Higher Scientific Officer in the Supply Team
| Posting date: | 09 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £38,795 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 09 March 2026 |
| Location: | KT15 3LS |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 441082/1 |
Summary
You may not have heard of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), but have you ever:
- eaten meat, eggs, fish or honey
- drunk milk
- owned a pet or animal
- taken antibiotics
If you said yes to any of the above, you are directly affected by what the VMD does.
The VMD is the regulatory and policy lead responsible for issues concerning the authorisation, use, and manufacture of veterinary medicines in the UK.
Our aim is to protect public health, animal health, and the environment, and promote animal welfare by assuring the safety, quality and effectiveness of veterinary medicines.
Find out more at: About us - Veterinary Medicines Directorate - GOV.UK
About the Job
This exciting and interesting job puts you at the heart of the VMD’s work in facilitating the availability of medicines to veterinary surgeons and in part delivery of the VMD's transparency agenda. You will be part of a team with diverse activities in a target driven environment where quality of service is essential. You will liaise with other scientific disciplines in the VMD and a range of stakeholders, including, but not exclusively, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, Wholesale Dealers, and veterinary professionals.
The Supply Team is part of the wider Regulatory Affairs Team and you will also liaise closely with our Application Management Team to ensure targets as specified in our Published Standards continue to be met.
The post-holder will be part of the VMD’s Supply Team within the VMD’s Regulatory Affairs Section in the Authorisation Division. The Authorisations Division is responsible for authorising veterinary medicines, including the assessment of data on the quality, safety and efficacy of such medicines.
This role requires an individual with the ability to problem solve, to prioritise and organise themselves and to support their team. It is an ever changing environment and it is essential that the job holder can think on their feet and rise to challenges quickly and effectively.
The post-holder’s main duties will be:
- Draft a scientific summary of the assessment report for each new Marketing Authorisation, for publication on the GOV.UK website in line with VMD’s Quality Standards and Standard Operating Procedures.
- Assess Marketing Authorisation variation applications, to include assessment of product literature (i.e. mock-ups) prior to first marketing and subsequently as part of a market surveillance scheme.
- Assess applications from UK veterinary surgeons and wholesale dealers to import unauthorised medicines into the UK for veterinary use.
- Assess notifications of product defects to determine potential impact on UK veterinary medicine availability.
- Develop, monitor, and troubleshoot process development and improvement projects within the VMD.
- Manage your own performance and worklist to maintain targets as set out in our Published Standards.
- Contribute to and lead discussions in meetings.
- Contribute to the maintenance of the VMD’s Quality Management System in relation to the standards and timescales set; identifying and implementing improvement opportunities.
- Complying with ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 27001 (information security) standards, and GDPR and Information Management requirements.
- Act corporately – meeting, role-modelling, embedding, and championing the corporate objectives set by the VMD.
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