Animal Health Officer - Scotland
| Posting date: | 19 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,715 to £30,705 per year |
| Additional salary information: | An additional pay supplement of up to £3,000 (pro rata), which may be offered following an annual capability assessment. The supplement will be paid per annum and divided into monthly payments . |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 06 February 2026 |
| Location: | Perth, Perth & Kinross |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 441489 |
Summary
As a field-based Animal Health Officer (AHO) your duties will include, but not limited to the following:
blood sampling of livestock species including cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry (after suitable training)
collecting blood samples from bTB breakdown cattle herds, including suckler, beef and dairy herds
conducting documentation inspections on animal identification, animal movement, breeding, medicine and other written or electronic records for audit and disease control and surveillance purposes
collecting samples for National Surveillance Schemes including feed samples from farms, feed mills and feed merchants
collecting samples and information for disease surveys
managing compliance inspections for premises handling animal by-products e.g., rendering plants, composting sites, hunt kennels and abbatoirs
playing an active part in contingency planning so the agency is able to respond to outbreaks of exotic notifiable disease and other emergencies
undertaking allocated rostered out of hours on-call duties to deal with incidents and to support disease outbreak reports
participating as directed, to contribute to the control and the eradication of the disease including taking part in rosters for detached duty to other parts of Great Britain during outbreaks of notifiable disease
working with a diverse team, both locally and across Great Britain, including other technical colleagues, veterinary surgeons and scientists during notifiable disease outbreaks
Support and Training
All successful candidates will be provided with an extensive programme of training and support as part of their induction into working with APHA. Some training will involve travel and overnight stays.
APHA appreciates the varying level of experiences and skills successful candidates will hold on joining the agency. Training material is designed to ensure all new entrants, to APHA, build suitable confidence and competencies to deliver the work.
New AHO staff will be part of regional, country and GB wide teams who will be provided with widespread support on all facets of APHA work.
blood sampling of livestock species including cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry (after suitable training)
collecting blood samples from bTB breakdown cattle herds, including suckler, beef and dairy herds
conducting documentation inspections on animal identification, animal movement, breeding, medicine and other written or electronic records for audit and disease control and surveillance purposes
collecting samples for National Surveillance Schemes including feed samples from farms, feed mills and feed merchants
collecting samples and information for disease surveys
managing compliance inspections for premises handling animal by-products e.g., rendering plants, composting sites, hunt kennels and abbatoirs
playing an active part in contingency planning so the agency is able to respond to outbreaks of exotic notifiable disease and other emergencies
undertaking allocated rostered out of hours on-call duties to deal with incidents and to support disease outbreak reports
participating as directed, to contribute to the control and the eradication of the disease including taking part in rosters for detached duty to other parts of Great Britain during outbreaks of notifiable disease
working with a diverse team, both locally and across Great Britain, including other technical colleagues, veterinary surgeons and scientists during notifiable disease outbreaks
Support and Training
All successful candidates will be provided with an extensive programme of training and support as part of their induction into working with APHA. Some training will involve travel and overnight stays.
APHA appreciates the varying level of experiences and skills successful candidates will hold on joining the agency. Training material is designed to ensure all new entrants, to APHA, build suitable confidence and competencies to deliver the work.
New AHO staff will be part of regional, country and GB wide teams who will be provided with widespread support on all facets of APHA work.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.