforcement or advisory action.
• Staying informed of changes in food safety legislation and best practices, ensuring that Hounslow regulatory practices remain robust and up to date.
• Supporting the development and training of junior officers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional excellence.
• This is a high impact role for a motivated, collaborative professional who thrives in a dynamic environment and is passionate about protecting and improving public health standards.

About You

• You’re confident making decisions within a regulatory or risk based environment, even when working independently.
• You enjoy working collaboratively and can build strong working relations across the teams, services and external agencies.
• You’re highly organised and able to prioritise workload effectively, particularly in time-pressured situations such as incidents or outbreaks.
• You’re curious and proactive about keeping up with changes in legislation and using this knowledge to influence best practice.
• You’re comfortable communicating technical or regulatory information clearly to a range of audiences, including the public and business owners.
• You bring a flexible approach, with the ability to adapt quickly to emerging issues and help deliver joined up solutions.
• Basic DBS check is required.

Read more about the work you’ll be doing in the Role Profile.

Don’t meet every single requirement? We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they think they can’t tick every box. At Hounslow, we realise the ‘perfect candidate’ doesn’t exist. So, if you can do most of what we’re looking for, go ahead and apply. You may be just the right candidate for the job or be perfect for one of our other roles!

When Interviews Will Be Held And Who To Contact

The key information you need about the role should be in the role profile but if you have any further questions about the role, please contact:

Email:

Interviews for this job will be held during week commencing 12th January 2026.