Job opportunity: Technical Officer/Assistant (Food and Safety)

Vacancy reference

ECR000641

Salary 

£35,570 - £38,510 per year

Hours 

37 hours a week

Contract 

Permanent

Location

Castle House, Newcastle-under-Lyme

About the job 

We are looking for a Technical Officer (Food Safety and Health & Safety) to join our Environmental Health team.

In this role, you will play a key part in protecting public health by undertaking food hygiene, health & safety and public health inspections, alongside responding to complaints and service requests across the borough.

We are a small but busy team which means it is essential for this post holder to work across the breadth of areas the team deliver.

About you

We are looking for a motivated and dedicated individual with a commitment to deliver top quality regulatory services.

We are keen to hire the best people and are open to discussing part-time hours, compressed hours or flexible start and finish times.

We welcome applications from:

• Fully qualified Environmental Health Officers (EHRB and/or CIEH registered)
• Food Safety Officers holding qualifications that meet Food Standards Agency requirements
• Candidates holding health and safety qualifications (eg NEBOSH)
• Candidates who are nearing completion of their environmental Health qualification and are looking to begin their professional career.

Requirements

Your role will include:

• Food law enforcement
• Health & Safety Enforcement
• Carrying out food hygiene inspections in line with the Food Law Code of Practice
• Investigating complaints relating to food safety and health & safety matters
• Undertaking accident investigations/health and safety complaints and inspections
• Taking enforcement action where required, conducting follow up visits and monitoring compliance.
• Sampling
• Infectious disease investigations
• Being able to manage a varied caseload, prioritise workloads and make sound decisions based on risk and evidence.
• Maintaining accurate records and reports.

As a Technical Officer, you will:

• Come with the right qualifications and skills to be an integral part of the Food & Safety Team
• Be provided with the right support, coaching, mentoring and caseload to help you gain the confidence, skills and experience to set you on the right pathway.
• Opportunities to gain additional competencies and qualifications
• Work as part of a wider team who are committed to providing excellent services for our residents.
• Manage a varied workload.
• Hold a full UK driving licence.

Why work for us? 

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a borough with big ambitions.  We’ve already started our transformation, however, we still need to find better ways of doing things because we are determined to do the very best we can for our communities.   

If our vision is to be the best, then we need the best people working for us. Our people are at the heart of what we do and have the freedom to innovate, grow and develop.  We recruit people who share our vision and values; people who have the drive to deliver our ambitious Council plan.

Our historic borough is a place of marked contrasts. We are the home of a world class University at Keele, a leading light known internationally for its research and sustainability record, which stands side by side with former mining communities including some which register amongst the most deprived areas in the country. Our Borough is also a mixture of urban centres, affected by some of the same social issues facing our neighbouring city, Stoke-on-Trent, but also outstanding rural landscapes in our less populated villages. Our plans and priorities aim to address the needs of all our communities.   

Our People Offer 

We reward our people with a competitive range of benefits including;

• access to the local government pension scheme
• minimum 24 days annual leave plus 5 extra days after 5 years' service
• flexible working options and family friendly policies
• local and national high street discounts
• free car parking
• wellbeing support including £12.50 per month Jubilee2 membership
• green travel scheme including cycle to work and electric car salary sacrifice
• free employee 24 hour employee assistance and counselling services, flu vaccination service and health checks
• development and training opportunities

Contact 

Should you wish to have an informal discussion in relation to this opportunity contact:  Lucy Atherton. Food & Safety Lead, on 01782 742123 or lucy.atherton@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk

Closing date

22 November 2026

Should we receive a large number of applications, then this post could close sooner than the date stated. 

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted within two weeks of the closing date. 

Interview date 

30 November 2026

While we value diverse backgrounds and experiences, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship. Applicants must be able to prove they have the Right to Work in the U.K.

Supporting documents and information

Download the job description and person specification

We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions.  If you would like us to do anything differently during the interview or assessment process please contact our People team (humanresources@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk) 

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is committed to the employment and career development of disabled people, armed forces and care leavers.  As such we offer an interview guarantee scheme where you meet the minimum criteria for the role.  By minimum criteria we mean you must provide us with evidence in your application and supporting information which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of skills and experience defined in the person specification and as indicated by the Disability Confident symbol.

Need help completing the online application form? 
Our application form has recently been updated to make it easier to apply, please be aware that you are not able to save your application part way through so please ensure you have all information to hand; 

Make a note of the details of the post you are applying for.  

• Read through the job description and person specification. 
• Review our values and behaviours. 
• Ensure that you have relevant job application information to hand i.e. employment details, qualifications and training, professional memberships (if applicable) and the details of two referees. 
• If you have a CV you can cut and paste information easily into the form.
• The supporting information section of the application is your opportunity to share with us your key achievements and highlight any relevant experience.   We’d like you to tell us;  who you are, your values and strengths, why you feel you are suitable for the role and finally, your career goals.  
• We’d suggest typing your supporting information firstly to a Word document and then copy and paste to the supporting information section of the online application.  This way you won’t lose valuable information if the page times out. 
• At the end of the form you can choose to save a copy of your application, we advise doing this.
• If you are interested in more than one role, you will need to submit a separate form for each job.
• Contact our People team if you have any questions regarding the online application form or require further support (humanresources@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk)

 Apply online