Audit & Assessment Officer in the Residues Team (x2 posts)

£42,577 - £47,039 per annum

+ 25 days Annual leave 

+ Pension Scheme

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is responsible for ensuring the safety, quality, and efficacy of veterinary medicines in the UK.

We have two vacancies for Audit & Assessment Officers in our Residues Team

This exciting and interesting new post in the VMD Residues Team will contribute to assuring food safety in the UK by assessing the veterinary residues programmes of new and existing UK trading partners. This assessment will involve checking the monitoring systems of other countries against our own UK programme, to establish equivalence and robustness in terms of commodities tested, as well as testing methods used and survey design.

You will be primarily responsible for assessing whether the systems that trading partners have in place are sufficient to ensure that banned substances, authorised medicines and contaminants are not present in food-producing animals, or their products, at levels that exceed Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), thus helping to ensure food imported to the UK is safe for consumers.

While this work will be desk-based you will also be expected to travel internationally to undertake audit visits. You will be required to work closely with colleagues in both VMD Residues, as well as colleagues across government such as those in Defra's UK Office for SPS & Trade Assurance.

Licence and Passport

You must be able to drive and have a Full Driving licence.

You must have a valid passport as there is International audit work involved in this role. Therefore the successful candidate should be prepared to travel overseas if necessary.

Experience required:

You must have specific experience in one or more of the following:

• Analytical chemistry techniques and the importance of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in the context of food safety
• Practical experience of undertaking laboratory procedures relevant to residues testing
• Experience in epidemiology, as the role requires good understanding of global approaches to survey design
• Experience in conducting audits to set quality standards such as ISO9001 and/or ISO17025

You must make your application via the Civil Service Jobs website where you will find a full job description including salary details.

The closing date for applications is 5th June 2024

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is an Equal Opportunity employer 

No Recruitment Agency, Newspaper or Publication calls please.