Assessor (1887)

RSPCA Assured is celebrating 30 years of improving the lives of farmed animals.

In that time, we're proud to have worked with thousands of farmers - and all of the UK's biggest supermarkets - to help make the lives of millions of animals better.

Every year, we inspect almost 4,000 farms and other scheme members to ensure they meet strict RSPCA animal welfare standards - ensuring a better life for farm animals.

So when you see an RSPCA Assured label on meat, fish, eggs or milk products, it means the animal was cared for according to the RSPCA's standards from birth to slaughter.

Our vision is a world where all farmed animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion - and that's what we work towards every day.

We are looking for four new team members, who will join us as Assessors, each Assessor will be based in one of the following areas:

• Salmon - West/North West Scotland/Shetland 
• Broilers/Laying Hen - South West/M4
• Pig/LH - Middlesbrough/Durham/Newcastle areas
• Pig/LH/Broilers - Peterborough/Cambridgeshire.

The Assessor will:

Working hours: 35 hours / Monday - Friday (at times, there may be the requirement for flexibility around hours i.e. early starts/late finishes). This role will be based from your home address, however there will be the requirement to travel often. In turn, there will also be the requirement to stay away from home occasionally.

Our teams stay connected through regular check-ins and meetings - and colleagues are always on hand to chat.

It's important to us that you feel part of our supportive team from the beginning.

Are you ready to join us and make a positive difference for farm animals?

We offer a wide range of benefits to recognise your contributions at RSPCA.

• 35 hour week 
• Great Annual Leave benefits - 25 days annual leave on joining increasing each year to a maximum of 31 days (pro rata for part-time)
• Additional Society day around Christmas
• Generous pension scheme
• Career development through our in-house Learning & Development training 
• Charity worker discounts: Access to hundreds of discounts across many retailers, travel, insurance & cinema tickets.

Here at RSPCA Assured we know it's a cliche but no two days are the same, as an Assessor, we've added a short summary of what a typical day might look like, for a full insight please refer to the attached job description.

You will be acting as the face of the RSPCA Assured scheme on farm, to carry out all site activity in support of member certification. Including annual assessment, investigatory and monitoring visits that verify continued compliance with the RSPCA Standards for farm animal welfare. 

Along with this, you will be:

• Carrying out all on site assessment activity in full accordance with the RSPCA Assured scheme's quality procedures and external accreditation to international service standard ISO17065
• Verbally inform all new applicants and current members the outcome of the assessment
• Carry out welfare outcome assessments
• Conduct investigatory and monitoring visits
• Carry out review of non compliance corrective actions and objective evidence
• Report to the Operations Team any instances of non-compliance with the RSPCA Assured membership agreement
• Escalate membership certification issues, including those relating to novel systems of livestock production to the relevant team within RSPCA Assured
• Undertake all assessor calibration exercises as required (e.g. witness assessments, annual calibration tests) in order to further support ISO:17065 accreditation.

To be successful in this role, you will:

• Have strong communication skills and able to engage with internal and external stakeholders of all levels
• Proven commercial livestock production experience (minimum two years)
• Able to demonstrate highly effective planning skills - complex logistics involved in scheduling assessments (geographical, biosecurity, assessment intervals)
• Genuine interest and commitment to animal welfare
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organisational skills with competing priorities Full and current driving licence.

Desirable

• Formal agricultural/food technology qualification
• Highly proficient in Google Suite (we use Google as our primary application suite)
• Operating within the farm assurance environment.

Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles will need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK - We are unable to sponsor visas at RSPCA.

Due to high interest in some of our roles, we review applications as they are received. This can occasionally result in positions closing earlier than advertised. Therefore, we strongly recommend submitting applications early.

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications after the posted closing date.

We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible.

We are building the future of a diverse Society, and our priority is to support animal welfare by finding people from all backgrounds who are committed  to our mission.  For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA. Your transferable skills & lived experiences could make you a valuable addition to our RSPCA Family

Should you need any support with your application or interview process please contact resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk / 0300 123 0685.

Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect.