Location

Belfast Office based or Multi-location in Belfast. Travel across the UK and Republic of Ireland required on an occasional basis with the possibility of overnight stays. Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas.

About the job Summary

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1300 people, with a big vision - to drive change in the food system so that it delivers “food we can trust”. Our primary goal is to continue to protect public health and UK consumers’ wider interest in food. As we have now exited the EU, the FSA faces a significant period of change and activity.

In Northern Ireland, the FSA is responsible for delivering aspects of nutrition and dietary health policy. The Dietary Health team guides the development of these policies with the end goal of improving consumers’ health - both through increased availability of healthy food options and improved awareness and understanding around healthy eating.

As a placement student within the team you will have the opportunity to assist the Dietary Health team and gain experience on a number of policy areas and projects such as Calorie Wise, the Eating Well Choosing Better Programme, Nutrition Surveillance, Nutrition Standards and Food Poverty.

Job description

The main role of the Dietary Health Placement Student within the FSA will be to support the delivery of a number of our nutrition policy areas and our work on surveillance.

The successful candidate will assist with the analysis and interpretation of information gleaned from a wide range of data sets and dietary health surveys. Through this analysis we will be better able to guide our work in nutrition policy development and implementation, helping to create a healthier Northern Ireland.

There will also be opportunities to contribute to nutrition programmes such as our Eating Well Choosing Better Programme and Calorie Wise Scheme to increase the availability of healthier food options and improve awareness and understanding around healthy eating.
 

Responsibilities

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process. We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• You must be a second-year undergraduate nutrition student in order to apply. Examples of degrees that will be accepted include Human Nutrition, Food and Nutrition, Food Quality Safety and Nutrition.

Benefits

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Things you need to know Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. This will consist of shortlisting against the essential and desirable person specification criteria stated. If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to the final selection stage consisting of a behaviours based interview.

In the event of receiving a large number of applications an initial sift may take place on just the identified lead criteria indicated below:

We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within our organisation at this level. All appointments are made on merit.
• You must be a second-year undergraduate nutrition student in order to apply. Examples of degrees that will be accepted include Human Nutrition, Food and Nutrition, Food Quality Safety and Nutrition. (1st Lead Criteria)

• Experience using appropriate methods of communication when working with peers and/or colleagues to deliver key messages. Demonstrate both written and verbal methods (2nd Lead Criteria)

We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within our organisation at this level. All appointments are made on merit.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached terms and conditions statement.

Sift: 4th – 9th March 2021
Interview: 22/23 March 2021 – to be conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams

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

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UKs
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

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.

Apply and further information

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