Senior Environmental Inspector
Posted 22/01/2025 18:12
OFFSHORE PETROLEUM REGULATOR FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DECOMMISSIONING
Senior Environmental Inspector
Salary: £78,200 - £82,665. This salary scale includes a specialist allowance of £35,815, the base salary without this allowance is therefore £42,385 - £46,850. This role also attracts a Recruitment and Retention allowance worth 10% of the base salary.
Location: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, Salford
The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) is responsible for developing, administering and ensuring compliance with the environmental regulatory regime for the UK Continental Shelf. Its main focus is on offshore oil and gas exploration, production, decommissioning, gas unloading and storage, and carbon storage.
Our Offshore Environmental Inspectorate (OEI) team works to protect the environment by implementing the UK’s offshore environmental regulations. The team brings together people with varied but specific skills and experiences in order that all environmental and decommissioning aspects associated with offshore oil and gas activities are monitored expertly and professionally.
What you’ll do
Join us in this role and you’ll provide strong leadership to a team of Inspectors, and prioritise, develop and implement work plans that ensure the delivery of objectives and targets which contribute to the overall achievement of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s priorities and OPRED’s strategic goals. Using a risk-based approach coupled with a prioritisation programme to deliver the team’s activities, you’ll also assess, define, implement and oversee an inspection and investigation programme that ensures consistency, proportionality and transparency.
Carrying out offshore inspections and investigations, responding to environmental incidents or regulatory non-compliance events, and maintaining and participating in an effective 24/7 response capability, you’ll provide expert advice and support to the on-call Environmental Inspector. Other vital tasks will involve liaising, negotiating and participating with various industry work groups, with the goal of improving guidance and ensuring we implement learning and improvements. We’ll also expect you to provide advice and direction on investigations into contraventions of environmental legislation, and decide on the appropriate enforcement action.
You’ll have a range of additional responsibilities – these include reviewing the regulatory processes for the review, assessment, inspection and approval of submissions to OEI, and developing or approving new or amended policies, regulations, guidance or procedures. You should also be ready to provide expert advice for responses on oil and gas environmental issues to government, industry bodies and the general public, and develop positive relationships with industry representatives, other Government departments and NGOs.
What you’ll need
This is an extremely varied and dynamic role, and requires the ability to identify and resolve problems quickly in an inclusive and pragmatic way. You should have a higher level education qualification in a science, engineering, environmental or related subject, and in addition to holding or passing Offshore Medical and Offshore Training Survival Courses, it would be desirable if you have management or leadership experience in a relevant technical, regulatory or enforcement environment.
It's also important that you have either a proven track record of inspection, regulation or enforcement in the oil and gas or a related industry, or significant oil and gas industry experience in a technical leadership role such as production, drilling, maintenance, combustion plant or subsea.
What are the benefits?
You’ll benefit from a culture that embraces difference and includes everyone, where you’ll feel supported and trusted to do the right thing. We’ll invest in you and allow you to grow and shape your career. What’s more, working with us entitles you to a competitive mix of benefits including a Civil Service pension, extensive learning and development opportunities, and flexible working.
As an organisation we strive to reflect the communities we serve. To achieve this we welcome applications from all backgrounds regardless of race, sexual orientation and religion.
