Senior Official Controls Auditor

Posted by: Food Standards Agency

Employed By: Food Standards Agency

Job Title: Senior Official Controls Auditor

Salary: SEO (National): £42,596 - £49,649 (pro-rata’d if working part-time)  SEO (London): £45,884 - £52,700 (pro-rata’d if working part-time)

Contract: Full-time; Fixed contract; Flexible working, home working, compressed hours

Location: Hybrid - York, Cardiff, Belfast, or fully Remote

Application Deadline: 2nd August at 11.55pm

The FSA is seeking two Senior Official Controls Auditors to join the Strategy and Regulatory Compliance Division, which is responsible for ensuring that the delivery of official food and feed controls is carried out effectively. 

As a Senior Official Controls Auditor, you will be responsible for delivering a range of audits of organisations responsible for food and feed official controls in England, primarily local authorities. Through your work, you will help ensure the FSA maintains effective oversight of controls operating across the food supply chain, supporting our strategic objective of protecting consumers and maintaining confidence in food. 

You will work closely with colleagues in local authority food safety and trading standards services, devolved administrations, and other government departments that share responsibility for ensuring consumers are protected. 

As part of a large and dynamic division, you may also contribute to wider priority workstreams throughout the year. This will provide valuable opportunities to work with delivery and policy colleagues across the division, develop your expertise, and gain a broader understanding of how official controls are delivered and regulated. 

There may also be opportunities to support additional audit programmes delivered on behalf of other government departments, subject to appropriate training and competency requirements. 

The successful candidates will:

• Deliver audits of competent authorities and other relevant delivery partners responsible for official food and feed controls, ensuring compliance with legislative requirements. 

• Identify areas for improvement and any corrective actions arising from audit findings, monitoring progress against agreed timescales and taking prompt action where high-risk issues are identified, including escalating matters through established processes where appropriate. 

• Draft and publish comprehensive audit and summary reports on the effectiveness of food and feed law services, ensuring they meet the required quality standards. The role also contributes to the production of annual audit performance reports for the FSA Executive, Board and Audit Committee. 

• Contribute to audit planning activities by identifying potential audit themes and leading the development of new audit programmes. This includes producing terms of reference and supporting documentation while working closely with policy and delivery teams to ensure audit objectives align with strategic priorities. 

• Support the review and continuous improvement of audit processes and procedures, collaborating with colleagues across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure a consistent and effective approach. 

• Provide recommendations that support the development of the FSA's compliance and enforcement approach, contributing specialist expertise to policy development and identifying opportunities to strengthen food and feed law enforcement. 

This role offers an excellent opportunity to influence regulatory compliance at a national level, develop specialist auditing expertise, and work with a diverse range of stakeholders across the food system. You will be part of a collaborative team committed to protecting consumers and ensuring confidence in food standards across England.