Consumer Bodies Engagement Lead
| Posting date: | 17 April 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £39,384 to £46,715 per year |
| Additional salary information: | London: £43,007 - £46,715 National: £39,384 - £43,169 |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 12 May 2024 |
| Location: | Birmingham |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 349678/1 |
Summary
Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!
We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade (Previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.
Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned.
Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.
Further information can be found on our website here
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
We are Inclusive.
We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
The Consumer Policy and Delivery team within the Policy and Partnerships department of the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). The Team champions the needs of consumers and ensures keeping people safe is at the heart of everything OPSS does. The Team has developed a Consumer Plan which identifies consumer-focussed priorities and explains how we will meet them. We are particularly focussed on ensuring our product safety activities reach a diverse audience.
Key to helping us achieve these aims are the relationships we have built with a range of organisations across the UK. Each quarter, we host a meeting of our Consumer Reference Panel. We hear insight into the consumer perspective of OPSS activity and discuss emerging issues that affect consumers.
We also use our networks to communicate product safety messages to consumers. This helps us to reach those most at risk from product-related harm and to convey information promptly and in a format that encourages consumers to act.
We are seeking a motivated individual to join the team. You will play a crucial role in empowering consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions about products they buy and use.
You will support our work with consumer organisations through effective planning and engagement. You will maintain current relationships and look for to opportunities cultivate new ones. Each quarter, you will oversee the smooth running of the Consumer Reference Panel. In this way, you will ensure relationships with stakeholders help OPSS meet the needs of consumers, especially the most vulnerable.
You will ensure product safety messages reach those most vulnerable. You will also oversee grants and small contracts. Making sure they contribute to OPSS's consumer safety ambitions. You will also develop our approach to using data to best demonstrate the team’s reach and impact.
You will lead several work strands, including:
- Developing and maintaining existing relationships with organisations that represent consumer interests.
- Improving how we communicate to, and hear from, groups that represent consumers. We are especially keen to reach those most vulnerable to harm.
- Providing secretariat support to external meetings.
- Managing and monitoring grant and contract activity.
- Have experience of project monitoring and evaluation.
- Working with the team to develop and maintain mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of work.
- Any other duties required to support the wider Consumer Team.