Senior Chemical Risk Manager

As a Chemical Risk Manager, your role is critical in safeguarding public health by ensuring consumer products adhere to safety standards and UK regulations. Your expertise is vital for identifying and assessing chemical risks, developing strong risk management strategies, and communicating scientific findings to diverse audiences, regardless of their technical background.,

• Oversee Chemical Risk Assessment: Keep a comprehensive overview of chemical concerns necessitating independent scientific counsel and devise methods for effective triage and prioritisation.


• Interpret Risk Assessments: Assess and interpret risk assessment outputs and opinions from the independent scientific advisory group and other reliable sources to identify scientific options for risk management.


• Develop Risk Management Strategies: Work with policy and other colleagues to present and further develop risk management options for specific chemicals that have undergone risk assessment.


• Communicate Scientific Findings: Lead the communication of the scientific evidence base behind specific risk management options to both technical and non-technical audiences.


• Support Cross-Functional Teams: Collaborate with other Science team members, policy, enforcement, and other OPSS teams to ensure the effective delivery of UK product safety regulations.


• Respond to Emergencies: Offer prompt and efficient assistance during emergencies involving regulated products, utilising your expertise in chemical science to minimise risks


• Manage Research Initiatives: Support OPSS research programmes and oversee the delivery of externally commissioned research.


• Demonstrate Strong Communication Skills: Confidently draw together, interpret, and communicate findings to a non-technical audience as well as technical members of the team or external experts.


• Stay Updated on Chemical Developments: Assess and interpret scientific and technical documentation relating to chemicals in consumer products, and lead research and evidence-gathering activities to fill evidence gaps and understand new developments in the field.


• Collaborate Across Teams: Work collaboratively with other OPSS teams, such as policy, enforcement, laboratory, and testing, on multidisciplinary projects.


• Provide Technical Support: Respond to ad-hoc technical chemical science enquiries, including providing incident response support.
  
  About OPSS


Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade. We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact.

Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.

Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned.

Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence

Further information can be found on our website here

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills. We are proud to be Disability Confident Leaders.

The Science Team

Envision a world where every child's toy is inherently safe, each cosmetic product is gentle on your skin, and all building materials are robust and reliable. This is the vision that drives the Science Team at the Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS).

We provide strong and relevant scientific advice and ground-breaking research to guide policy making, as well as the application and enforcement of product safety regulations under the OPSS umbrella.

Our work involves collaboration with other teams specialising in engineering, research, analysis, and testing. We are an interdisciplinary team, boasting expertise in analytical chemistry, materials science, and toxicology.

Moreover, our team offers guidance on chemical risk assessment and leads the OPSS's interactions with independent scientific bodies in the fields of chemicals and materials.

In January 2024, OPSS published its first Science & Analysis review on GOV.UK, showcasing how OPSS employs high-quality evidence to enhance consumer confidence, support thriving trade, and establish the UK as a leading marketplace for consumer products.