Apprentice Environmental Health Officer

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF KUDZY’S TRAVELS

Environmental Health at Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where passionate and expert professionals go above and beyond for their colleagues every day.

Kudzy knows the streets of Westminster like the back of her hand. Her office can be anywhere. Market stalls, spas, carnivals, hotels, even backstage at an Adele concert. She’s travelled more than most have in a lifetime without leaving Westminster. She’s an Environmental Health Officer like no other. But, for her, seeing the difference her work makes to communities is the real highlight. For some, it’s financial lifelines, for others it’s the open sign on the restaurant they’ve always dreamed of. For Kudzy, it’s the smiles on her customers’ faces.

The Role:

As an Apprentice Environmental Health Officer, you can make your own powerful contribution to people across Westminster. Joining us on a tailored apprenticeship plan, you’ll work towards a degree in Environmental Health over 4 years, getting the opportunity at the end of your degree to become registered as an Environmental Health Practitioner.

Rotating through all of the Council’s environmental health teams, you’ll gain both hands-on and classroom experience in one of the most varied and rewarding roles in local government. From tackling noise nuisance and poor housing conditions, to ensuring food and workplace safety, you’ll contribute to work that makes a real and visible difference to people’s everyday lives.

At the end of your programme, you’ll have gained the ability to investigate and solve complex environmental health issues in a range of contexts. You’ll also be able to interpret data, design novel solutions, conduct inspections and compliance audits, and develop research strategies — skills that will prove invaluable for a future career in environmental health.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

Bringing an understanding of the nature and scope of environmental health work in both the public and private sectors, you’ll be passionate about securing improvements through environmental health practices. You’ll have at least 1 A-level in a science or technology-based subject (or alternatively relevant or prior experiential learning may be considered subject to agreement from the University), and an awareness of the core are of environmental health, including:

• How environmental health practitioners secure improvements e.g. through informal and formal routes, including enforcement.
• The rationale for carrying out inspections/ audits and investigations.
• How environmental health contributes to improving public health.

On a personal level, you’ll be a true team player with excellent communication, time management and risk assessment skills. Your IT skills will be great, and you’ll be confident using databases and interpreting information accurately. More than anything, you’ll be a person passionate about using environmental health practices to improve outcomes for Westminster’s vibrant communities. This is a fantastic opportunity to join a supportive, welcoming team, and to kickstart your career in the process.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe. At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is Our Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.