Fish Health, Ageing and Species Technical Officer 1 – Fish Mortality Lead - 9333

This is an exciting opportunity to join a hard-working and high achieving national team, contributing to the protection and development of fisheries across England.
We are looking for a Technical Officer 1 to join the Fish Health, Ageing and Species (FHAS) team within National Fisheries Services at Brampton. National Fisheries Services provide front-line services to internal and external customers across a wide range of fisheries disciplines.
You will help oversee the FHAS team’s fish disease investigations as the lead for fish mortality incidents, and will provide operational support to our National Incident Management Advisor. You will help to advise area officers in their response to fish disease investigations, championing best practice, helping ensure national consistency and maximising outcomes to benefit fisheries. You will have an active leadership role in the post mortem laboratory during disease investigations and will oversee aspects of reporting, liaising closely with Fish Health colleagues and area teams. Occasional site visits may be required as part of the role, with targeted attendance at fisheries to support investigations, communicate regulatory controls, improve technical resilience of colleagues and integrate improved management practices to help fisheries recover. The post may become permanent in the future.

The FHAS team provide national operational services and technical advice. Fish Health provide laboratory examinations and incident support during fish kills caused by disease and/or fisheries management factors. We conduct health checks to support EA fish movements and provide risk assessment and monitoring for high risk, novel, and new and emerging diseases. We are primarily laboratory and office based; post-mortem work, disease diagnostics, report writing, and giving advice and guidance is integral to our role.

An interest in and knowledge of freshwater fisheries and the aquatic environment is essential, and a background in incident response or fish health is preferable. A strong background in biology, fish disease, fisheries management and/or laboratory work is preferable.
As the successful candidate, you will be self-motivated and organised with excellent attention to detail. You should be able to prioritise demanding seasonal workloads, be comfortable working to tight deadlines, and have a pragmatic approach to achieving objectives. You will also be an excellent communicator at all levels and in multiple forms, and should have strong influencing and inter-personal skills. A strong team ethic is essential, as is an ability to work independently and as part of a highly motivated team.

Closing date: 18th November 2018 at 23;55 hours
This temporary post will be office and laboratory based, situated within the National Fisheries Laboratory, Brampton. The post holder must work from the Brampton office, although the role may require some external travel for meetings and occasional site visits as part of incident response and fishery management investigations.

For more information please contact Amy Reading at amy.reading@environment-agency.gov.uk

The fish health team is a small national team with a high output and busy seasonal peaks of work. The successful candidate will be able to work efficiently and effectively under pressure and within tight deadlines, whilst ensuring that their work, and that of others, is of the highest standard. Motivating, coordinating and getting the best out of colleagues will be essential to achieving results. Fish mortality incidents and disease investigations can be complex and emotive, and skilled and careful communications are required to ensure our investigations deliver for the affected fisheries and for regulatory controls.

As day to day Mortality Lead, the post holder will liaise closely with area officers and will lead the fish health team during their post mortem investigations. They will need to ensure that all parties are aware of the circumstances of each incident, and will need to be able to give clear, concise and directional instruction. The fish health team has a varied customer base which includes internal Environment Agency staff, fishery owners, anglers, partner organisations and academic institutions. In order to communicate effectively it is vital that the successful candidate is able to recognise what style and level of communication is required for different customers and to adapt this accordingly.

We are a small, friendly, technical team with a strong work and team ethic. This is essential to achieving results, and an ability to work alongside others, understand and respond to work pressures, and support colleagues as and when required is integral to the role. Effective communication within the team is vital, particularly during seasonal peaks in workload. The post holder will take an active lead in sharing information with the team, particularly in relation to Fish Disease Investigations, management practices and regulatory controls.

The post holder will be responsible for advising and influencing area officers in relation to fish disease incident investigations, and will lead the fish health team during post mortem examinations. Due to the nature of disease investigations, and additional seasonal workload pressures, strong interpersonal skills and the ability to influence the actions of others will be required.

The number of disease conditions we see is increasing and factors influencing outbreaks in fisheries can be complex. The successful candidate must be able to interpret information from multiple sources, including area officers and external customers at incidents, and enable the most appropriate response. This should be commensurate with the scale of incident and the likely causes, and will influence the amount of time and resource invested, our approaches to disease diagnosis, and any regulatory controls applied. An ability to adapt to new information and to advise and act decisively will be critical to the role.

The Fish Health team is responsible for operating a number of different laboratory areas and diagnostic disciplines, and we provide technical services on a range of subjects including fish disease and fisheries management. It is important that the successful applicant has an existing understanding or an interest in developing skills in relation to these areas, with knowledge of fish biology, fish disease and fisheries management being integral to this.