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Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

At Scottish Water, our purpose is to support a flourishing Scotland by looking after Scotland's most precious natural resource, from source to tap. We keep Scotland supplied with world class water, as well as care for our environment every minute of every day. Across Scotland we strive to ensure high standards are met and we are looking for a motivated Sampling Officer to join our team in the Edinburgh area.

We do a huge amount of work behind the scenes to ensure that Scotland has a constant and fresh supply of safe, high-quality water and the role of Sampling Officer plays a critical role to both public health and to our environment.

What You’ll Be Doing

As a Sampling Officer, you will be responsible for the planning, collection, processing and the delivery of water or wastewater samples from source through to the end user, ensuring that all required samples are taken to comply with relevant legislation and operational needs and requirements. Many of our sampling procedures are accredited by UKAS and therefore you must be able to follow instructions carefully and be diligent in recording all pertinent information, both on paper and computerised systems – an eye for detail is key. Due to the field nature of the role several mobile phone applications are used daily, therefore you should be comfortable using apps when provided with appropriate training.

You will be representing Scottish Water daily when collecting samples from Scottish Water sites, private contractors, non-domestic customers, and householders. You will be responsible for the experience of the customer during that visit, so you will need to have excellent people skills and be able to work in a rapidly changing environment. This role will suit someone who likes variety, as everyday can be different. You must be able to work well on your own, but also be keen to work as part of a team so that targets can be met across the group as well as individually.

A full, clean driving license is required for this role as there is a significant amount of driving required. A van will be provided for all work activities. For part time roles a van may need to be shared among employees. Vans are generally allowed home to allow for an immediate start in the morning, however it is expected that vans are left at depots during holidays and, therefore, there may be occasions when you need to make your own way to/from your workplace.

To perform this role well, you will be required to work towards a schedule but will also need to be able to adapt to any reactive works that present themselves, including urgent resampling or logistical challenges. For most of your day, you will be what we class as a lone worker, so you will need to be self-motivated and disciplined to make sure we meet our daily and weekly targets. Like all Scottish Water people, you will take a proactive approach to Health and safety, and make sure, above all, you always protect yourself and others from potential harm as well as report any hazards and risk you come across.

You will be required to work standby on a rotation basis and, as 10% of the sampling programme is carried out at the weekend, there will be a requirement to cover a weekend rota also.

Please note that we are happy to consider flexible working requests. We’re particularly interested in hearing from candidates that may be returning to employment, people that are considering a career change or ex-forces personnel.

What you’ll get:

The starting salary for this role is £21,053.00 per annum. Full training will be provided and there will be salary enhancements after 12 months and 24 months if milestones are successfully reached. There will also be an additional allowance for standby cover and overtime for weekend working as required.

You can also expect:

The closing date for applications is Monday 6 February 2023.

Do you have any support needs?

Please let us know if there are any changes we can make to our application and selection process to make it easier and more comfortable for you. Email us with the vacancy reference number in the subject line so we can work with you to support you throughout your application.

Working at Scottish Water

Scottish Water is one of the UK's leading water companies, the quality of drinking water and satisfaction with the service we provide our customers has never been higher - but we want to be even better – and you could help play an important part!

We take employee engagement very seriously and have an inclusive and collaborative work environment where we respect people’s differences. We are committed to creating an engaging environment and a positive experience for our employees.

We were recently recognised as a Top 10 Flexible Employer in Scotland at the Flexibility Works Awards 2021 and by The Times as a Top 50 Employer for Women in 2019.

In 2019 we also won the Age Inclusive Award at The Herald and GenAnalytics Diversity Awards and were winners of the Best Public Sector Employer at the Family Friendly Working Scotland Awards 2020.
We have Carers Positive Exemplary Status and were Silver Award 2019 & Gold Award winners 2020 of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS).

We aim for work to be an energising and fulfilling experience and everyone plays their part to ensure that Scottish Water is trusted to serve our customers and communities.

We are passionate about creating opportunities for young people and are proud to have achieved the Gold standard in the Investors in Young People accreditation, demonstrating our commitment to creating rewarding opportunities for young people.

You will have access to a host of benefits which include 38 days holiday a year, a defined benefit pension scheme, a discounted medical cash plan and cycle to work, plus a variety of agile working arrangements and family-friendly policies designed to support your wellbeing.

Next Steps

Any offer of employment with Scottish Water will be subject to the successful completion of a mandatory pre-employment screening process, including Disclosure Scotland and eligibility to work in the UK. Details can be found on our website.

For more information about this role or if you require any additional support throughout the application process please contact the recruitment team:

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it is important that Scottish Water employees are resident in Scotland and contribute to the Scottish economy by paying Scottish income tax on their earnings. As a result we ask all potential employees to confirm that they are resident in Scotland, or to confirm their intentions to move to Scotland within 6 months of their start date.