Civil Sanctions Enforcement Manager

Do you enjoy analysing complex information to reach fair, proportionate and effective enforcement decisions? Can you bring people together to tackle non-compliance and help shape a consistent approach to civil sanctions? If so, we would love to hear from you! The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions. We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups. We have an exciting opportunity for a Civil Sanctions Enforcement Officer to join our Regulatory Affairs, Compliance and Enforcement Team, playing a vital role in delivering the use of civil sanctions across APHA. You will be responsible for the assessment of different types of non-compliance from numerous areas of legislation including clear understanding of criminal offences and investigatory processes. This is to ensure that the Agency operates within the legal frameworks. You will provide expert advice to colleagues and enforcement partners involved in cases; collating and preparing documents for the application of a civil sanction. This may involve accompanying inspections where appropriate, providing summaries of key legislative concerns and organising case conferences. This role will allow APHA to have a central point of expertise in the use of civil sanctions as an enforcement outcome to ensure consistent, proportionate, and effective use, as well as monitoring the impact on compliance levels following intervention. As this will be a new approach in some areas, it will be essential to identify any emerging issues and report constructively to colleagues within APHA as well as national policy makers and enforcement partners and look for ways to continuously improve the process. The Regulatory Affairs, Compliance and Enforcement Team is responsible for ensuring APHA operates as an effective National Regulator and in line with the principles of the Regulators' Code. There is a wide-ranging portfolio of work dealing with all aspects of regulation, compliance, and enforcement; from legislative requirements, operational delivery, specific case management and multi-agency liaison. The role is required to identify and respond to non-compliance with Ivory, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Plant Health and any other enforcement penalty scheme. There is a need to build and maintain strong links with operational delivery teams and other relevant APHA business units or external agencies key to regulatory and enforcement activity. The role involves a wide range of work including, but not limited to, the following:

• Managing and administering the APHA process for issuing civil sanctions, including assessing and escalating referrals for further investigation, reviewing investigation outcomes, identifying proportionate action and issuing civil sanctions in line with internal processes and legal requirements
• Building effective relationships with enforcement partners, stakeholders, and policy colleagues, to ensure a collective approach to specific cases and wider non-compliance issues and promote a clear understanding of outcomes
• Actively participating in simple and complex investigations through case-conferences and site visits, and leading discussions in all cases where an APHA civil sanction may be an outcome
• Ensuring appeals and representation processes relating to civil sanctions are assessed and processed within legislative timescales
• Supporting operational teams in their understanding of enforcement principles in relation to non-compliance, including operational support, guidance on evidence gathering, witness statement writing and court preparation. Court attendance may also be required
• Developing APHA reporting capabilities for civil sanctions and ensure records are accurate and up to date
• Identifying the highest risk areas of non-compliance to inform the development of plans and procedures to prevent or mitigate them
• In a disease outbreak, be the point of contact for any issues arising with non-compliance with prevention measures or control activities
• Line management of a small team of Executive Officers working on Civil Sanctions