Environmental Health Officer

Job Title: Environmental Health Officer (EHRB/Chartered status)

Job Grade: Level 4 Zone 1 -*plus a £2,000 golden hello, Zone 1 and 2 annual travel card allowance and annual 7% retention payment

Starting Salary: £46,006 - £52,329

Job Title: Graduate Environmental Health Officer

Job Grade: : Level 3 Zone 2 (on completion of CIEH EH Pathway to Registration the post holder is eligible for a zone 1 and 2 annual travel card allowance and annual 7% retention payment)

Starting Salary: £42,221 - £47,940

Closing Date: Tuesday 2nd December at 23:59

About Camden

Camden is changing on the inside to make life better for everyone. Our residents and communities are at the heart of everything we do. We’re home to the most important conversations happening today and we’re making radical social change a reality, so that nobody gets left behind. Here’s where you can help decide a better future for us all.

What You’ll Be Doing

We have an exciting opportunity for you to join Camden’s private sector housing team. The Council has a large number of houses in multiple occupation and has operated a successful borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme since 2015.

We are looking for a proactive and enthusiastic Environment Health Practitioner, or a graduate EHO working towards their Chartered status, to join our HMO Enforcement team.

At Camden we strive to make use of all enforcement tools available to protect tenants and ensure accommodation is of a suitable standard. We are looking to continue to expand upon this good work as it is estimated that there may still be up to 5,000 unlicensed HMOs operating within the borough.

This is a unique opportunity to work within a small multi-disciplinary enforcement team consisting of Environmental Health Officers, Tenancy Relations Officers (TROs), Trading Standards Officers and dedicated legal support.

The role will require you to take personal responsibility for investigations into unlicensed and/or dangerous HMO properties, carry out reactive and proactive inspections of both licensed and unlicensed HMOs, serve enforcement notices, issue civil penalties and take prosecutions. You will also be required to consider other high level enforcement interventions including rent repayment orders and banning orders for the most serious cases.

The multi-disciplinary set up enables the team to ensure that tenants are provided with holistic housing advice and enforcement action can be taken for harassment and illegal evictions as well as Housing Act 2004 offences. The multi-disciplinary set-up provides an opportunity for you to work closely with colleagues in other areas and improve your knowledge and understanding of related housing legislation which may not be regularly enforced by EHOs.

If you are motivated and professional in your approach with good organisational skills, then Camden could be the place for you. You’ll be joining a friendly team committed to providing safe and healthy housing. At Camden we embrace teamwork and personal development and you will have the opportunity to develop your skills across a range of fascinating challenges.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and will require an Enhanced DBS.

All About You

To find out more about what it is like to work at Camden, meet some of our People by visiting 'www.camdenjobs.co.uk/our-stories'.

Youmust be either:

• An Environmental Health Practitioner holding a Certificate of Registration with the CIEH/EHRB or Chartered status. Or

• A Graduate who holds a BSc or MSc in Environmental Health enrolled or eligible to enrol on the Environmental Health Pathway to Registration. Applicants who are not CIEH/EHRB registered, or do not have Chartered status, will start on a lower grade and accompanying salary until they become registered. Support, training and fees for candidates to enrol on the EH Pathway will usually be provided by the Council.

The ideal candidate will:

• be driven by a desire to act upon the poor treatment of vulnerable tenants by rogue landlords and agents which often forces tenants to live in poor quality accommodation with an ongoing threat of illegal eviction hanging over them

• be motivated to improve housing conditions and take the appropriate enforcement action to deal with the worst criminal landlords

• have a detailed knowledge/understanding of the Housing Act 2004 and other legislation that can be used to control poor housing conditions and the general legislative framework relevant to the team and its application to casework.

• have experience of taking enforcement action under the Housing Act 2004 in respect of unlicensed and/or dangerous HMO properties.

• be trained on HHSRS and have a good understanding of house construction and components including an up to date understanding of improvement trends and capabilities including those around energy efficiency.

• be an excellent communicator (both verbal and written) and will be adept at providing excellent customer care and communication skills in explaining complex and technical issues accurately, clearly and concisely both orally and in writing when dealing with all service users.

We are looking for a committed, flexible and self-motivated team player to work in busy, high-profile environment delivering housing enforcement and licensing objectives. You will have the ability to monitor and manage your own casework, make timely decisions and deliver agreed outcomes. Crucially you will have excellent negotiation, verbal and written communication skills and experience in explaining legislation, procedures and requirements to a wide range of stakeholders including landlords, agents and residents. The ability to use IT systems and databases to record, monitor and communicate information is essential. Experience of software systems and applications connected with the role is desirable though not essential.

How To Apply