PSS Officer

The vacancy

Job Purpose

The overall purpose of this role is to manage and implement the day-to-day running of the PSS by supporting practices through the assessment process.

Key Responsibilities

• To manage a caseload of Practice Standards accreditation and awards assessments in accordance with the Scheme, processing all matters from initial organisation through to compliance / completion. Where needed, this will involve supporting veterinary practices through the assessment process, to ensure that Scheme requirements and deadlines are adhered to.
• Responsible for timely referral of non-compliant and / or high-risk practices to the PSS Review Group for a decision on further action to be taken.
• Serve as the PSS contact for veterinary practices, in order to assist them with managing the assessments for their practices, to support them to adhere to the PSS rules
• Respond promptly to email and telephone enquiries. This will include being jointly responsible for monitoring the PSS email inbox.
• To be jointly responsible with other PSS Officers for the initial review of assessment reports upon submission by PSS Assessors, as part of the internal auditing process.
• Provide support to all users of the bespoke PSS IT system, including provision of training sessions where necessary. In addition, to contribute to ongoing review and enhancement of the system, such as by capturing and reporting on both own and user feedback. To occasionally report issues with the system.
• Effectively use and update the caseload management system for monitoring progress of assessments.
• Maintain the accuracy of the PSS data on the RCVS database (iMIS) and the bespoke PSS IT system (Stanley).
• Contribute to the sharing of information with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), in order to maintain the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for PSS between this government department and the RCVS.
• Process and approve assessor timesheets and expenses claims and submit to the finance team to ensure timely and accurate payments.
• Contribute to the review and maintenance of handbooks for practices, assessors and administrators on all necessary aspects of the Scheme.
• Attend internal and external RCVS events (as required) in order to assist with promoting both PSS and other RCVS activities to the profession and / or the public (subject to government guidance on social distancing).
• Record the minutes for Practice Standards Group (PSG) meetings and to produce a final version for distribution and approval.
• Manage the stock of PSS promotional materials and to process orders from veterinary practices.
• Issue accreditation and awards certificate packs to veterinary practices in a timely manner upon completion of their assessments.
• To be jointly responsible for administering PSS Team Emails.
• Generate invoices for ad hoc PSS assessment fees and to ensure prompt payment by veterinary practices.
• Assist with the annual PSS renewals process, including by following up on overdue payments and self-declarations and by responding to queries about the process.
• Support the work of the Senior PSS Manager, and the Lead assessor and assessors – by providing assistance and information as required.
• Responsible for web-coordination of the PSS website – by reviewing and updating content as required.
• Feed into the review and development of both team processes and the PSS in general, such as by providing feedback on effectiveness of processes and by reporting feedback from veterinary practices and other stakeholders.

Essential Criteria

• Excellent organisational and administrative skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Strong IT skills, and proficient in MS Office with particular emphasis on Excel
• Strong writing and drafting skills - ability to analyse and evaluate information critically and exercise sound judgement
• Minute-taking skills
• Excellent telephone manner
• Customer-focused approach – positive “can-do” attitude
• Ability to work on own initiative as well as part of a team
• Diplomacy, tact, resilience
• Ability to remain calm and composed when under pressure
• Ability to effectively manage deadlines
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities
• Ability to represent the organisation to a range of audiences and stakeholders

Desired skills & experience

Previous experience of:

• working with quality frameworks
• working with remote teams
• working on improvement plans for work streams