Person Specification for an Official Veterinarian

Criteria	Essential	Desirable

Communication skills	Ability to express thoughts clearly orally and in writing and listens to the views of others.	Experience of report writing, including preparation of witness statements.
	Assembles arguments in a logical, thorough and objective manner.
	Ability to communicate clearly in English both orally and in writing and discuss and communicate using technical terminology.

Interpersonal skills and Relationship Management	Demonstrable influencing skills.	Experience of successfully managing difficult situations.
	Ability to provide appropriate technical advice and guidance, and coach plant inspection team members.	Experience of coaching individuals to improve performance.
	Demonstrable ability to build positive working relationships.
	Demonstrable ability to negotiate.

Leadership and Management Skills	Demonstrable ability to supervise, and lead a team.	An understanding of performance management and competence assessment.
	Understanding of effective management tools and skills.	Experience of people management with proven ability to lead a team.

Analytical skills	Ability to analyse legislation and provide appropriate advice and guidance.	An understanding of business risk management.
	Ability to analyse data quickly and accurately and make justifiable decisions based upon available information.

Technical expertise	Experience of diagnosing clinical conditions.	Knowledge of the wider food chain from ‘farm to fork’.
	Experience of working in a slaughterhouse and knowledge of the meat industry.	An understanding of risk based enforcement.
	Knowledge of relevant legislation, instructions in MHS Manual for Official Controls and the Meat Industry Guide.	Demonstrable awareness of key hazards with a FBO environment.
	Knowledge of GHP and HACCP based principles.	Understanding of principles and relevant methods of operational performance and contract management.
	Awareness of principles, concepts and methods of risk analysis.	Ability to acts as MHS expert witness in legal proceedings, and understanding of courtroom procedures.
	A demonstrate understanding of the enforcement concordant and risk based enforcement.	Experience of conducting audits.
	A demonstrable basic understanding of health and safety legislation, risk assessment and accident investigation.

IT Skills	Basic knowledge of / or experience of working with IT packages, i.e. word processing, spreadsheets and e-mail.	Good knowledge of working with IT packages, i.e. word processing, spreadsheets and e-mail.