Join Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service and you will enjoy a rewarding career in one of the biggest trading standards services in the country.
Covering the counties of Devon and Somerset, city of Plymouth and unitary authority of Torbay, the Heart of the South West area includes everything from major industry to moorland farms.
You’ll be joining an award-winning service that’s been recognised nationally for the work we do to support businesses and rural communities. We are part of the Heart of the South West Better Business for All partnership which in June 2021 won the Better Business for All award at the Office for Product Safety & Standards Regulatory Excellence Awards. In October 2021, we were awarded the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) Hero Award for best project for our work to support the farming community.
Our Trading Standards Officers work in one of two main groups. Our Intelligence and Investigations group protects consumers by working on our more complex cases. Our Business Support and Innovation group provides advice and support to the business and agricultural community.
But as a large and diverse service with around 80 staff, we don’t only employ Trading Standards Officers. We also have roles in other vital areas like project management, marketing and communications and operational support.
We have a unique partnership with the Heart of the South West Growth Hub, and work closely with Devon’s Economic Development staff. This helps us to provide a complete support package to the businesses that we work with.
Current vacancies
We are currently recruiting to the following position:
- Technical Officer – Laboratory Quality Officer (this position is open to current employees of Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council, Somerset Council and Torbay Council only).
For other opportunities, visit the relevant local authority website:
Qualified Trading Standards Officers
Are you a qualified Trading Standards Officer looking to move to the South West? We could have a role for you – email us at tradingstandards@devon.gov.uk today for an informal chat about working for us.
What do Trading Standards Officers do?
Trading Standards Officers work in a wide range of areas of law, investigating consumer complaints, advising businesses and helping to raise business standards. Over a career as a Trading Standards Officer, you could work in a wide range of areas. Just a few examples of work we carry out are:
- Protecting vulnerable people by investigating ‘rogue trader’ cases, for example poor-quality, overcharged work done by cold-calling tradespeople.
- Working with the police to investigate fraudulent businesses.
- Taking food samples to check for undeclared allergens.
- Advising people about scams to help prevent them becoming victims.
- Advising businesses on product safety requirements.
- Inspecting petrol stations to check they operate safely and the pumps give out the right amount of fuel.
- Checking weights and measures at factories to make sure the quantities they declare are correct.
- Supporting farms and other agricultural premises to ensure farm animal welfare and disease prevention standards are maintained.
- Seizing counterfeit (and often unsafe) goods.
Learn more about working in Trading Standards in this video from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.
Case study
Trading Standards Officer Matt tells us about his day-to-day work and what he likes most about his job.
Working in the Regulatory Support Rural Team, I carry out a range of activities. These include visiting farms and other businesses within the agricultural sector to monitor and advise on their legal requirements in relation to food and animal feed safety, disease control and animal welfare. I also investigate traders for serious breaches of the legislation we enforce.
I am the service’s lead officer for animal health and welfare, which means I have strategic oversight and represent the service both externally and internally for this area of work.
This involves things like putting together disease control strategies, overseeing our operational work, having an input into what work will be required for the following year, advising officers on their investigations, liaising with other authorities to check we’re working consistently and working with our intelligence team to ensure that work is relevant and correct.
I’ve worked in Trading Standards for around 20 years. After I’d finished university and been travelling, I saw a Trading Standards job advertised and felt it would be a good place to work.
I started as a Technical Officer, which involved assisting Trading Standards Officers with visits and inspections. This enabled me to see the varied range of work we did, from taking witness statements to carrying out inspections for fireworks or weights and measures. I gained a broad understanding of work we do, liked it, and realised it was worth trying to progress.
When the chance to get on the qualification scheme came up, I took it and worked in the service’s animal health unit before becoming a generic Trading Standards Officer. After becoming fully qualified, I was offered the lead officer role for animal health and welfare.
The best things about my job are the variety of the work and the flexibility of working for the council who really look after their staff. Our service covers a big area with a mix of rural and city locations, so there’s lots going on and the work is really varied.
To anyone thinking of a career in Trading Standards I would say go for it – it’s a great, steady career with a lot of interesting and varied work with opportunities to progress so you can really focus on your area of interest.
Case study
Kelly is a Trading Standards Officer in our Business Support Team – here she tells us what her role involves.
As a member of the Business Support Team, I handle issues for businesses with whom we have a Primary Authority relationship. These businesses can directly approach Trading Standards for guidance and problem solving. My role involves offering best practice advice, interpreting complex laws and providing compliance training.
Here are a few real-life examples of my work:
- Large food manufacturer: during new product development, they may seek advice on proposed labelling for legal compliance or ensuring new ingredients meet compositional standards.
- Used car dealer: a dealer with high complaint levels might seek assistance to reduce complaints and improve customer satisfaction.
- Hotel chain: a hotel chain looking to enhance their allergen management might need advice on policies and procedures or require mystery shopper exercises to test their systems.
My work also involves other streams of business support, such as audits for membership to the Buy With Confidence scheme and requests from businesses without a Primary Authority relationship. These requests can be on a range of topics from safety to agriculture to general fair trading.
I began my career in Trading Standards over 20 years ago as university graduate, starting in food standards. I still maintain my competency in this area, conducting several food inspections each year. These inspections can be routine checks or about specific complaints.
I also have a strong interest in supporting vulnerable victims and am one of the service’s Scam Champions. This involves educating people about how to protect themselves from scams and providing support. I recently completed training in achieving best evidence, a national protocol for dealing with vulnerable witnesses. This training allows me to assist our wider team in obtaining the best evidential accounts from witnesses.
Additionally, I co-lead training for new Trading Standards Officers, helping ensure they get the opportunities needed to progress through their qualifications and become well-rounded, confident officers.
As you can see, our work is varied! Regardless of the team you work on, you have the opportunity to work across the service, ensuring consumer protection and supporting businesses.
Learn and develop
Whether you’re at the start of your career or are in senior management, we will support you to learn and develop.
We fund our Trading Standards Officers to complete their Chartered Trading Standards Institute Practitioner Diploma. As you achieve the elements of the qualification and develop your competencies, you can use our Career Progression Scheme to move up through the salary grades.
We provide a range of ongoing funded development opportunities to all staff, whatever their role. We also deliver in-service training and development as required by relevant codes of practice.
We are keen to support apprenticeship programmes. Colleagues have undertaken the Regulatory Compliance Officer and Business Administration apprenticeships. Managers have been supported to complete Leadership apprenticeships and MBAs.
We will be supporting new entrants into the Trading Standards profession to complete the Level 6 Trading Standards Professional Apprenticeship, to qualify as Trading Standards Officers. For more information see
Apprenticeships in Trading Standards.
Case study
Katie is currently completing the Credit Services Association (CSA) Level 6 Trading Standards professional apprenticeship while working in our service. Here she tells us about her apprenticeship and day to day work.
The CSA level 6 apprenticeship is designed for you to learn alongside a full-time role in Trading Standards. The topics you learn about support your daily role, and in turn your daily role supports your apprenticeship work.
The apprenticeship consists of online workshops every two months, with coursework assignments between workshops. With the CSA apprenticeship, you are assigned a tutor who provides comprehensive and constructive feedback on coursework assignments, and provides support with any issues or queries you may have.
As a Trading Standards Officer, I carry out a variety of activities on a daily basis. At Heart of the South West Trading Standards, you initially work on a particular team, which may be looking into rural work, rogue trader complaints, illicit tobacco and much more! You will be given the opportunity to focus on a particular area while you find your feet in the job and the apprenticeship. The day to day work includes activities like handling complaints from consumers, providing advice to businesses and carrying out visits to premises or farms.
If you are considering joining Heart of the South West Trading Standards and undertaking the apprenticeship I would encourage you to go for it! It’s a very varied and supportive job. You’ll be working with experienced and supportive colleagues who strive to help when needed, and managers who ensure you have all the opportunities you need to thrive. You also have the opportunity to become a member of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, which will also help with opportunities and further learning.
Work-life balance
With lively cities, characterful towns, and beautiful countryside and coast, the Heart of the South West area has something for everyone. Whatever your age and whatever you like doing, you’ll find the lifestyle here is hard to beat.
What’s more, with one of the benefits of working at Devon County Council being its flexible working opportunities, you can fit your life around your work and enjoy this amazing region to the full.
Staff are also encouraged to make a difference away from the service. Devon County Council supports employees to volunteer for up to two paid days (pro-rata if part time) per year. Examples of volunteering done by our staff include being school governors and working for local health charities.
Find out more about what it’s like to live in Devon and Somerset: