Ecological Modeller ID:3912

Job summary

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions. We are looking for compassionate, dedicated individuals who strive for excellence and integrity and who put animal health and welfare at the heart of everything they do. Are you conscientious and an excellent team worker? If the answer is ‘yes’, we would love to hear from you!

APHA are seeking a numerate and highly computer literate person to join the modelling team in the Wildlife Department . APHA is an executive agency of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and our remit includes identifying, managing, and controlling incidents and outbreaks of endemic and exotic diseases and pests in animals, plants, and bees. We provide unique capabilities and an evidence base for UK government, together with international reference responsibilities. The APHA Wildlife Department is a nationally important centre for wildlife disease management with multidisciplinary skills in epidemiology, statistics, and field ecology. The successful applicant will bolster the department’s role supporting Defra’s policy making and disease outbreak response activities.

In this role, you will be contributing to the production of advice for government policy and operational teams. This will involve building, maintaining or running models of disease systems that currently, or potentially could involve UK wildlife, and which can impact livestock and people. You will primarily be working with agent-based simulation models to explore the large-scale spread and control of disease, and you will also be collating ecological data on wild host species and disease transmission upon which the models are based. Some topics of current relevance include the investigation of control strategies for Bovine Tuberculosis and African Swine Fever, the epidemiology of zoonotic Lyssaviruses in bats and novel zoonotic diseases that may impact the UK.

Job description

• Designing and running bespoke computer simulation models to investigate disease and other issues concerning wildlife management
  
  
• Writing reports, including collating and interpreting model output
  
  
• Undertaking sensitivity analyses and error checking verification of models
  
  
• Collecting ecological/epidemiological data for use in model development through literature review and in liaison with colleagues across APHA and elsewhere
  
  
• The post holder will also be encouraged to communicate results and findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals and at national and international conferences

Person specification

You will support the development of modelling capabilities within APHA’s Wildlife Department. You will be required to develop new and run existing computer simulation models and collate output for inclusion in reports to government policy teams. You will produce model documentation and check conformity to relevant quality assurance policies. You will be required to produce and maintain collections of ecological and epidemiological parameter values for use in creating models through review of scientific literature and liaison with APHA colleagues and encouraged to draft or write papers for scientific journals and present results and findings at conferences.

The following criteria are essential for this role:

• Experience of developing and maintaining simulation modelling ideally for the purposes of understanding disease transmission in animals, but other purposes such as pest management, conservation or invasive species incursion are acceptable
• Knowledge of one or more generic computer programming languages (e.g., Python, C++)
• Experience of interpreting scientific data and writing scientific reports and/or papers
• Experience of literature review
• Good organisational, time management, inter-personal and communication skills

Qualifications

You must have a Degree with significant biological and/or numerical elements.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• A presentation - “Developing a model to simulate the spread of a hypothetical disease newly introduced into the UK involving a wildlife host and that also affects livestock and people” - Please refer to "At interview" under selection process.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,765, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £10,071 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

At Application -

You will be required to complete the following as part of your application:

• A CV-style application submitted through an online tool accessed through the Civil Service Jobs website
• A 500 word Personal Statement detailing how you match the details in the Personal Specification – the written evidence you provide must relate to your own experiences. We encourage you to use the full word allowance of the Personal Statement but not to exceed it

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

At Interview -

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Experience, Behaviours and Technical Skill.

To assess the Technical Skill, you will be asked to prepare a 5 minute informal presentation with the title “Developing a model to simulate the spread of a hypothetical disease newly introduced into the UK involving a wildlife host and that also affects livestock and people”.
Presentation software can be used. Following your presentation, time will be allocated for questions.
Further details will be provided prior to interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Salary

New entrants are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Alissa - Wildlife Jobs
• Email : wildlifejobs@apha.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here

Attachments

Job Description HEO Ecological Modeller Opens in new window (pdf, 232kB)Candidate Information Pack APHA Opens in new window (pdf, 1875kB)